How much vitamin d should i take to lose weight

I have two questions about vitamin D. First, can it really help you lose weight as I recently heard? And how much is too much?

Andrew Weil, M.D. |August 3, 2015

3 min

We’ve known for some time that vitamin D deficiency is associated with developing obesity, and with health problems linked to obesity. The latest on this subject comes from a study presented at the 2015 European Congress on Obesity, which demonstrated that correcting levels of vitamin D could help you lose weight provided that tests find that you actually are vitamin D deficient. That’s not a very high bar to reach considering that vitamin D deficiency is widespread in the United States.

To explore whether vitamin D supplements could help people shed excess pounds, researchers at Italy’s University of Milan analyzed data from 400 obese or overweight patients from 2011 to 2013. The patients were all put on a low-calorie diet and were divided into three groups. Those in the first group took no vitamin D supplements. Group two received supplement totaling 25,000 international units (IUs) per month, and group three took 100,000 IUs per month.

After six months, the researchers found that only those patients taking 100,000 IUs per month had achieved optimal levels of the vitamin. However, they also found that participants who took either dose of D lost more weight than patients who followed the diet but took no supplemental vitamin D. Based on these findings, the researchers suggested that all people who are obese have their vitamin D levels tested, and advised them to start taking supplements if they are deficient.

I recommend a daily dose of at least 2,000 IUs of vitamin D. We can get vitamin D from foods such as fortified milk and cereals as well as eggs, salmon, tuna and mackerel, but the amounts found naturally in most foods are not significant. Sun exposure is the best way to maintain adequate levels; ultraviolet rays trigger vitamin D synthesis in the skin. In spite of the ability to make our own vitamin D, most people in the U.S. need to take supplemental vitamin D, especially seniors, as the ability to synthesize it in the skin declines with age.

Don’t be concerned that 2,000 IU daily will give you too much. With exposure to sunlight in the summer, the body can generate between 10,000 IU and 20,000 IU of vitamin D per hour with no ill effects. In addition, no adverse effects have been seen with supplemental vitamin D intakes up to 10,000 IU daily. What’s more, new research from the Mayo Clinic shows that out of more than 20,000 tests, only eight percent of people had levels higher than 50 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml), which is considered high and only one percent had levels higher than 100 ng/ml. However, the researchers reported that even in those with levels of vitamin D over 50 ng/mL, no one had elevated serum calcium (hypercalcemia), which can occur when blood levels are very high. Too much calcium in the blood can cause weakness, lead to kidney stones, interfere with heart and brain function, and even prove life threatening. The Mayo Clinic researchers found only one case of true acute vitamin D toxicity over the 10-year span of the study. This occurred in an individual who had been taking 50,000 IUs of D daily plus calcium supplements for more than three months. For the record, the U.S. Institute of Medicine recommends an upper limit of vitamin D supplementation of 4,000 IU per day for those whose levels are low or deficient.

Andrew Weil, M.D.

Sources:

Daniel V. Dudenkov and Tom D. Thatcher et al, “Changing Incidence of Serum 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Values Above 50 ng/mL: A 10-Year Population-Based Study.” Mayo Clinic Proceedings, May 2015, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mayocp.2015.02.012

Luisella Vigna et al. “Vitamin D supplementation promotes weight loss and waist circumference reduction in overweight/obese adults with hypovitaminosis d.” Presented at: European Congress on Obesity. May 6-9, 2015, Prague, Czechoslovakia

As the moment of truth with your bathing suit inches closer, you might be cursing your sweet tooth for the belly bulge you can't seem to shed. But it could be what you're not eating that's actually responsible.

A 2000 study reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine reports that 77 percent of Americans are vitamin-D deficient. Numerous studies have shown D's crucial role in strengthening bones, fighting depression, and boosting immunity, but now, after decades of research and thousands of studies, experts may have finally proven that missing out on that one little letter could be a major factor in pushing the number on your scale higher and higher.

Heavy D, Slimmer You
Unlike most vitamins, D can be manufactured by your body, provided you're exposed to sunlight. But sunscreen—a must for preventing wrinkles and, of course, cancer—reduces your skin's ability to make D by 90 to 99 percent, depending on the level of SPF thoroughness of application. And even if you don't use sun protection (bad girl!), it's tough to catch the right rays. The sunlight you're most likely to get on a daily basis—in the early morning and late afternoon—is too weak to generate enough D. Not to mention that air pollution can filter out some of the UVB rays, so less of them are able to reach your skin at any time of day.

A far safer, saner, and more satisfying way to up your D level is to get more of the vitamin from your diet. A doctor can administer a simple blood test called 25-hydroxy vitamin D, or 25-OH D, which is the most reliable way to tell not only whether you are deficient but also how severe your deficiency is. And as you increase your consumption of D, your waistband could start to feel a whole lot looser. Every cell in your body needs D to function properly—including hated fat cells. Special receptors for D signal whether you should burn fat or simply store it; when D plugs into these receptors, it's like a key that revs your body's flab-melting mechanism.

Meanwhile, receptors in your brain need D to keep hunger and cravings in check, as well as to pump up levels of the mood-elevating chemical serotonin. (Good thing, since dieting often comes with a heaping side of crankiness.) D even optimizes your body's ability to absorb other important weight-loss nutrients, especially calcium. When your body lacks calcium, it can experience up to a fivefold increase in the fatty acid synthase, an enzyme that converts calories into fat. In a 2009 study published in the British Journal of Nutrition, obese women who were put on a 15-week diet and took 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day lost six times more weight than women who followed the diet alone. The end result: By fueling your body with the D-rich nutrients it needs to get out of a fat-storage state and into a fat-burning one, you could potentially speed weight loss by up to 70 percent.

Here's more welcome news: To get enough D, it helps to snack. You may have heard that eating between meals is a weight-loss wrecker, but don't believe it. Snacking, when done properly, is actually one of the best ways to reduce cravings and stay focused on your slim-down goal. Right now, while the mercury's high and the sun is shining, you're probably less tempted by the heavy, carb-laden comfort foods that are so enticing midwinter anyway. So take advantage of that and choose from the following list of potent fat-melting foods. All are loaded with vitamin D and other nutrients that preserve muscle mass, turn up the heat on metabolism, and encourage your body to incinerate fat, not hang on to it.

Make sure your meals are heavy on D. Then add any two of these snacks each day to help you get the amount you need (around 600 IU in the summer months), plus a dose of the recommended 1,000 milligrams of calcium.

Your Hunger D-fense
Here are a few tasty ways to up your intake of this essential vitamin.

1 D-fortified hard-boiled egg
(70 cal, 80 IU D, 27 mg calcium)

10 unsalted almonds plus 4 oz calcium-and D-fortified orange juice
(132 cal, 50 IU D, 209 mg calcium)

6 oz fat-free flavored yogurt
(80–100 cal, 80 IU D, 300 mg calcium)

1 medium tomato stuffed with 3 oz light canned tuna mixed with 1 Tbsp low-fat mayonnaise and 1 Tbsp chopped scallion
(138 cal, 154 IU D, 26 mg calcium)

16 oz iced cappuccino made with D-fortified nonfat milk
(80 cal, about 50–75 IU D, 150–250 mg calcium)

1/2 cup sugar-free, reduced-calorie banana pudding made with D-fortified nonfat milk
(70 cal, about 50 IU D, 150 mg calcium)

Orangetini: 2 oz D-fortified orange juice, 2 oz water, 1 oz vodka, 1/2 oz triple sec, 1/4 Tbsp grenadine, 1/4 Tbsp orange zest
(152 cal, 25 IU D, 92 mg calcium)

1/2 cup D-fortified cereal with 1/2 cup D-fortified milk and 1/4 cup blueberries
(139 cal, 117 IU D, 869 mg calcium)

3 oz canned wild salmon on 5 whole-grain crackers
(156 cal, 396 IU D, 235 mg calcium)

Alisa Bowman is a product developer and senior editor at Hearst. Her articles have appeared in Prevention, Women's Health, Parents, Family Circle, and Reader's Digest."

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