Older women with insufficient levels of vitamin D gained more
weight than those with sufficient levels of the vitamin,
according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of
Health and published online in the Journal of Women's Health.
The study of more than 4,600 women ages 65 and older found that
over nearly 5 years, those with insufficient levels of vitamin D
in their blood gained about two pounds more than those with
adequate levels. "This is one of the first studies to show that
women with low levels of vitamin D gain more weight, and
although it was only two pounds, over time that can add up,"
said study author Erin LeBlanc, MD, an endocrinologist and
researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research
in Portland, OR. "Nearly 80 percent of women in our study had
insufficient levels of vitamin D. A primary source of this
important vitamin is sunlight, and as modern societies move
indoors, continuous vitamin D insufficiency may be contributing
to chronic weight gain." Vitamin D was in t