Does Poor Weight Control Impact Vitamin D Levels?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin known mostly for its’ positive impact on “bone health”.  However, Vitamin D also appears to have positive impacts on the heart and cancer protective reactions on the body.  We test for Vitamin D levels in the blood with the “normal” range being 30-100.  Most people we test, especially women, show low to borderline low levels.

 A multinational study was published this week describing the higher risk of developing severe disease/death from Covid-19 infections associated with having low Vitamin D levels.  The overwhelming majority of people hospitalized and dying from Covid-19 have respiratory failure.  There appears a marked inflammatory reaction in the lungs leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (“ARDS”).  One of the chemicals involved in this inflammatory response is cytokine.  It is observed that a “cytokine storm” occurs producing marked damage to the lungs.

Vitamin D seems to reduce the cytokine inflammatory reaction and therefore, deficiency of this important vitamin appears to be a risk factor for people developing severe Covid-19 lung problems.

Well before the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been shown that poor weight control leads to lower Vitamin D levels.  There are several reasons for this:  1- fat cells in the body will take up the Vitamin D thereby lowering bloodstream levels.  2- Overweight/obese people may spend less time in the sun than normal weight people.

I have written ad nauseam about serious Covid-19 outcomes being associated with poor weight control and the co-morbidities such as high blood pressure and diabetes.  Here is another one to add to the list: Vitamin D availability to fight cytokine storm.

If you have not had a Vitamin D blood test performed recently, come on in for this.  If  levels are low or borderline low, prescription Vitamin D at 50,000 IU a week may be warranted.

Other Blogs