5 Compelling Reasons You Need More Vitamin D

Vitamin D is one of those things we grew up with and never really paid much attention to. Everyone knows about vitamin C and its ability to help you dodge flu season, but unless you live in frigid winter climate with scarce daylight hours much of the year, you’ve probably never thought about upping your vitamin D game.

That is, until now, of course. Turns out, vitamin D, which is steroid based, should be everyone’s business, since even though hit is synthesized in the skin upon exposure to the sunlight, you are unlikely to meet your daily requirements.

This is especially true when talking about hard training athletes like yourself, as average is never enough. Read on to discover the compelling reasons why it is in your best interest to start getting more dietary vitamin D ASAP.

Benefits Of Vitamin D

Improved Motivation

There are many people that take mindset and motivation for granted, especially if they’ve never really grappled with theirs. However, for many others, depression, or seasonal affective disorder (SAD)[i] is so intense that it effectively inhibits the desire to workout, having an adverse effect on health and physical wellbeing.

SAD often occurs during winter months when sun exposure is limited. Supplementation with vitamin D, in the form of the more potent and active D3, is one way to help mitigate the feeling of lethargy, and indifference that is common at this time.

Improves Insulin Sensitivity

Insulin is one of the most anabolic hormones at your disposal, but like anything else, if taken for granted can wreak havoc on your physique and health as a whole. When things go awry, it’s usually because of one thing- insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance is virtually the pathway to developing diabetes, a disease you should avoid at all costs. Vitamin D can help you do just that.

Diabetics, and people in pre-diabetic stages were able to significantly improve their blood glucose control by supplementing daily with 2000 IU vitamin D. another study found a strong association between vitamin D levels and insulin resistance/ type two diabetes[ii], so it is worth your time ensuring your levels are optimal.

Bear in mind that improved glucose control and insulin function also translate well to increased uptake of glucose and amino acids into muscle cells, which is the icing on the cake for a well done workout.

Increases Protein Synthesis

Being a steroid compound, you would expect it to have some sort of effect on protein synthesis right? All jokes aside, this in its own right makes vitamin D worth your time. Taken post workout, it can actually increase the rate of protein synthesis[iii]BCAA leucine.

This effect is further potentiated because leucine itself stimulates insulin secretion, making for greater lean mass accrual.

May Increase Testosterone Levels

If you’re a hardworking athlete, then you know that a significant portion of the progress you make in the gym (and out) will be attributed to your testosterone levels. Supplements that claim to increase yo8rntestosterone levels are a dime a dozen, but what if you settled on one that can do that along with so much more?

The thing is- vitamin D is not a guarantee to increase your testosterone levels. Rather, it possesses a strong degree of correlation. By this, we mean that men who have higher blood levels of vitamin D usually have higher testosterone levels, with the opposite being true as well.

A study published in the journal of Clinical Endocrinology[iv]calcium, another well-known lipotropic nutrient.

[i]leucine and insulin on protein synthesis rate through

[iv]