Vitamin D Linked to Weight Loss

Vitamin D was able to reduce weight and improve control over blood sugar—at least in rats.

In a study led by Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, scientists delivered vitamin D directly to the brains of obese male rats for 28 days. The rats ate nearly three times less food and lost 24% of their body weight when compared with a control group.

What’s more, the rats in the vitamin D group also showed greater glucose tolerance, a measure of how well the body handles blood sugar.

The brain region targeted was the hypothalamus, which controls both weight and glucose. The region contains vitamin D receptors.

Results were reported at a joint meeting of the International Society of Endocrinology and the Endocrine Society.