Provided by: Amanda Albiar, NCSF-CPT

If you are surrounded by lots of friends, family, and co-workers all sharing their fitness goals day in and out….it can be sometimes overwhelming.  But what is more overwhelming, is when you have tried all the different types of eating plans and workout sessions, and you’re still not budging on the scale.  Often times, it has nothing to do with what you are eating or doing….there just may be an underlying factor that might be keeping you overweight.

One of these hidden factors could be low Vitamin D levels. The best thing about addressing this issue is that once you’ve identified a Vitamin D deficiency and taken means to rectify the issue, it could help with weight loss as well as help improve your overall health, well-being, and prevent disease.

Vitamin D (known as the “sunshine vitamin”) is actually a hormone versus an actual vitamin and has been shown to influence 10% of the genes in your body. Adequate levels of Vitamin D are crucial for health and prevention of disease.  Not only does it help your bone health and function of the cardiovascular system, it is very important for immune function. Low levels of Vitamin D have contributed to the increase in risks of Alzheimer’s, Type II diabetes, cancer, autoimmune disease, osteoporosis, and yes……weight gain.

Not only can you get the best source thru sunlight, you can also get it thru supplementation and certain foods such as eggs, trout, mackerel, beef liver, and pork.

Get your Vitamin D levels checked to see if you’re deficient. Check with your physician to see what his/her recommended supplementation is for your test results. You may just need to get a little more sunshine.

source: thepaleosecret.com June 2016