The Study
Vitamin D Status and Resting Metabolic Rate May Modify through Expression of Vitamin D Receptor and Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptor Gamma Coactivator-1 Alpha Gene in Overweight and Obese Adults
This study found that people with more vitamin D in their blood tended to have a higher metabolism and more of a certain gene (VDR), but it didn’t change anything—it just looked at people as they were. So we can’t say vitamin D makes metabolism go up, only that they sometimes go together.
Analysis score
Maximum 44 for a cross-sectional study.
Where the score came from
Scientists looked at people who are overweight or obese to see if having more vitamin D in their blood makes their bodies use more energy when they're not moving.
Where does this study sit?
Reviews of RCTs (Meta-analyses)
Max 100Randomized Trials
Max 90Reviews of Cohort Studies
Max 85Cohort Studies
Max 72Reviews of Case-Control Studies
Max 63Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional & Case Series
Max 50Expert Opinion
Max 544 / 100
Quality score
Snapshots of a population at a single point in time, or descriptions of small groups. Can identify correlations and prevalence, but cannot determine cause and effect.
Key takeaways
Summary
Based on the study abstract and findings.
- 1The effect size is small and uncertain (wide confidence intervals), so it's unclear if this matters much for weight loss or health in real life.
- 2People with higher vitamin D had higher calorie burn per kg of body weight, and this link was tied to the VDR gene, not the PGC-1α gene.
Score breakdown, methodology, conflicts of interest, evidence analysis & raw study data
Publication
Journal
Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism
Year
2017
Authors
Seyedeh Forough Sajjadi, K. Mirzaei, Leila Khorrami-nezhad, Z. Maghbooli, S. Keshavarz
Related Content
Claims (2)
If you have more vitamin D in your body, your body burns more calories while you're just sitting still—even if you don’t move more or eat differently.
In people who are overweight or obese, having more vitamin D in their body seems to be linked to how many calories they burn at rest, and this link happens because of how their body uses the vitamin D receptor gene — but not because of the PGC-1α gene.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional before making health decisions.