Does more vitamin D make your body burn more calories at rest?
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
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
PGC-1α — a gene widely believed to regulate metabolism — showed no mediating role in vitamin D’s effect on resting calorie burn.
PGC-1α is frequently cited in fitness and biohacking circles as the 'master regulator' of mitochondrial energy production — so its lack of involvement here contradicts popular assumptions.
Practical Takeaways
If you're overweight and have low vitamin D, getting your levels checked might be worth it — not for direct weight loss, but because it could subtly influence how your body uses energy at rest.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
PGC-1α — a gene widely believed to regulate metabolism — showed no mediating role in vitamin D’s effect on resting calorie burn.
PGC-1α is frequently cited in fitness and biohacking circles as the 'master regulator' of mitochondrial energy production — so its lack of involvement here contradicts popular assumptions.
Practical Takeaways
If you're overweight and have low vitamin D, getting your levels checked might be worth it — not for direct weight loss, but because it could subtly influence how your body uses energy at rest.
Publication
Journal
Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism
Year
2017
Authors
Seyedeh Forough Sajjadi, K. Mirzaei, Leila Khorrami-nezhad, Z. Maghbooli, S. Keshavarz
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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.