{"id":4064,"date":"2017-11-06T10:08:57","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T10:08:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/?p=4064"},"modified":"2017-11-06T10:08:57","modified_gmt":"2017-11-06T10:08:57","slug":"vitamin-d3-benefits-for-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/vitamin-d3-benefits-for-women\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitamin D3 Benefits for Women"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">Optimal health is more than just physical activity and eating healthy foods every now and then.<\/span><\/h2>\n<p>It&#8217;s about focusing on the nutrients that have the most positive impact on your well-being, vitality and longevity as well.<\/p>\n<p>That way you&#8217;ll support your body to work optimally &#8211; and reap the rewards.<\/p>\n<p>In this article we take a look at why, as a woman, <strong>vitamin D<\/strong> can benefit you &#8211; from boosting health to ramping up performance.<\/p>\n<p>Read on to find out why the &#8216;sunshine vitamin&#8217; is the most vital, but often overlooked nutrient around.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What is Vitamin D3?<\/h2>\n<p>Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that promotes health, well-being and physical performance.<\/p>\n<p>It plays a major role in regulating the amount of phosphate and calcium in the body, as well as ensuring your muscles and immune system function properly too.<\/p>\n<p>There is also research pointing out that this nutrient can help protect against metabolic diseases such as diabetes, heart disease and neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis.<\/p>\n<p>All-in-all, it&#8217;s a versatile and key vitamin.<\/p>\n<p><strong>There are two types of vitamin D:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ergocalciferol or D2<\/li>\n<li>Cholecalciferol &#8211; commonly referred to as D3<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Vitamin D3 is often classed as the\u00a0<em>sixth steroid hormone\u00a0<\/em>because of its hormone-supporting properties. It is also the most potent and biologically active form of the vitamin too.<\/p>\n<p>When you come into contact with the sun, your body makes its own D3.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s because exposure to UV rays from the sun triggers a cascade of chemical changes that help you convert cholesterol into steroid hormones such as estrogen, progesterone and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/the-benefits-of-testofuel-for-women\/\"><strong>testosterone<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But unless you live in a hot climate and get plenty of sun, you&#8217;ll have to rely on either food or a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.testofuel.com\"><strong>supplement<\/strong><\/a> containing the nutrient to get what you need.<\/p>\n<h3>The chances are you&#8217;re not getting enough vitamin D3<\/h3>\n<p>If your vitamin D levels are low, you could be suffering a number of health-related side effects.<\/p>\n<p>And with 50% of people suffering from inadequate levels, this is a major worry &#8211; and a common issue.<\/p>\n<p>One study even found that when you look specifically at women, that figure can go up as high as two-thirds [1].<\/p>\n<p>You don&#8217;t have to rely on the sun for your vitamin shot &#8211; you can also get vitamin D3 from foods such as salmon, mackerel and other oily fish. But even then, it&#8217;s likely that you&#8217;re not getting enough to reach healthy amounts.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4074\" src=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Vitamin-D-tablets.gif\" alt=\"Vitamin d3 capsules in a spoon on a wooden background\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<div class=\"group infobox infobox-blue mtop20 mbottom20\">\n<p><strong>Key Point:<\/strong> Many women suffer from vitamin D3 deficiency. It&#8217;s a concerning issue from both a health and physical performance perspective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>What Are the Benefits of D3 for Women?<\/h2>\n<p>By now you should have recognized that for overall health, vitamin D3 is essential.<\/p>\n<p><em>But what about specifically for women? How is it beneficial?<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>#1. Stronger Bones<\/h2>\n<p>Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption. Without it, as little <strong>as 10-15% of dietary calcium, and 60% of phosphorous are absorbed<\/strong> [1].<\/p>\n<p>Without proper support from these minerals, bone strength can decrease and your risk of fractures and postural issues increases rapidly..<\/p>\n<p>Bone diseases such as osteoporosis, osteopenia and osteolamalacia are all more common in females than in men.<\/p>\n<p>One study found that a lack of vitamin D increased the risk of bone fractures by over 75% [2] &#8211; that&#8217;s a huge increase in risk just for missing out on a nutrient.<\/p>\n<p>But don&#8217;t worry though, because other studies found that when you bring your vitamin D levels back to normal, the risk of bone diseases decreases.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, one review study suggested that vitamin D is like the &#8216;bricks and mortar&#8217; of bone cell formation [3] &#8211; it&#8217;s that important.<\/p>\n<h2>#2. Increased Fertility<\/h2>\n<p>One of the more &#8216;left field&#8217; benefits of D3 is that it can help to boost fertility.<\/p>\n<p>It has been shown to increase success during <em>in-vitro<\/em> fertilization, and also promote egg cell maturation during various stages of embryonic development.<\/p>\n<p>Remember, vitamin D is involved in steroid hormone synthesis &#8211; and in women that includes production of estradiol and progesterone &#8211; both important in regulating fertilization.<\/p>\n<p>Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to elevated infertility in a number of studies. In one of these, fertility reduced by as much as 75% when deficiency occurred [4].<\/p>\n<h2>#3. More Efficient Immune System<\/h2>\n<p>There&#8217;s a clear link between vitamin D and immune receptor efficiency.<\/p>\n<p>It directly supports the production of white blood cell components such as B cells, T cells and antigen presenting cells &#8211; all of which help your body fight infection and invading organisms [5].<\/p>\n<p>There are multiple clinical trials showing that lower levels of D3 result in an increase in common colds and other infections.<\/p>\n<p>The largest of these studies found that in a sample of over 18,800 men and women, those with D3 levels falling below 30 ng.dL were significantly more likely to suffer from <em>upper respiratory\u00a0tract infections\u00a0<\/em>[6].<\/p>\n<p>And another study found that correcting low vitamin D levels with a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.testofuel.com\"><strong>supplement<\/strong><\/a> resulted in a 42% decrease in seasonal flu during winter months in a sample of 167 people [7].<\/p>\n<h2>\u00a0#4. Decreases Risk of Female Cancers<\/h2>\n<p>Continuing with the immune system theme, vitamin D may have a mechanistic benefit to cancer prevention.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s because this versatile fat-soluble vitamin might helps to control the growth or &#8216;proliferation&#8217; of cancer cells.<\/p>\n<p>A large study published in the\u00a0<em>American Journal of Public Health\u00a0<\/em>[8] found that when 63 individual studies were analysed, the collective results showed<strong> a clear and significant relationship between vitamin D status and ovarian, breast and colon cancer.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Nearly 70% of breast cancer suffers have low vitamin D levels.<\/p>\n<h2>#5. Lower Muscle Soreness<\/h2>\n<p>This one&#8217;s more about performance than health, but nevertheless it&#8217;s still important.<\/p>\n<p>One of the biggest limiting factors in regular physical activity is the unrelenting soreness you can get from intense exercise.<\/p>\n<p>But higher doses of vitamin D3 have been shown to accelerate the damage caused by vigorous exercise such as weight lifting or interval training.<\/p>\n<p>For example, when a group of athletes were given 4,000 IU of D3 each day for 4 weeks, their muscle soreness reduced by 50% &#8211; a huge benefit for someone that wants to train hard on a regular basis [9].<\/p>\n<p>Interestingly, vitamin D2 has been shown to\u00a0<em>increase <\/em>muscle soreness as well as have a negative impact on D3 levels &#8211; so that&#8217;s definitely one supplement to avoid when it comes to making gains in the gym [10].<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-4073\" src=\"https:\/\/www.testofuel.com\/tf\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Woman-in-the-sunshine.gif\" alt=\"Woman in sportswear enjoying the sunrise on the beach\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" \/><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>References<\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Lappe, JM et al.\u00a0<em>Vitamin D status in a rural postmenopausal female population.\u00a0<\/em>J Am Coll Nutr. 2006; 25(5): 395-402<\/li>\n<li>Cauley, JA et al.\u00a0<em>Serum 25 HydroxyVitamin D Concentrations and the Risk of Hip Fractures: The Women&#8217;s Health Initiative.\u00a0<\/em>Ann Intern Med. 2009; 149(4): 242-250<\/li>\n<li>\n<div class=\"half_rhythm\">Sunyecz, JA.\u00a0<em>The use of calcium and vitamin D in the management of osteoporosis.\u00a0<\/em>Ther Clin Risk Manag. 2008; 4(4): 827-836<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li>Halloran, BP et al.\u00a0<em>Effect of Vitamin D Deficiency on Fertility and Reproductive Capacity in the Female Rat.\u00a0<\/em>J Nutr. 1980; 110(8): 1573-80<\/li>\n<li>Aranow, C.\u00a0<em>Vitamin D and the immune system.\u00a0<\/em>J Investig Med. 2011; 59(6): 881-886<\/li>\n<li>Ginde, AA et al.\u00a0<em>Association between serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D level and upper respiratory tract infection in the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey<\/em>. Arch Intern Med. 2009; 169(4): 384-90<\/li>\n<li>Urashima, M et al.\u00a0<em>Randomized trial of vitamin D supplementation to prevent seasonal influenza A in schoolchildren.\u00a0<\/em>Am J Clin Nutr. 2010; 91(5): 1255-60<\/li>\n<li>Garland, CF et al.\u00a0<em>The role of vitamin D in cancer prevention.\u00a0<\/em>Am J Public Health. 2006; 96(2): 252-261<\/li>\n<li>Barker, T et al.\u00a0<em><span class=\"ref-title\">Supplemental vitamin D enhances the recovery in peak isometric force shortly after intense exercise<\/span>.<\/em>\u00a0<span class=\"ref-journal\">Nutr Metab (Lond)<\/span>\u00a02013;\u00a0<span class=\"ref-vol\">10<\/span>: 69<\/li>\n<li>Nieman, DC et al.\u00a0<em>Vitamin D<sub>2<\/sub>\u00a0Supplementation Amplifies Eccentric Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage in NASCAR Pit Crew Athletes.\u00a0<\/em>Nutrients. 2014; 6(1): 63-75\n<div class=\"half_rhythm\"><\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Optimal health is more than just physical activity and eating healthy foods every now and then. It&#8217;s about focusing on the nutrients that have the most positive impact on your well-being, vitality and longevity as well. That way you&#8217;ll support your body to work optimally &#8211; and reap the rewards. In this article we take [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":4075,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[355,51,4,6],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.2.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Vitamin D3 Benefits for Women - TestoFuel Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Optimal health is more than just healthy eating and regular physical activity. 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