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Posted on Jun 20, 2018, 11 p.m.
Females with higher levels of vitamin D have been found to be stronger than those with lower levels, an association not found in males, female subjects with low vitamin D levels have 70% increased risk of being among the lowest 10% in muscle strength testing, as published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
A 881 subject cohort had muscle strength measured with standardized testing. Vitamin D status analyses were conducted on 499 subjects, low levels of vitamin D were defined as serum below 250H-vitamin D below 50 nmol/L. Statistical analyses were adjusted for height, body fat, and weight. The study does not provide an explanation for the difference of the finding between the sexes.
It was also found that vitamin D levels higher than 50 nmol/L was associated with the strongest female subjects, the finding was not evident in males. Studies show that vitamin D increases levels of IGF-1 which is a growth factor that increases muscle strength, levels of which are different between the sexes. Researchers say that based on data they still can’t conclude that females who get the vitamin D through food, sun, or supplement will get stronger muscles, although their association could mean that, according to the researchers.
Materials provided by University of Southern Denmark Faculty of Health Sciences.
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Journal Reference:
Rada Faris Al-Jwadi, Eva Jespersen, Christine Dalgård, Niels Bilenberg, Henrik Thybo Christesen. S-25OHD is Associated with Hand Grip Strength and Myopathy in Females: An Odense Cohort Study. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 2018; DOI: 10.1210/jc.2018-00281
