Vitamin D and weight loss linked to reduced inflammation

Lead author Catherine
Duggan, Ph.D

CANCER DIGEST – June 24, 2015 – For the first time, researchers have found that weight loss, in combination with taking vitamin D, has a greater effect on reducing chronic inflammation than weight loss alone. 

Chronic inflammation is known to contribute to the development and progression of several diseases, including some cancers. Led by Catherine Duggan, Ph.D., researchers in the Public Health Sciences Division at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA published their findings online ahead of the July issue of the journal Cancer Prevention Research. 

“We were quite surprised to see that vitamin D had an effect on an inflammation biomarker only among women who lost at least 5 percent of their baseline weight,” Duggan said in a press release. “That suggests vitamin D can augment the effect of weight loss on inflammation.”

In the study 218 healthy, overweight older women who had lower-than-recommended levels of vitamin D took part in a 12-month diet and exercise program. They engaged in 45 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous exercise five days a week. Half of the study participants were randomly selected to receive 2,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily for the duration of the year-long trial, and the other half received a placebo, or dummy vitamin. 

At the end of the study, all of the participants had reduced levels of inflammation, However, those who took vitamin D and lost 5 to 10 percent of their baseline weight saw a 37 percent decline in one blood marker of inflammation compared to the placebo group who saw only a 17.2 percent reduction.