50% of people are deficient in this vitamin.
Studies have found that having adequate levels of vitamin D in your body can double your body weight and lose belly fat.
About half of the world's population is vitamin D deficient.
Drinking milk can double your weight loss, according to one study, which is high in calcium and vitamin D, both of which have been linked to weight loss.
Foods rich in vitamin D include oily fish and eggs, but most people get their vitamin D from the action of sunlight on the skin.
In the current study, 218 obese and overweight women were divided into two groups.
They are all vitamin D deficient.
Both groups were on a weight loss program, but only half were taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day.
At the end of the 12-month study, the women with sufficient levels of vitamin D lost 19 pounds.
However, those with low vitamin D levels lost only 12 pounds.
Study co-author Dr Anne McTiernan said:
“This suggests that women who are trying to lose weight may wish to have their vitamin D levels checked by their provider, boosted with supplements or sun exposure, and then rechecked after a few months to make sure they have up to a healthy level.”
Those who took vitamin D also had lower levels of inflammation in the body.
Study co-author Dr Catherine Duggan said:
“An overweight person's body is in a state of chronic inflammation, and all these inflammatory proteins that the body produces contribute to an increased risk of cancer and diabetes.
Vitamin D helps with this. It reduces the stress of being overweight on the body. “
The study was published in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (Mason et al., 2014).
