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.
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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.
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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