According to Women’s Health certain nutrients can be helpful in burning fat and accelerating weight loss. Vitamin D can activate and switch and internally signal your cells to burn calories. Michael B. Zemel, PhD, who is the director of the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville explained that when levels of vitamin D are low, parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels rise triggering a reactions that cause fat cells to convert sugar into fat and maintaining fat rather than releasing it to be burned. Also, vitamin D helps your body respond to insulin which is a hormone secreted from your pancreas. Insulin pushes glucose into cells. Glucose in body cells are burned for energy. So, the more sensitive your body cells are to insulin then the more glucose can be pushed into your bodies cells and burned. When you are less sensitive to insulin then the more likely you are to convert sugar to fat. Another aspect of vitamin D that is important is low levels of vitamin D interfere with leptin, which is a hormone that signals your brain that you are full and to stop eating, causing you to continue to eat.
Sunlight can provide vitamin D, however, too much sunlight can be bad as it may lead to skin cancer so it should be taken in moderation. Foods containing vitamin D cod liver oil – 1 tablespoon provides 1,360 IU’s, 3 ounces of cooked salmon 447 IU’s, milk 1 cup gives 115-124 IU’s. A table of foods and vitamin IU’s totals can be seen at Vitamin D Health Professionals A table is also available there for age/sex for the recommended daily allowances for vitamin D.
Women’sHealth, 2015, 7 Supplements that Melt Fat, http://www.womenshealthmag.com/weight-loss/the-vitamin-d-diet
National Institutes of Health, 2015, Vitamin D Fact Sheet of Health Professionals, https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminD-HealthProfessional/