This article aims to clear any doubts and questions you may have about this subject and we will do our best to do so.
The Connection Between Them
Of the short-term effects of taking vitamin D supplements reported that doing so increased levels of LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol. Other research evaluated the effects of combined calcium and vitamin D (CaD) supplements on people who had been through menopause. It noted an improvement in all types of cholesterol, including LDL cholesterol.
It noted an improvement in all types of cholesterol, including LDL cholesterol.
Why We Need Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps you absorb calcium and phosphorus from your diet and use these minerals to keep your bones, teeth and muscles strong. This helps prevent falls as you get older.
Vitamin D may have other roles in the body’s immune system and heart health too. How we make vitamin D
We get a little vitamin D from food, but we get most of it from sunlight.
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The existing evidence suggests vitamin D may have beneficial effects on serum lipid profiles and thus cardiovascular health.
Objective: The objective of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to examine the effect of vitamin D supplementation on serum lipid profiles. Data source: Original randomized controlled trials (RCTs) examining the effect of vitamin D supplementation on serum lipid profiles and published before July 2018 were identified by searching online databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, and ScienceDirect, using a combination of relevant keywords. Data extraction: Data on study characteristics, effect size, measure of variation, type of vitamin D supplementation, and duration of follow-up were extracted by the author.
Data analysis: PRISMA guidelines for systematic reviews were followed. Random effects (DerSimonian and Laird [D-V)] models were used to pool standardized mean differences in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglycerides between the active and the placebo arms of RCT studies. Results: A total of 41 RCTs comprising 3434 participants (n = 1699 in the vitamin D supplementation arm and n = 1735 in the placebo arm) were identified and included in the meta-analysis.
The improvements in total cholesterol and triglycerides were more pronounced in participants with baseline vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D supplementation may be useful in hypercholesterolemia patients with vitamin D insufficiency who are at high risk of cardiovascular disease.
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So it is particularly important that we develop a better understanding of the control of vitamin D levels in the body, as well as levels of cholesterol,” she says.
The study by Professor Andrew Brown’s lab at UNSW is published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry. Cholesterol, which is essential for cell growth, is produced in the body by a complex series of reactions involving more than 20 different steps. The last step relies on the enzyme DHCR7, which converts a substance called 7DHC into cholesterol.
This substance, 7DHC, can also be turned into vitamin D by UV from sunlight. The UNSW team showed in cell culture experiments that high levels of cholesterol destroyed the enzyme, switching off cholesterol production. This led to a build-up of 7DHC, which increased production of vitamin D in skin cells exposed to UV.
In the same laboratory study, the UNSW researchers showed that treatment with the cholesterol-lowering drugs statins might be a possible way to overcome the lack of activity of the enzyme in this disease. The study highlights the sophisticated ways our bodies carefully balance cholesterol and vitamin D levels to ensure good healt.