Tag: Robbie Durand

Vitamin D: The Essential “Steroid” For Muscle Growth

The Sunshine Vitamin for Bodybuilding.
In the Golden Age of Bodybuilding, Arnold and Franco Columbo would be seen sunbathing on the beaches in Venice.  Today’s bodybuilders rely on Pro-Tan and artificial methods of tanning to color the skin, but bodybuilder’s maybe be missing out on getting adequate Vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is a global health problem.
With all the medical advances of the century, vitamin D deficiency is still epidemic. Over a billion people worldwide are vitamin D deficient or insufficient.  Vitamin D, also described, as “the Sun Vitamin” is a steroid with hormone like activity. It regulates the functions of over 200 genes and is essential for growth and development.

There are two forms of vitamin D. Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).  Vitamin D status depends on the production of vitamin D 3 in the skin under the influence of ultraviolet radiation from sun and vitamin D intake through diet or vitamin D supplements. Usually 50% to 90% of vitamin D is produced by sunshine exposure of skin and the remainder comes from the diet. Natural diets most humans consume contain little vitamin D. Traditionally the human vitamin D system begins in the skin, not in the mouth.

However, important sources of vitamin D are egg yolk, fatty fish, fortified dairy products and beef liver.  In addition to vitamin D’s well-known role in bone and calcium metabolism, vitamin D deficiency has been linked to a long-list of health conditions including atherosclerosis.
Vitamin D is critical to the proper functioning of the endothelial cells that line blood vessels. Without sufficient levels of vitamin D, these endothelial cells become more susceptible to damage and dysfunction that ultimately can lead to the development of atherosclerosis as well as arterial calcification.
Vitamin D Keeps Lead in Your Pencil
Given the link between vitamin D and atherosclerosis, Italian researchers conducted a study in 143 men with erectile dysfunction (ED). The men were evaluated for penile atherosclerosis by ultrasound along with blood levels for vitamin D3. Fifty men were classified as suffering from atherosclerotic ED, 28 borderline ED and 65 non- atherosclerotic ED. The average vitamin D level was 21.3?ng/mL and 45.9% of the men had vitamin D deficiency (