Vitamin D Supplementation No Aid to Muscle Health

MONDAY, Aug. 30, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Vitamin D supplementation does not show a benefit to muscle health, according to a review published online Aug. 17 in the Journal of Bone and Mineral Research.

Lise Sofie Bislev, M.D., Ph.D., from the Aarhus University Hospital in Denmark, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review to identify studies investigating the effects of vitamin D supplementation versus placebo on muscle health.

Based upon 54 randomized controlled trials (including 8,747 individuals), the researchers found that vitamin D was associated with a significantly longer time spent performing the timed up and go test versus placebo (19 studies, I² = 0 percent). Vitamin D was also associated with a significant lower maximum knee flexion strength (12 studies, I² = 0 percent). In response to vitamin D, the Short Physical Performance Battery showed a tendency toward worsening versus placebo (eight studies). No other measures of muscle health showed between-group differences.

“Care should be taken recommending vitamin D supplementation to improve muscle strength and function in people with normal or only slightly impaired vitamin D status,” Bislev said in a statement. “We need to study further whether it may benefit muscles in those with severe vitamin D deficiency, however.”

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