The Sun May Trim Your Waistline

If you want to keep your weight down, keeping your body in the sun may help. Conversely, staying indoors all day may make it harder to stay trim.

Researchers in Oregon have found that older women with low levels of vitamin D (formed by the body in response to sunlight) put on more weight than those with sufficient levels.

“This is one of the first studies to show that women with low levels of Vitamin D gain more weight, and although it was only two pounds, over time that can add up,” says study author Erin LeBlanc, M.D., an endocrinologist and researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon. “Nearly 80 percent of women in our study had insufficient levels of Vitamin D. A primary source of this important vitamin is sunlight, and as modern societies move indoors, continuous Vitamin D insufficiency may be contributing to chronic weight gain.”