A Vitamin That Pumps Up Muscle Power

Muscle function depends on mitochondria, the biological batteries that power each cell. British research reveals that there’s a vitamin that makes those batteries more efficient and powerful. But many experts say we don’t get enough.

The crucial nutrient is vitamin D. Research at Newcastle University in Great Britain shows that muscle function improves with vitamin D supplements. Your skin also makes vitamin from sunlight and the vitamin is contained in fish, fish liver oil and egg yolks.

Mitochondria use glucose and oxygen to make energy in a form that can be used to run the cell — an energy-rich molecule called ATP. Muscle cells need large amounts of ATP for movement. They use phosphocreatine as a ready and available energy source to make ATP. The mitochondria also replenish phosphocreatine after muscle contraction and measuring the time taken to replenish these stores is a measure of mitochondrial efficiency: Better mitochondrial function is associated with shorter phosphocreatine recovery times.

The researchers found that these recovery rates significantly improved after people who were vitamin D deficient took a fixed dose of oral vitamin D for 10-12 weeks. The average phosphocreatine recovery half time decreased from 34.4 seconds to 27.8 seconds. All the people reported an improvement in symptoms of fatigue after having taken the supplements. In a parallel study, the group demonstrated that low Vitamin D levels were associated with reduced mitochondrial function.