Obesity and Vitamin D research in 23 years: 6144 studies, 123 countries, 28156 authors – July 2024

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Bibliometric analysis of vitamin D and obesity research over the period 2000 to 2023

Front. Pharmacol., 17 July 2024 Volume 15 - 2024 | https://doi.org/10.3389/fphar.2024.1445061
Xudong Song &#x ;Xudong Song1†Senhua Qin &#x ;Senhua Qin 1 † Shuxin ChenShuxin Chen1 Can Zhang Can Zhang1Lin Lin
Lin Lin 2 *Ziyi Song, Ziyi Song1*

Background: Globally, the incidence rates of obesity and its related diseases, such as cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes, are continuously rising, posing a significant public health challenge. Studies have indicated a potential correlation between vitamin D deficiency and obesity. However, a quantitative analysis of the studies related vitamin D and obesity is lacking. This investigation aims to fill this gap by providing a comprehensive bibliometric analysis to uncover the collaborative networks, research hotspots, and evolutionary trends within the field of vitamin D and obesity research.

Methods: This study retrieved literature related to vitamin D and obesity from the Web of Science database spanning from 2000 to 2023. Bibliometric analysis was conducted using tools such as HistCite, VOSviewer, and CiteSpace to excavate multi-dimensional information including countries, institutions, authors, journals, citations, and keywords.

Results: A total of 6,144 records were retrieved, involving 123 countries, 6,726 institutions, and 28,156 authors, published in 1,551 journals. The number of published papers and citations showed a generally increasing trend. The United States led in terms of publication volume and influence, with journals such as Nutrients and Obesity Surgery having the highest publication counts. Nasser M. Al-Daghri was the most prolific and influential author. Keyword clustering revealed that research topics covered metabolic health, nutrition, immunity, and bariatric surgery. Citation burst analysis indicated a shift in research focus from the relationship between dietary calcium and obesity to the preventive effects of vitamin D supplementation on metabolic diseases.

Conclusion: The application of bibliometric methods to analyze the research literature in the fields of obesity and vitamin D has provided a comprehensive understanding of the collaborative networks, key research focus, and evolutionary trends in this field, offering insights for guiding future research directions.
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

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VitaminDWiki – Overview Obesity and Vitamin D contains:

• FACT: People who are obese have less vitamin D in their blood
• FACT: Obese need a higher dose of vitamin D to get to the same level of vit D
• FACT: When obese people lose weight the vitamin D level in their blood increases
• FACT: Adding Calcium, perhaps in the form of fortified milk, often reduces weight
• FACT: 168 trials for vitamin D intervention of obesity as of Dec 2021
• FACT: Less weight gain by senior women with > 30 ng of vitamin D
• FACT: Dieters lost additional 5 lbs if vitamin D supplementation got them above 32 ng - RCT
• FACT: Obese lost 3X more weight by adding $10 of Vitamin D
• FACT: Those with darker skins were more likely to be obese Sept 2014
• OBSERVATION: Low Vitamin D while pregnancy ==> more obese child and adult
• OBSERVATION: Many mammals had evolved to add fat and vitamin D in the autumn
  • and lose both in the Spring - unfortunately humans have forgotten to lose the fat in the Spring
• SPECULATION: Low vitamin D might be one of the causes of obesity – several studies
• SUGGESTION: Probably need more than 4,000 IU to lose weight if very low on vitamin D due to
    risk factors such as overweight, age, dark skin, live far from equator,shut-in, etc.
• Obesity category has 442 items

See also: Weight loss and Vitamin D - many studies   Child Obesity and Vitamin D - many studies   Obesity, Virus, and Vitamin D - many studies
Obese need more Vitamin D

• Normal weight     Obese     (50 ng = 125 nanomole)

Click here for 2014 study

See also: Weight loss and Vitamin D - many studies

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VitaminDWiki – Obesity is associated with low Vitamin D (and treated by D as well) – Aug 2019 contains:

Fast weight loss by Obese Adults: Summary of the data as of Sept 2019
1) 50,000 IU Vitamin D weekly for at least 6 months
   If gut problems, should use a gut-friendly form of vitamin D
2) Add calorie restriction diet and light exercise after ~2 months*
   * Vitamin D levels must be above 30ng/ml to help with weight loss
   * Start losing weight 2 months sooner if take a 50,000 IU daily for a week
3) More weight loss if also add Magnesium or cofactors
   30% Improved Vitamin D response with Magnesium - a Vitamin D Cofactor
   Note: Magnesium reduces weight loss by itself as well
   20% improved vitamin D response if also add Omega-3 a Vitamin D Cofactor
  Note: Omega-3 reduces weight loss by itself as well
4) More weight loss if also improve activation of Vitamin D Receptor
   Vitamin D Receptor activator: 0-30% improved Vitamin D response
   Obesity 1.5 X more likely if poor Vitamin D Receptor – meta-analysis Nov 2019
Update Dec 2019 - Dr. Greger plant-based eating (not diet) for both weight loss and health.
  His book does not mention Vitamin D nor Adenovirus

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VitaminDWiki – Overview Diabetes and vitamin D contains

• Diabetes is 5X more frequent far from the equator
• Children getting 2,000 IU of vitamin D are 8X less likely to get Type 1 diabetes
• Obese people get less sun / Vitamin D - and also vitamin D gets lost in fat
• Sedentary people get less sun / Vitamin D
• Worldwide Diabetes increase has been concurrent with vitamin D decrease and air conditioning
• Elderly get 4X less vitamin D from the same amount of sun
      Elderly also spend less time outdoors and have more clothes on
• All items in category Diabetes and Vitamin D 553 items: both Type 1 and Type 2

Vitamin D appears to both prevent and treat diabetes

• Appears that >2,000 IU will Prevent
• Appears that >4,000 IU will Treat , but not cure
• 90% less T2 Diabetes in the group having lots of Vitamin D
• Appears that Magnesium helps both Prevention and Treatment
• Many diabetics would be better treated if Gut-Friendly Vitamin D were used

Number of articles in both categories of Diabetes and:

• Dark Skin 24;   Intervention 57;   Meta-analysis 40;   Obesity 36;  Pregnancy 44;   T1 (child) 39;  Omega-3 11;  Vitamin D Receptor 24;  Genetics 13;  Magnesium 30    Click here to see details

Some Diabetes studies

• Take Vitamin D to prevent prediabetes from progressing into diabetes – American Diabetic Association – 2024
• Diabetes and Vitamin D meta-analyses - many studies 39+ as of Nov 2024
• 99.7% of people who got Diabetes had been regularly consuming food emulsifiers - May 2024
• Type 2 Diabetes treated by Vitamin D (often 50,000 IU weekly) – meta-analysis July 2023
• Diabetic inflammation synergistically decreased by Vitamin D and exercise – RCT June 2022
• Incidence of Type-2 Diabetes increased 3X in 30 years (by the way, Vitamin D helps) – July 2022
• Vitamin d treats Type II Diabetes in many ways (14 article review) - Sept 2021
• T2 Diabetes 30 percent more likely if poor Vitamin D Receptor – meta-analysis of 47 studies – July 2021

50 ng of Vitamin D fights Diabetes

• Saudi study defines normal Vitamin D level to be 50 to 70 ng (diabetes, etc.) - June 2020
• Diabetes 5X less likely if more than 50 ng of Vitamin D – April 2018

T1 Diabetes

• T1 Diabetes 3X lower risk if high vitamin D (over 40 ng) – Meta-analysis Nov 2020
• Type 1 Diabetes is prevented and treated by Vitamin D – review of 16 studies – Sept 2019
• Type 1 Diabetes prevention with Vitamin D and Omega-3 – Symposium April 2019

Pre-Diabetes

• 4X reduction in prediabetes progressing to T2D if more than 50 ng of vitamin D – RCT March 2023
• Prediabetes reduced by weekly 60,000 IU of Vitamin D – RCT Jan 2021
• Prediabetes 1.5 X more likely to go away if take Vitamin D – meta-analysis July 2020

Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Magnesium - many studies
Diabetic Epidemic

• Step back to 1994. Suppose an epidemic struck the United States, causing blindness, kidney failure, and leg amputations in steadily increasing numbers.
  Suppose that in less than a decade's time, the epidemic had victimized one out of every eight people
  That epidemic is real, and its name is diabetes, now the nation's sixth leading cause of death.
  Chart from the web (2018?)
  

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Obesity category is associated with Diabetes 35, Intervention 33, Infant-Child 30, Youth 24, Metabolic Syndrome 21, Skin - Dark 20, Virus 19, Women 16, VDR 16, Pregnancy 15, etc.

Calcium 15, Genetics 15, Omega-3 13, Magnesium 11, Intervention - non daily 10, Liver 9, How much Vitamin D 9, Cardiovascular 9, Antibiotics, probiotics 8, Cancer 7, Deficiency 7, Sports 7, Seniors 7, Hypertension 6, Loading dose 4, Vit D Binding Protein 4, Breathing 4, Bone - Health 4, Gut 4, Multiple Sclerosis 4, Predict Vitamin D 4, UV 4
Click here to see each study group