Elite Athletes Try a New Training Tactic: More Vitamin D - WSJ Jan 2016

Elite Athletes Try a New Training Tactic: More Vitamin D
Wall Street Journal Jan 25, 2016

Subtitle: Pro and college teams, including the Steelers, Red Wings and USC, think the nutrient may help players avoid injury, among other benefits

• "A 2011 study of the New York Giants, presented at a meeting of the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine, found an association between low vitamin D levels and injuries. "
• "Ms. McDowell aims to get her hockey players’ vitamin D levels between 40 and 80 nanograms per milliliter. "
• "One study, of more than 5,000 female U.S. Navy recruits, found a 20% drop in stress fractures after recruits received doses of calcium and vitamin D."
• "Even the University of Southern California, where sunshine abounds, checks its varsity athletes’ vitamin D levels annually. Despite all that sun, more than one-third of 223 USC athletes tested for a study published in 2015 had insufficient vitamin D levels."
• "The USC study, along with those of the Giants and Steelers, showed African-American athletes tend to have lower vitamin D levels. "

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See also VitaminDWiki

• Doctors Say Top Athletes Take Vitamin D And So Should You - CBS News Feb 2016
• The Importance of Vitamin D for Athletes - 2015
• NCAA athletes – one third had low levels of vitamin D, 19X more likely if black race – March 2015
• Professional soccer players with more vitamin D had better body parameters – 2014
• Many athletes now advised to take daily vitamin D supplements – Aug 2014
• Sunshine is a cure for “weak and soft muscles” – 425 BC
• Recent increase in Vitamin D levels in Elite Irish Athletes – Aug 2016

Overview Sports and vitamin D has the following summary
Athletes are helped by vitamin D by:

1. Faster reaction time
2. Far fewer colds/flus during the winter
3. Less sore/tired after a workout
4. Fewer micro-cracks and broken bones
5. Bones which do break heal much more quickly
6. Increased VO2 and exercise endurance Feb 2011
7. Indoor athletes especially need vitamin D
8. Professional indoor athletes are starting to take vitamin D and/or use UV beds
9. Olympic athletes have used UV/vitamin D since the 1930's
10. The biggest gain from the use of vitamin D is by those who exercise less than 2 hours per day.
11. Reduced muscle fatigue with 10,000 IU vitamin D daily
12. Muscle strength improved when vitamin D added: 3 Meta-analysis
13. Reduced Concussions
    See also: Sports and Vitamin D category 282 items

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