During the summer months, your skin can synthesize vitamin D from sunshine. That’s fortunate since there aren’t a lot of options for meeting your needs with whole foods. Summertime also has a tendency to increase your awareness about body weight, and a study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggests there’s a link between vitamin D status and weight management.

Spanish scientists measured vitamin D levels in 1,266 subjects between 1996 and 1998, 2002 and 2004 and again from 2005 to 2007. About 35% were considered deficient, and those who had lower levels on the second visit were much more likely to become obese over the next 4-year period.

True Strength Moment: Researchers believe that vitamin D plays a role in regulating the function of fat tissue. It’s also important to bone health, and a study outlined on ABB’s Performance Blog suggests timing vitamin D supplementation can impact how your bones adapt to exercise. VisitABBperformance.com to read the story.