Efficacy of vitamin D supplementation in reducing body mass index and lipid profile in healthy young adults in Colombia: a pilot randomised controlled clinical trial

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the efficacy of oral administration of vitamin D supplementation in reducing BMI and lipid profile in adolescents and young adults from a cohort in Bucaramanga, Colombia. One hundred and one young adults were randomly assigned to one of two doses of vitamin D [1000 international units (IU) or 200 IU] administered daily for 15 weeks. The primary outcomes were serum 25(OH)D levels, BMI and lipid profile. The secondary outcomes were waist-hip ratio, skinfolds and fasting blood glucose. We found a mean +/- sd plasma concentration of 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] was 25.0 +/- 7.0 ng/ml at baseline, and after 15 weeks, it increased to 31.0 +/- 10.0 ng/ml in the participants who received a daily dose of 1000 IU, (P < 0.0001). For the participants in the control group (200 IU), it went from 26.0 +/- 8.0 ng/ml to 29.0 +/- 8.0 ng/ml (P = 0.002). There were no differences between groups in body mass index. There was a statistically significant decrease in LDL-cholesterol between the intervention group v. the control group (mean difference -11.50 mg/dl (95 % CI -21.86 to -1.15; P = 0.030). The conclusions of the present study were two different doses of vitamin D supplementation (200 IU v. 1000 IU) produced changes in serum 25(OH)D levels over 15 weeks of administration in healthy young adults. No significant changes were found in the body mass index when the effect of the treatments was compared. A significant reduction in LDL-cholesterol was found when comparing the two intervention groups.