Can vitamin D lower cholesterol?

Vitamin D is a fat-soluble nutrient that’s essential to your health. It’s commonly known as the sunshine vitamin because you can get it from sunlight.

To make vitamin D from sunlight, your body goes through a series of steps. The first step involves a type of cholesterol called 7-dehydrocholesterol. Since your body uses cholesterol to make vitamin D, you might wonder if vitamin D can help lower cholesterol.

Some recent research looks promising that vitamin D supplements can lower your cholesterol or prevent high cholesterol in those who don’t already have it. Still, more research would help to understand it better.

Can vitamin D help lower your cholesterol?

Research on the effects of vitamin D on cholesterol shows mixed results, so it’s unclear if it will be beneficial.

A 2021 study suggests low levels of vitamin D and vitamin D deficiency may have an association with high cholesterol levels. This could imply that taking vitamin D supplements or increasing your intake could reduce cholesterol levels.

A 2019 research involving children who did not have obesity suggests that vitamin D deficiency only affected the levels of certain kinds of fats, like triglycerides, in their blood, but not LDL cholesterol.

Whereas in a 2021 study, vitamin D supplementation over a 1-year period reduced levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol but not high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

LDL cholesterol is known as bad cholesterol. High levels of bad cholesterol may lead to health risks such as heart attack and stroke.

How to increase vitamin D

You can increase your vitamin D from several sources, including foods, supplements, and sunshine.

Vitamin D from food

There aren’t many foods that naturally contain vitamin D. Instead, many people get vitamin D from fortified foods, which is the term for foods with nutrients added to them. Some common food sources of vitamin D include:

• fatty foods
• cheese
• egg yolks
• beef liver
• ultraviolet light exposed mushrooms
• fortified milk and fortified plant-based milk
• fortified cereals

Dietary supplements

There are 2 supplements available to increase vitamin D in your blood: vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol).

Speak with a healthcare professional before taking any dietary supplements. This is to ensure you’re taking the right amount and that it won’t interfere with any medications you may be taking.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends taking a certain amount of vitamin D, depending on your age. For example:

• Babies under 12 months: 10 micrograms (mcg) per day
• Anyone ages 1–70 years: 15 mcg per day
• People older than 70: 20 mcg per day

Some drugs that vitamin D supplements can interact with include:

• Statins: such as atorvastatin (Lipitor) and lovastatin (Altoprev)
• Steroids: such as prednisone (Rayos) and cortisone (Cortone)
• Thiazide diuretics: such as hydrochlorothiazide (Microzide) and chlorthalidone (Thalizone)

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The sun

Cholesterol helps your body make vitamin D from sunlight. This happens when your skin has direct exposure to the sun.

While sunlight can be a great way to get some of your vitamin D, certain factors, like cloudy weather, can reduce the amount of vitamin D your skin produces. Too much sun exposure can be dangerous. It’s a good idea to have vitamin D supplements or eat foods that contain it.

Vitamin D side effects

You may experience the following side effects if you take too much vitamin D:

• nausea, vomiting, and loss of appetite
• constipation
• weakness
• weight loss
• confusion or disorientation
• kidney damage

What is cholesterol?

Cholesterol is a fatty substance that’s naturally present in your body. Certain foods like egg yolks, meat, and cheese also have cholesterol.

Though having too much cholesterol in your blood can cause health problems, some cholesterol is necessary. That’s because, in addition to using it to make vitamin D, your body uses it to make hormones and cell membranes.

Types of cholesterol

Fat and protein form lipoprotein. They carry and transport cholesterol through the bloodstream. The 2 main types of lipoproteins are HDL and LDL.

HDL cholesterol, or cholesterol which HDLs carry, is “good” cholesterol. That’s because HDL carries cholesterol to your liver, where your body removes it.

LDL cholesterol, or cholesterol which LDLs carry, is known as “bad” cholesterol. That’s because LDL transports cholesterol to your arteries, where it may build up. If there’s too much buildup, it can restrict blood flow through the blood vessels. This can lead to health complications like heart attack or stroke.

High cholesterol

If you have too much LDL cholesterol, you have high cholesterol. Risk factors that may contribute to high cholesterol include:

• having a higher body mass index (BMI)
• eating foods that are high in cholesterol
• eating foods that are high in saturated or trans fats
• not getting enough physical activity
• smoking
• genetics

High cholesterol generally doesn’t cause any symptoms. The only way to know if your cholesterol is high is to take a blood test. But it can lead to the following complications:

• stroke
• heart attack
• chest pain (angina)
• high blood pressure (hypertension)

If you have high cholesterol, a doctor may recommend lifestyle modifications, such as getting more active or changing your diet. They may also prescribe medication.

High cholesterol treatments

If you have high cholesterol, doctors will likely recommend lifestyle measures involving avoiding high cholesterol foods and replacing them with low cholesterol alternatives.

Doctors also prescribe medications, called statins, which include:

• atorvastatin (Lipitor)
• rosuvastatin (Crestor)
• fluvastatin (Lescol XL)
• pitavastatin (Livalo)
• pravastatin (Pravachol)
• simvastatin (Flolipid)

Summary

Recent research suggests that vitamin D may play an important role in cholesterol regulation. If you have vitamin D deficiency, you may be more likely to have high cholesterol. However, if you take vitamin D supplements, this may lower your cholesterol or reduce your risk of developing high cholesterol and its complications.

Speak with a healthcare professional before taking dietary supplements, as they might interact with other medications.

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