{"id":220991,"date":"2025-06-28T09:39:12","date_gmt":"2025-06-28T09:39:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/220991\/"},"modified":"2025-06-28T09:39:12","modified_gmt":"2025-06-28T09:39:12","slug":"scientists-name-food-that-turns-calories-into-muscle-not-fat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/220991\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists name food that turns calories into muscle, not fat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The study found that it &#8216;redirected surplus calories to muscle growth instead of fat storage&#8217;<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/0_GettyImages-1444679570.jpg\" alt=\"Woman and man chatting after gym session\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>It could explain why you are not seeing results, despite doing everything right&#8217; in terms of exercise<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Scientists have revealed that a simple compound found in food can influence whether your body converts calories into &#8216;fat or muscle&#8217;. Zest Science, which provides health advice &#8216;developed alongside leading researchers and medical doctors&#8217;, was referring to a 2024 study about Vitamin D.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">On its Instagram page, Zest Science stated that a deficiency in Vitamin D could lead to fatigue, mood swings, muscle weakness, and poor recovery. Astonishingly, up to half of the world&#8217;s population suffers from a lack of Vitamin D.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">They even suggest that you &#8216;could be doing everything right&#8217; in terms of exercise, but a lack of Vitamin D could be sabotaging your training. The scientists stated: &#8220;Vitamin D decides if the calories you eat turn to fat or muscle. A 2024 study found that Vitamin D redirected surplus calories to muscle growth instead of fat storage.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;High doses of Vitamin D caused a hormonal shift, altering how calories were utilised. They suppressed myostatin &#8211; a hormone that blocks muscle growth &#8211; increased leptin sensitivity &#8211; improving fat metabolism &#8211; and boosted resting energy expenditure without changes in food intake or activity.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;Up to 50 per cent of the world&#8217;s population is Vitamin D deficient. Symptoms include fatigue, mood swings, poor recovery, and muscle weakness. A deficiency equals muscle loss, fat gain, and higher disease risk.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Content cannot be displayed without consentHow to consume Vitamin D<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The NHS has emphasised the importance of Vitamin D in regulating the levels of calcium and phosphate in our bodies, which are crucial for maintaining healthy bones, teeth, and muscles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A deficiency in Vitamin D can lead to serious health issues such as rickets and other bone deformities. In adults, it can result in bone pain due to a condition known as osteomalacia.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The Government&#8217;s advice is that everyone should consider taking a daily vitamin D supplement during the autumn and winter months, as sunlight is typically the primary source of this vital nutrient.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">However, there are also numerous foods rich in Vitamin D. These include oily fish like salmon, sardines, trout, herrings, and kippers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Red meat, particularly beef liver, is another good source, as are eggs, especially the yolks, and canned tuna.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Zest scientists have warned: &#8220;You could be doing everything right&#8230;but still struggling with fatigue, slow recovery, and stubborn body fat.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">They added that optimising Vitamin D levels won&#8217;t solve all problems, but if you&#8217;re deficient, it could reduce body fat storage, support muscle growth, and boost your metabolism. &#8220;Vitamin D deficiency is sneaky &#8211; and shockingly common. Symptoms are easy to dismiss.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The study found that it &#8216;redirected surplus calories to muscle growth instead of fat storage&#8217;It could explain why&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":220992,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4318],"tags":[105,622,4434,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-220991","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nutrition","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthy-eating","10":"tag-nutrition","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=220991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/220991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/220992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=220991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=220991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=220991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}