NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather forecasts

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
    • The Great NZ Road Trip
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
    • Cooking the Books
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • What the Actual
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Lifestyle

Could vitamin D pill replace exercise?

Daily Mail
2 Nov, 2015 07:51 PM3 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

After two weeks, study participants who had taken the vitamin D pills did dramatically better on the bike. Photo / iStock

After two weeks, study participants who had taken the vitamin D pills did dramatically better on the bike. Photo / iStock

For couch potatoes everywhere, it could be a dream come true.

Vitamin D supplements may make people fitter without them having to move a muscle, research suggests.

Taking a daily dose for just two weeks significantly improved fitness, a study found. The pills were also found to lower blood pressure and levels of the stress hormone cortisol.

With vitamin D already credited with a host of health benefits, the team behind the research suggest we all take a supplement.

They particularly recommend doing so during the dark winter months because, while vitamin D is found in some foods such as oily fish, we get most of our supply when our skin is exposed to sunlight and the British climate means millions of us do not get enough of it.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

But other experts warned people not to be too hasty to cancel their gym memberships, saying that the results seem too good to be true and that more research is needed.

The team, from the Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh, did a battery of medical tests on 13 healthy men and women before putting them through their paces on an exercise bike.

Some were then asked to take 50 micrograms of vitamin D a day for a fortnight - ten times the amount in multi-vitamin pills - while the others took a dummy pill.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

After the two weeks, those who had taken the vitamin D pills did dramatically better on the bike. They went from being able to cycle 4.8 kilometres in 20 minutes to covering 6.4 kilometres. And despite cycling a third further, they found it easier than they had done before.

Those who took the placebo pill were no fitter or healthier than they had been at the start of the study, the Society for Endocrinology's annual conference in Edinburgh heard.

It is thought that vitamin D reduces the amount of the stress hormone cortisol made by the body.

Cortisol can raise blood pressure, which, in turn, raises the risk of potentially deadly heart attacks and strokes.

Discover more

Lifestyle

Sugary food in view? 11kg heavier - study

02 Nov 12:05 AM
Lifestyle

Girl born with heart outside chest defies odds

02 Nov 01:29 AM
Lifestyle

Asian diet helps effects of menopause

02 Nov 03:27 AM
Lifestyle

10 reasons you're not getting better

08 Nov 03:00 AM

Vitamin D supplements have also been linked to a range of other health benefits, such as helping to ward off Alzheimer's, keeping prostate cancer under control, stopping multiple sclerosis from developing and boosting bone health.

However, it is unclear why vitamin D would improve exercise performance. One of the researchers, dietitian Dr Raquel Revuelta Iniesta, said that a large study is needed to confirm the vitamin's benefits.

But she added that there is no harm in people taking a supplement in the meantime. She recommends taking ten micrograms a day, especially between October and April.

Others said the number of people involved in the study was too small to reveal much. Dr Helen Simpson, a consultant endocrinologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, warned that the results seem too good to be true.

She said that there is no reason for healthy people to take vitamin D supplements and that the dosage used in the study could be harmful if taken for long periods.

- Daily Mail

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save

    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Lifestyle

Rice to the occasion: How a Queenstown brewery snagged gold at Tokyo Sake Challenge

09 May 04:15 AM
Entertainment

Lorde announces new world tour - but snubs NZ

08 May 08:14 PM
Travel

Air NZ's premium economy v Skycouch: Which is the winner?

08 May 07:00 PM

Sponsored: Top tier tiles - faux or refresh

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Rice to the occasion: How a Queenstown brewery snagged gold at Tokyo Sake Challenge

Rice to the occasion: How a Queenstown brewery snagged gold at Tokyo Sake Challenge

09 May 04:15 AM

Zenkuro was one of two non-Japanese breweries to be recognised at the challenge.

Lorde announces new world tour - but snubs NZ

Lorde announces new world tour - but snubs NZ

08 May 08:14 PM
Air NZ's premium economy v Skycouch: Which is the winner?

Air NZ's premium economy v Skycouch: Which is the winner?

08 May 07:00 PM
'Significant win': New Homegrown host city confident in pulling it off

'Significant win': New Homegrown host city confident in pulling it off

08 May 06:00 PM
Sponsored: How much is too much?
sponsored

Sponsored: How much is too much?

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • What the Actual
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven CarGuide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP