Available data indicate that about 74 percent of adults in the U.S. are either overweight or obese, there are also many people with the opposite problem of being underweight. Some individuals may be naturally underweight due to genetics or a fast metabolism. Being underweight may also be indicative of poor nutrition or underlying health conditions.
In addition, many people who are not clinically underweight may still want to gain some muscle and put on weight for other reasons. Whether you’re clinically underweight or simply struggling to gain muscle weight, the main principles are the same.
What are vitamins?
Vitamins are organic substances present in minute amounts in natural foodstuffs. Having too little of any particular vitamin may increase the risk of developing certain health issues. A vitamin is an organic compound, which means that it contains carbon. It is also an essential nutrient that the body may need to get from food.
In a few cases, people suffer from eating disorders due to the shortage of vitamins and iron. Due to this, it becomes imperative to have some type of vitamin that enhance appetite and food consumption thus leading to increased weight.
The list of vitamins that can cause weight gain includes:
Vitamin A
Vitamin A is a fat-soluble nutrient that plays a vital role in your body. It exists naturally in foods and can also be consumed through supplements. Though vitamin A is often considered a singular nutrient, it’s really a group of fat-soluble compounds, including retinol, retinal, and retinyl esters. Studies have linked vitamin A intake and weight gain. Vitamin is also important to vision, growth, cell division, reproduction, and immunity. Vitamin A also has antioxidant properties.
Vitamin B
B vitamins play a vital role in maintaining good health and well-being. As the building blocks of a healthy body, B vitamins have a direct impact on your energy levels, brain function, and cell metabolism. It has long been known that B vitamins at doses below their toxicity threshold strongly promote body fat gain. Studies have demonstrated that formulas, which have very high levels of vitamins, significantly promote infant weight gain, especially fat mass gain, a known risk factor for children developing obesity.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an essential vitamin, meaning your body can’t produce it. Yet, it has many roles and has been linked to impressive health benefits. It’s water-soluble and found in many fruits and vegetables, including oranges, strawberries, kiwi fruit, bell peppers, broccoli, kale, and spinach.
Vitamin C is known for inducing high appetite levels which can make some people gain weight. Excess vitamin C may also affect the degradation of neurotransmitters and one-carbon metabolism. Therefore, excess vitamins may trigger obesity in multiple ways, including increasing fat synthesis, causing insulin resistance, disturbing neurotransmitter metabolism, and inducing epigenetic changes.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D is a group of fat-soluble secosteroids responsible for increasing intestinal absorption of calcium, magnesium, phosphate, and many other biological effects. In humans, the most important compounds in this group are vitamin D₃ and vitamin D₂.
People can often get the majority of their vitamin D intake from sunlight exposure. However, people at risk of developing vitamin D deficiency, and many other people, cannot solely rely on sunlight exposure for vitamin D production. During the winter months, when the sun is not as strong, everyone can benefit from vitamin D supplements.
Low serum vitamin D has been found to be associated with various types of metabolic illnesses such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance, and cardiovascular diseases including hypertension. Various studies reported that vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency is linked with metabolic syndrome risk.
Your body needs calcium to keep your bones dense and strong. Low bone density can cause your bones to become brittle and fragile. These weak bones can break more easily, even without an obvious injury. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium keeping them dense and strong. There greater the calcium retention, the higher the bone mass. Bones make up about 15% of a person’s total body weight. For example, the bones of a person weighing 100 pounds would weigh about 15 pounds.
