Update on Obesity

Sarah Fudin currently works in community relations for the George Washington University's online MPH degree, which provides prospective students the ability to earn an online Masters degree in Public Health. Outside of work Sarah enjoys running, reading and all things education.

Americans have been increasingly concerned about weight gain in recent years, and with good reason. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three Americans is obese, making it common to speak of obesity as an epidemic a widespread problem that affects the society as a whole rather than an affliction of individuals who make poor eating decisions.

Who is Obese?

The obesity rate has fallen slightly in recent years and appears to have stabilized among children, but obesity does not affect all portions of the population equally. Obesity disproportionately affects those who with less money and education, as well as women. And obesity affects earning power and other forms of opportunity in turn: The obese earn as much as 18 percent less than those of "normal weight," according to a recent Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report. In light of these considerations, taxing unhealthy food an approach adopted by Denmark, Hungary, France and Finland is problematic because it puts the economic burden of obesity on those most directly disadvantaged by it.

Healthy Eating Begins in Childhood

According to Margo Wootan of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, the trick to reducing obesity is to change the way that children eat. Wootan says that by serving healthier lunches in schools and removing vending machines, we can habituate children to healthier eating. She also suggests that part of the problem is that 80 percent of food marketing aimed at children advertises unhealthy food an argument that recalls the controversy around cigarettes being marketed to children. Children who learn to eat healthfully are likely to remain healthy throughout their lives, while those who don't will face an uphill battle.

Preventing the development of obesity in children has been a common goal of many anti-obesity strategies. While such strategies may not produce the quick results that many of us would like to see, they could produce much healthier generations of adults in the years to come.

A Strategy for Prevention

The Institute of Medicine recently released a new strategy for preventing obesity in the United States. The strategy addresses the obesity epidemic from multiple angles, including restrictions on marketing unhealthy food to children, increasing the amount of physical exercise mandated in schools, making healthier food available to children in restaurants and using doctors to disseminate information and advice about healthy eating.

While obesity is a deep-rooted problem that isn't likely to disappear overnight, we can take steps to prevent it from spreading and to eventually reverse the trend. It seems clear that no easy answer or single strategy will solve the problem of obesity in our society, just as drastic dietary changes tend to produce temporary results for individuals. But approaching the problem from several different angles at once does seem more likely to produce results.

Importance of Foot Health and a Proper Podiatrist

Many people complain of having tired eyes, a sore back, or achy arms after a long day of work, but what they should really be complaining about is their feet. Even though most people don't think about it, the feet are one of the body parts that do the greatest amount of work on a daily basis. If you want to be able to continue doing the things you love to do, make foot health and regular visits to the podiatrist a priority in your life.

Proper Posture

Having healthy feet not only refers to having feet that are disease and injury free, it also refers to having feet that are of a specific shape. The shape of a foot can greatly affect balance, distribution of bodyweight, gait and stride, and the ability to walk or run. The feature of the foot that affects posture most is the arch. Feet that are considered to be healthy should have a nice arch because it keeps the bones of the body in proper alignment during standing and other upright activities. Flat-footedness, or having a collapsed arch, puts the skeleton out of alignment and adds more stress to the joints. This creates a more slouched posture, increases the likelihood of injury, and can cause extra soreness on the joints. This can be remedied by buying shoes with arch support or slip-in arch pads.

Injury Prevention

A foot that is not in peak condition can be the cause of many other injuries down the road. The truth of the matter is that performance is compromised when there is any type of damage to the foot regardless if it came from a sprain, broken bone, blister, or gangrene. Pain in one foot could lead you to hobble down the stairs on the other, slip, and tumble to the bottom to receive even worse injuries, for example. Intense pain in the feet usually leads to an imbalance that can cause paralyzing or fatal falls, especially in seniors.

If you are looking for experienced professionals, be sure to contact our foot specialists at (817) 697-2197 with any questions of concerns about the health of your feet. Don't hesitate to act now because healthy feet make happier lives.

Advice Interactive is a blogger for Trinity Orthopedics of Fort Worth, Texas. Fort Worth is a recreationally and culturally diverse city with its cattle, historic districts, museums and car racing. The physicians at Trinity Orthopedics take pride in servicing such a diverse community with such treatments as physical therapy and pain medication. You can find more information about Trinity Orthopedics of Fort Worth at www.trinityorthopedics.com

Control Arthritis before it assault your health

Arthritis is a group of diseases that are the enemy of joints in the body. Various endangering diseases do not allow a man to live a healthy life in the long run. One or the other diseases are assured to attack human body wherein some can be silent or asymptomatic and other might show symptoms. Arthritis is not a single disease, but encompasses of over 100 different forms. The joint structure is changed with the harmful affect bringing about pain and swelling. Most commonly seen is osteoarthritis, following with rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, and others.

Osteoarthritis is a kind of degenerative joint disorder that causes degradation of joints, gradual loss of cartilage, bringing about bony spurs and cysts, and affects sub-chondral bone. Rheumatoid is a different disorder that starts to occur anywhere between ages 25 and 55.

Rheumatoid arthritis takes a chronic form and it is known to make the person crippled while causing damage, injury, loss of motion to the joints, and others, to distort them completely. The symptoms normally attached to this disorder include swelling, pain, and stiffness. Women are more prone towards this disorder showing the rate three times more than that of men. Obesity is one of the factors that drag women in the direction of this disorder. It was also included in one of the latest study held in 2012 that 18% to 19% overweight and obese women are likely to acquire rheumatoid arthritis. It is thus very important to have a control over the weight that can also aid in guarding from other disorders like diabetes or cardiovascular, apart from protecting from rheumatoid arthritis. It is basically the excessive presentation of the fat cells that delivers the inflamed proteins. Consequently, one should maintain a normal weight with the help of good diet and exercise.

The other dangerous episode of rheumatoid arthritis in connection with depression can probably lead to the jeopardy of death. Patient with this disorder are three times more probable to die within a year when he faces the symptoms of depression than other RA patient who do not show any sign of depressions. This can lead to the endangering complication in men.

Men with erectile dysfunction are mostly prone to depression, loneliness, and a feeling of worthlessness. Other normal men can also face the events of such depression without regards to ed disorder. These categories of men are 5 times more prone to die maybe in next year. Thus, it is important for men with RA chaos to control their emotions of sadness and try finding out for other solutions which will keep away from sadness thought. They need to solve their issues with doctor.

The other finding revealed about the newly identified genes and its connection to the rheumatoid arthritis. These genes linked to the X chromosome can help solve and clarify the fact of women being more prone to this disorder than men. As we all know that there are two X chromosomes in women while men have X chromosome and Y chromosome.

This is the guest post by Irvine Lampson,consultant physician and writer for Generic Pill Mart and author of various health related articles such as men health, generic celebrex, allergy etc. to help people to be aware about various health issues and their solution.

By Irvine Lampson

Research before Taking Diet Pills

All the key ingredients and precautions which should be taken before consuming weight lose pills or diet pills. It states that proper research or survey should be conducted by the consumers before taking any diet pill.

Weight lose pills are not at all the magic pills. Hence, one should not expect the rapid change in your body after taking weight lose pills. These diet pills contain lots of supplements and help you in reducing your weight. But is very much important is that you should take proper diet and healthy food along with proper exercise so as to compliment these pills. But all pills are not good enough so what is required is that you should proper research and survey on such pills and then take such pills. Thus, following things should be kept in mind while taking such diet pills:

• Functions of Diet Pills: Such diet pills generate quick results and helps in reducing weight in very less time frame. The main function of such diet pills is to burn fat quickly, increase metabolism and suppress hunger so as to reduce weight at faster pace. By increasing metabolism and supressing hunger, weight reduction takes place at faster pace.
• Type of Diet Pills: There are numerous types of diet pills prevailing in the market. They may include carbohydrate blocking or fat burning compounds which can be very harmful for your health. Therefore, it is very important for you to do proper research first and then take such diet pills else it may harm you and you will do nothing as far as end up ruining your health. Therefore, for such kind of research there are myriad numbers of companies prevailing in the industry which may help you in finding best results and give reviews. You can get recommendation from public for different kinds of weight lose pills and judge yourself that which kind of diet pill is suitable for you. There is one company named, Diet Pill Rating which helps you in finding reviews on such pills. Not only this company, but there are plethora companies prevailing in this industry which can help you out in finding the best suited medicine for you.
• Effectiveness of the Pills: There are numerous scientists who have studied and worked on such diet pills in order to measure their effectiveness. Hence, it is very important for you being a customer to judge any pill you are taking, to ensure that it is effective or not.
• Ignore False Statements: You should not be impressed with the false statement made by the companies and exaggerated advertisements about the quick reduction of weight. Rather, you should judge yourself by doing a proper survey and research about that particular product and should also follow a good and strict diet plan and food habits along with exercise.
• Warning: You should always be prepared of several mild and severe side effects which may be caused from diet pills like vomiting, indigestion etc. You should always stay away from such side effects and thus should take preventive actions and should do proper research beforehand.

Therefore, it can be rightly said that above mentioned points should be noted regarding weight lose reduction and you should buy them only either after consulting a good doctor or after doing proper research and survey on the same.

By Sachin

Important Tips on Health and Fitness

One thing that people often mention while talking about health is their desire to keep fit and lose the body fat. Apart from exercising, diet is a significant component in losing fat; appropriate natural fitness diet is the first step in keeping your body fit and losing fat from around your waist and belly. Below are the health and fitness tips.

The fitness and weight loss programs can be expensive, particularly if you have to procure a costly gym membership together with a special fitness and weight-loss food package. Luckily, you can be able to keep fit cheaply and easily by following a small number of simple steps. The steps will simply save you money and also help you cast out the belly swell for good.

1. Energy

Fuel your body to lose the fat by increasing your intake of the fresh foods like vegetables and fruits and decrease any intake of the processed foods like cookies and crackers. Fresh foods usually energize the body and make it easier to carry out tasks throughout the day; this will encourage your body to keep fit quickly. Replace the junk foods that are usually high in fats and sugar with the whole foods which are close to their natural states.

2. Fluids

The body requires at least 64 ounces of liquids per day in order to function properly. Even though milk and juices are termed as fluids, they are not ideal as the sole basis of your fluid intake. Aspire to make only water your necessary 64 ounces of fluid, and then drink other liquids after that, it might be easier to get to your target fluid intake by carrying around a water container with you to sip during the day and before you know it you will lose the fat.

3. Fitness

Start a basic fitness schedule that will increase muscle, lung and heart strength. Your schedule should include great fitness alternative like light running, walking fast, cycling and swimming. Any exercise that increases the heart rate to up 60 percent or more of its resting rate will be a good fitness choice. Begin by exercising for at least 30 minutes for three times a week. Start out gradually and then increase your stamina over time.

4. Don't Eat Junk Foods

Junk foods tend to have very high sugar content and usually contain loads of refined products like highly refined potatoes or flours. Refined potatoes and flours are converted to sugars in your body. This contributes much to obesity and belly fat than any other nutrients.

5. Consume the Right Carbohydrates

Consuming the incorrect kinds of carbohydrates dramatically increases the fat. So be careful not to eat too much of refined carbohydrates like pasta, white flour, potatoes or white rice. Avoid products prepared with these products and start focusing on getting your carbohydrates from elsewhere; consuming the whole grains in pastas and breads helps to keep fit and lose fat and are much better than eating processed grains.

6. Reduce Taking Snacks at Late-Night

Avoid eating snacks at late-night. Taking them at late-night is a problem because you usually go to bed after eating. Since there is no bodily physical activity to burn out the energy from body sugars developed by the snacks, instead fat tends to be like mad that finally gathers around your waistline.

7. Reduce Taking Alcohol

Alcoholic beverage tends to rapidly convert to the belly fat. If you usually take alcoholic drinks frequently, minimizing the consumption has a very dramatic effect on the amount of fat. The alcoholic drinks are fluids, so it is effortless to consume unnecessary sugars and calories.

For the kids it's very essential to help them as well as show them by example how to stay healthy and fit. Most kids believe that the meal can't be a good one unless it's French fries and greasy chicken. Teach the children that being healthy means more than a steady diet of the fast foods.

Attaining good body health and fitness is an objective and goal for all of us. The above tips are informative and lifestyle changing that each one of us can do to losing fat and weight without undergoing any surgery. Exercising and taking good diet are the major factors in eliminating that fat.

About Me:

I am Jason Holmes, the founder and runner of pharmacytechnicianinfo.net. The reason why I started this blog is because I love sharing ideas and my mind when it comes to topics which relate to pharmacy technician schools and courses in it. I have worked with various companies and organizations and I find this one of the most interesting field to find a career. My main vision at the moment is to educate pharmacy aspirants so that they make their dreams a reality.

Get Back Your Motivation for Weight Loss

If you don't like weight loss programs and tricks, then below are some easy and nice tips to energize your body and reach your goal of fitness.

1. Spice up Your Menus

One and the most common complaint about diet is that choosing food which is healthy for the body is a hard task. Everyone seems to advise differently and the person willing to do dieting is left in a whirlwind. Further, to complicate the matter, if there are other family members in the house, preparing a separate meal daily to lose weight seems like an unachievable task.

However, you have to work hard on dieting if you want to lose weight consistently and if you are sick of eating the same thing again and again, you should update the recipe knowledge bank with new idea. Going online will be a big help as there are recipe websites filled with ideas of food for people looking to lose weight.

Try to search for meals and snacks that are easy to make as well as healthy. It is not necessary to give up everything for weight loss. You can still have those delicious sauces and herbs provided they are made with low calories and fat.

2. Shop from Some New Stores

Try to change your daily shop weekly food purchasing. If you can search for new stores, it can bring you some more varieties of fresh foods which might not be available in the previous shop. If there are no shops nearby except for the local grocery store, you can search for them online or even purchase online. Or, you can earmark stores located a bit far and you can make bi-monthly or monthly trips to get the essentials.

3. Treat Yourself!

It is not at all necessary to starve yourself in the dieting process to lose weight. Offer yourself treats for accomplished goals or targets to remain motivated.

For instance, promise yourself a piece of Belgian chocolate if you have low calorie diet consistently for 10 days or buy yourself a new yoga CD if you are able to survive on salad diet for 15 days. Make such pointers and treat yourself once the target is achieved.

Conclusion

You should always keep in mind that motivation in every step is necessary to achieve weight loss constantly and successfully. You should always try to motivate yourself about what you have planned with regards to weight loss and dieting.

Author Bio: Samantha Kingston is a passionate health blogger who is associated a health website that features great weight loss product deals and helps people maintain ideal body weight without much trouble.

By Samantha Kingston

Free Natural Weight Gain Tips

Eat more calories, at least five meals in a day. Add butter, cheese, dried fruits, yoghurt, buttermilk in your meal. Caloric requirement is depending on weight, height and activity level.

Protein builds new muscle, include high protein foods such as pulses, beans, peas etc

• Add dairy products in your meals like eggs, fish, and meat with bread.
• Reduce as much mental and emotional stress as possible. Relax more
• Liquid food can help you gain a weight too. Drink shakes, milk, juice etc.
• Include healthy unsaturated fats such as olive and canola oil, nuts, seeds, peanut.
• You can select good quality fillers in between meals like Cashew ( Kaju ), Fig ( Anjeer ) milkshake, Banana milkshake etc.
• Sleep at least minimum of 8 hours in night.
• Add cheese, nuts, and dressings to salads.
• Eat more starchy vegetables, such as potatoes and corn.
• Fruit juices and dried fruit are higher in calories but also are good for you.

Exercise
Lots of people think that exercise is only for weight loss but Daily exercise can help to increase your muscles and body composition. It also helps to improve your enthusiasm and diet. Exercise regularly for healthy weight gain because it keeps the metabolism (chemical digestion) high. If you don't want to gain fat but lean mass, so exercise is important.

How To Reduce Weight Naturally

Obesity can RISK your health,Reduce your Weight by Natural Way- 10 Effective Home Remedies for Losing Weight

1) Fruits and green vegetables are low caloriefoods, so over weight persons should use these more frequently.

2) One should avoid intake of too much salt. Salt may be a factor for increasing the body weight.

3) Milk products like cheese, butter should be avoided because these are rich in fat. Meat and non-vegetarian foods should also be avoided.

4) Spices like dry ginger, cinnamon, black pepper etc. are good for loosing weight and can be used in a number of ways.

5) Vegetables like bitter gourd (Karela), and bitter variety of drumstick are useful for loosing weight.

6) Taking of honey is an excellent home remedy for obesity. It mobilizes the extra deposited fat in the body and puts it into circulation, which is utilized as energy for normal functions. One should start with small quantity of about 10 GMs. or a table spoonful to be taken with hot water. It is good to take it in early morning. A teaspoonful of fresh lemon juice may also be added.

7) Cabbage is considered to be an effective remedy for loosing weight. This vegetable inhibits the conversion of sugar and other carbohydrates into fat. Hence, it is of great value in weight reduction. It can be taken raw or cooked.

8) Exercise is an important part of weight reduction plan. It helps to use up calories stored in body as fat. In addition, it also relieves tension and tones up the muscles of the body. Walking is thebest exercise to begin with and may be followed by running, swimming, rowing.

9) Lime juice is excellent for weight reduction. Juice of a lime mixed in a glass of warm water and sweetened with honey should be taken every morning on an empty stomach.

10) Measure the portions of your food every meal and make sure that the portions are small. For example one portion of rice should not be more than the quantity which can fit in your fist. Smaller meals at a regular interval of 4 to 5 hours will keep your metabolism high and prevent your body from converting the food you intake into fat. You must also include regular exercise
in your daily routine to help enhance weight reduction.

4 Common Myths - Real Hindrance in Your Path of Successful Weight Loss

There is a growing interest in weight loss all over the world, which has led to emerging of many weight loss products, exercises and diets that have all been geared at helping those who are embarking on losing their body weight.

However, there is sheer misinformation regarding weight loss and how to go about it. One element of misinformation is weight loss myths, which have for long acted as a hindrance of losing weight effectively. There is therefore need for people to be aware of these myths and facts so as to be able to detach themselves from them. This article will seek to inform its readers on these weight loss myths, so as for them to be fully aware of what is expected from them, in their quest of losing weight. Among these weight loss myths and facts are:

• Myth: It is not necessary for one to control their calorie intake
• Fact: It is a "must" for weight watchers to control their calorie intake

For those that are embarking on losing weight, there is a dire need for them to control their calorie intake. One therefore ought to take calories that correspond to their physical activity. Failure to do this will lead to accumulation of calories in the body, which will in return cause an increase in weight gain.

• Myth: You must always have breakfast
• Fact: It is not a "must" to have breakfast, you can eat sometime in the morning

This is due to the fact that, whenever we wake up it is unlikely that we feel hungry. Having breakfast in the morning will only help in jump starting your metabolism. It is therefore recommended that, one should eat something after 1-2 hours. This will ensure that, they will not feel hungry till the next meal. Nevertheless, one should ensure that they have their breakfast for failure to do so will lead to one feeling extremely hungry during the day. Consequently, they will have to overeat in their next meal, thus leading to more calorie intake.

• Myth: You must eat thrice a day
• Fact: Eat whenever there is a need to regulate your calorie intake

There is no restriction to the number of times that one should eat in a day. All that is required is for one to control their calorie intake. However, it highly important to eat thrice a day so that you don't feel hungry and be tempted to overeat in your next meal. Similarly, eating too many times a day will lead to increased calorie intake. It is a good idea to practice portioned-controlled eating, such as the one recommended by Diet to Go, Nutrisystem and many other proven diet companies that believe in eating small portions several times a day.

• Myth: Avoid eating foods that are rich in fat
• Fact: Foods that are full of fats make you feel full, hence preventing you from overeating

Even though eating foods that are rich in fats may lead to weight gain, the right kinds of fat are an important element in the body. This is partly due to the fact that they give one a sense of fullness which in turn stops you from overeating. Consequently, this will ensure there is no increased calorie intake.

Upon knowing these weight loss myths and facts alongside significant others, there is no nothing that will stand on your way to weight loss.

Irfan Siddiqui contributes to weightlossdiets4women.com, where a number of qualified Dietitians and Personal Trainers write about fitness, weight loss, dieting and nutrition. Among many articles you will find a blog post that gives you a complete review of Weight Watchers, probably the world's biggest international weight loss program.

Obese 'lose memory sooner'

Those who are obese, and have other health problems such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol, lose their memory and thinking skills almost a quarter faster, found researchers at University College London.

Their study was based on almost 6,500 Whitehall civil servants, whose health was monitored between the ages of 50 and 60.

They were weighed and measured, their blood pressure and cholesterol levels were taken, and they were also asked what medication they were taking.

In addition, they were asked to perform mental tests three times during the decade, which were used to assess memory and other cognitive skills.

Of the 6,401 civil servants in the study, nine per cent (582) were obese. Of those, 350 were also classed as "metabolically abnormal" - meaning they had two additional risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, were taking medication for either condition, or were diabetic.

The researchers found the obese tended to lose their mental powers faster than their thinner colleagues, while those who also had additional conditions lost their memory and thinking skills fastest of all.

The latter group experienced a 22.5 percent faster decline on their cognitive test scores over the decade than those who were healthy.

Archana Singh-Manoux, of the Paris research institute Inserm, who contributed to the study, said their results indicated the idea that people could be obese but still healthy was flawed.

Shirley Cramer, chief executive of Alzheimer's Research UK, said: "We do not yet know why obesity and metabolic abnormality are linked to poorer brain performance, but with obesity levels on the rise, it will be important to delve a little deeper into this association.

"While the study itself focuses on cognitive decline, previous research suggests that a healthy diet, regular exercise, not smoking and controlling blood pressure and cholesterol in midlife can also help stave off dementia.

"With dementia figures spiralling towards a million, the findings suggest we should be conscious of our general health throughout life."

By Stephen Adams at The Daily Telegraph

Some Celebrities Age Badly, Some Do Not

There are actually a lot of stars who either aged badly. It's really unavoidable as they say, but at least some actually aged gracefully still look gorgeous even after several years in the industry.

So here I compiled a few list from some of the sites that listed the celebrities who aged badly:

Stars who age badly
Twenty Celebrities that have Aged Miserably
The 25 Worst Aging Actors in Hollywood

When you check the links I provided above, you will really be surprised. Some of the actors and actresses that were included in the list really looked great before but...the pictures will tell you what happened to them.

Why do some people suffer from terrible aging?

There are a lot of reasons that we can point out here - old age,unhealthy lifestyle, stress, etc. the list goes on and on. One thing is for sure here aging is really inevitable. What we can only do is slow it down and as the title says, "gracefully" age.

One interesting article from msnbc.com, mentions four habits that can accelerate aging by as much as 12 years. So this may not surprised you that much. The list includes smoking, drinking too much, inactivity, and poor diet.

Skin aging explained

Normally when we talk about aging, we refer to the extrinsic results - to the skin. Our view of aging is usually based on the features of the skin of a person. There is this process called Intrinsic Aging, which is commonly known as natural aging process. It's a continuous process that begins during our mid-20s.

The main reason why we experience changes in our skin as we grow old is the slowing down of collagen production in our skin. Collagen is the substance that enables skin regeneration. Once the aging process begins we experience the following:

• fine wrinkles
• thinner skin
• loss of underlying fat that results in hollowed cheeks and eye sockets, and loss of firmness of hands and neck
• hair loss
• and many more

Of course, there are different symptoms for men and women. One of the common problems for women is excessive weight gain. Recently there is one cure to the problems related with aging. This is regenerative medicine.

One celebrity who also experienced aging problems shares her own story.

The case of Hofit Golan

Hofit Golan, a famous celebrity appearing in several TV shows, is same with any of us. She also experienced several problems associated with aging.

She recalls, "For as long as I can remember, my hands and feet have always been freezing cold to the touch. Growing up, I remember how everyone would say to me, 'you're hands are freezing!' Of course, every doctor I went to always told me the same thing, that it was the result low blood pressure…take iron...but it never helped. Another thing is my cravings. I love and crave salty food and right after I want sweets . I am also an insomniac....it takes me ages to fall asleep..I simply got too much energy at night. Worst of all I recently have been dealing with a leg injury as a result of a drunk man knocking me over and breaking my foot, ripping 3 ligaments. This injury was severe. Doctors told me that my symptoms were a result of my rigorous travel routine, stress, and always being "on the go". That hardly helped."

Good thing she tried regenerative medicine at the American Longevity Center. And now she is still gorgeous and full of life. For you out there, its not yet too late to try hormone therapy.

Author byline:
Edward Beyer loves to write about anything. Find more of his posts at American Longevity Center.

Vitamin D deficiency may cause weight gain

Older women who don't get enough vitamin D may be slightly heavier than those who do.

A Kaiser Permanente study, published online in the recent issue of the Journal of Women's Health, looked at more than 4,600 women aged 65 and older for a four and one-half year period. Researchers found women with low levels of vitamin D in their blood gained about two pounds more than those with adequate levels of the vitamin.

So what's the big deal, you ask?

"This is one of the first studies to show that women with low levels of vitamin D gain more weight, and although it was only two pounds, over time that can add up," said study author Dr. Erin LeBlanc, an endocrinologist and researcher at the Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research in Portland, Oregon.

Called the "sunshine vitamin" because most of us get it from the sun, vitamin D helps maintain our bones and muscles, and keeps our central nervous system in check. But if you take too much it could be toxic, causing nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite.

Although the sun's rays are the primary source, vitamin D can also be found in milk products, fatty fish and fortified items such as cereals and juices. But even with all these sources, prior research has found that women, especially older women, aren't getting enough.

In the Kaiser study, researchers found almost 80% of participants had insufficient levels of vitamin D. Because the vitamin's main source is sunlight, the investigators say those women lacking vitamin D may not spend enough time outdoors. They may also have a poor diet.

LeBlanc points out that this study was conducted among older women who, for the most part, were not trying to lose weight - though some of them did so as a natural result of aging. About 60% of the women in the study remained at a stable weight during the study period, 27% lost more than 5% of their body weight, and 12% gained more than 5% of their body weight.

"Our study only shows an association between insufficient levels of vitamin D and weight gain, we would need to do more studies before recommending the supplements to keep people from gaining weight," LeBlanc said. "Since there are so many conflicting recommendations about taking vitamin D for any reason, it's best if patients get advice from their own health care provider."