Vitamin D and Athletic Performance

A special issue of Sports (ISSN 2075-4663).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 October 2020) | Viewed by 6237

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Insufficiency in Vitamin D is a serious problem in general internal medicine. Different disorders have been shown to be associated with Vitamin D deficiency. Certain populations, such as elderly people, are at an increased risk for osteoporosis and osteoporotic fractures, among other problems.

In athletes, certain populations might be at a higher risk for Vitamin D deficiency. Little is known whether a supplementation in Vitamin D in athletes with deficiency in Vitamin D improves performance.

The first idea of this Special Issue, "Vitamin D and Athletic Performance", is to gain more information on the prevalence of Vitamin D deficiency in different sport disciplines (e.g., indoor sports) and populations (e.g., master athletes). The second idea is to see whether a supplementation of Vitamin D in certain populations of athletes with a deficiency can improve athletic performance.

Prof. Dr. med. Beat Knechtle
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • Vitamin
  • supplementation
  • deficiency
  • athlete
  • performance

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

9 pages, 507 KiB  
Article
Vitamin D Status Differs by Sex, Sport-Season, and Skin Pigmentation among Elite Collegiate Basketball Players
by Jennifer B. Fields, Daniel C. Payne, Sina Gallo, Deanna R. Busteed and Margaret T. Jones
Sports 2019, 7(11), 239; https://doi.org/10.3390/sports7110239 - 18 Nov 2019
Cited by 9 | Viewed by 5221
Abstract
Vitamin D plays a key role in bone health, musculoskeletal function, and sport performance. Collegiate athletes competing in indoor sports may be at greater risk of vitamin D deficiency due to limited outdoor time. Therefore, the purpose was to assess 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) [...] Read more.
Vitamin D plays a key role in bone health, musculoskeletal function, and sport performance. Collegiate athletes competing in indoor sports may be at greater risk of vitamin D deficiency due to limited outdoor time. Therefore, the purpose was to assess 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) concentrations among collegiate men and women basketball (MBB, WBB) athletes. National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I men (MBB, n = 11) and women (WBB, n = 9) were tested during the off-season (T1; July) and pre-season (T2; October). Measurements included serum 25(OH)D; skin pigmentation, bone mineral density, and daily sun exposure (self-reported). Paired t-tests determined changes in 25(OH)D by sport-season and sex. Pearson correlations examined relationships between outcome variables. MBB athletes (mean ± SD; 19.6 ± 1.3 years) showed a reduction in 25(OH)D (T1: 64.53 nmol·L−1 ± 11.96) (T2: 56.11 nmol·L−1 ± 7.90) (p = 0.001). WBB (20.1 ± 1.1 years) had no change in 25(OH)D (T1: 99.07 nmol·L−1 ± 49.94. T2: 97.56 nmol·L−1 ± 36.47, p = 0.848). A positive association between 25(OH)D and skin pigmentation was observed (r = 0.47, p = 0.038). 25(OH)D was inversely correlated with lean body mass (LBM), body mass (BM), and bone mineral density (BMD), while a positive association was seen between 25(OH)D and skin pigmentation. In summary, 25(OH)D insufficiency was prevalent amongst male collegiate basketball athletes, with 25(OH)D levels being lower in the pre-season (October) than the off-season (July). Furthermore, darker skin pigmentation significantly correlated with 25(OH)D, indicating that individuals with darker skin tones may be at a greater risk of insufficiency/deficiency. More research is needed to examine the relationships between 25(OH)D and bone health in athletes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Vitamin D and Athletic Performance)
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