Does Vitamin D Help Your Golf Game?

Not directly. The one study that found golfers hitting their best drive about 14 yards farther used a blend whose main ingredient was creatine, and the golfers' vitamin D levels didn't even change. Vitamin D does support normal muscle function, so being low is no help to anyone's swing, but it won't fix your slice.*

The short version:

• The golf study tested a four-ingredient supplement: creatine, coffee fruit extract, calcium fructoborate and vitamin D.
• Best drive improved about 13.6 yards on the supplement and fell 1.2 yards on placebo, in 27 men over 30 days.
• Vitamin D levels didn't change, so the credit goes elsewhere. Creatine is the likely hero.
• What vitamin D does: it supports normal muscle function, and the effect shows up most in people who start out low.*
• Golfers aren't immune to being low. Hats, sunscreen and winter take care of that.
• The simple fix for the vitamin D part: one dropper of D3X in your coffee before you head out.

WHAT DID THE GOLF STUDY ACTUALLY TEST?

In 2015, researchers published a randomized, placebo-controlled trial in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition. Twenty-seven healthy men with handicaps of 5 to 15 took either a placebo or a supplement for 30 days, then hit drives and 7-irons while their swings were tracked in 3D.

The supplement group's best drive went up about 13.6 yards. The placebo group's went down 1.2. That's the headline that gets passed around as "vitamin D adds distance".

Here's the fine print. The supplement contained creatine monohydrate, coffee fruit extract, calcium fructoborate and vitamin D. The researchers measured the golfers' vitamin D in their blood at the start and the end, and it didn't change. The study was small, ran for a month, and was funded by the company that made the product. If anything earned those yards, the best bet is creatine, which has strong evidence for short bursts of power. A golf swing is about as short and powerful as sport gets.

SO WHAT DOES VITAMIN D DO FOR A GOLFER?

The boring, useful stuff. Muscle tissue has vitamin D receptors, and vitamin D supports normal muscle function and bone health.* A meta-analysis of 30 randomized trials found vitamin D supplementation improved muscle strength, with the biggest effect in people who started out low.* That's the pattern with vitamin D: it does the most for people who are short, and very little for people who already have enough.

For golfers, being short is common. About 70% of US adults are below 30 ng/mL, and 18 holes doesn't change that as much as you'd think. Most rounds are played in a cap, sunscreen and a polo, and from roughly October to March much of the US gets too little UVB for skin to make vitamin D at all. We covered the athlete side of this in you train five days and you're still probably low.

WHAT WOULD ACTUALLY ADD DISTANCE?

Lessons, mostly. Then strength and speed training, which is what creatine helps with. Vitamin D is a base to have in place, the same way sleep is, not a distance booster. If you're low, getting back to a normal level supports the muscles doing the work.* If you're not, more won't add yards.

HOW MUCH VITAMIN D SHOULD A GOLFER TAKE?

The same as anyone else. Most adults do well on 1,000 to 2,000 IU a day, and 2,000 IU was taken daily for over five years in the VITAL trial with no safety signal. If you want a number, get a blood test. Our guide to how much vitamin D to take walks through it.

WHY D3X

Golf season or off-season, a steady vitamin D level is part of the base your muscles work from.* D3X makes that the easiest part of your routine: one dropper into your coffee before the first tee, every day, all year.

• The dose the research uses: 2,000 IU (50 mcg) of D3, the daily dose 25,871 adults took for over five years in the VITAL trial, at half the upper limit.
• K2 built in: 100 mcg of K2 as MK-7, which helps direct calcium to bone.*
• The fat comes with it: dissolved in organic olive oil, so absorption doesn’t depend on what you ate.
• Nothing else: three ingredients, no seed oils, fillers or sweeteners, in amber glass.
• Checked: made in the USA in a cGMP facility and third-party tested.
• Easy to keep going: from 75¢ a day, free US shipping, and a subscription so you never run out.

Get D3X Liquid Vitamin D3 + K2 →

About D3X. D3X makes one thing: a liquid vitamin D3 + K2 (2,000 IU D3 / 100 mcg K2 as MK-7) in an olive-oil base, third-party tested and made in the USA. No seed oils, fillers, or sweeteners. See the liquid vitamin D3 + K2 drops.

*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.