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Now a Vitamin D supplement a day can boost your exercise performance and bring down the risk of heart disease, according to ndtv.

This pill is a vitamin as well as a hormonal tablet, and can actually control the calcium and phosphate levels in your blood. It is important to form your bones and teeth too.

Scientists from Queen Margaret University in Edinburgh subjected 13 healthy adults who had the same age and weight to 50 microgrammes of vitamin D per day, or a placebo, over a fortnight.

Those who took vitamin D supplements underwent lower blood pressure and reduced levels of the stress hormone cortisol in their urine.

"Our pilot study suggests that taking vitamin D supplements can improve fitness levels and lower cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure," said Dr Raquel Revuelta Iniesta, co-author of the study, according to ibtimes.

Research shows that vitamin D can halt the action of enzyme 11-beta HSD1, which helps to make the "stress hormone" cortisol.

When there are high levels of cortisol in the blood, it might raise your blood pressure by "limiting your arteries, narrowing blood vessels and stimulating the kidneys to retain water", explains ndtv.

By reducing the circulating levels of cortisol, it can also improve your exercises and bring down the risk of cardiovascular threats.

One fitness test found that whichever group took vitamin D managed to cycle 6.5 kms in 20 minutes, which was an improvement of 5 kms at the start of the experiment. Hence the exercise time improved by 30 per cent, even as the group showed lower physical exertion.

"Our next step is to perform a larger clinical trial for a longer period of time in both healthy individuals and large groups of athletes such as cyclists or long-distance runners," Dr Iniesta said.

You get vitamin D through oily fish and eggs, but mostly by exposing your skin to ultraviolet B rays in sunlight.