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Why does vitamin D exist - To provide an annual metabolic cycle?

We know Vitamin D exists. We know that people suffer if they don't have enough of it. However, it raises an interesting question as to why we evolved to create a vitamin in the summer which gets stored and then gradually fades away during the winter. I have an idea. Historically food was more plentiful in the summer and less available in the winter. The genes that rely on vitamin D don't function without it. Hence the body requires less energy. There are a number of things which operate to adjust metabolism to fit food availability. I think Vitamin D evolved to provide an annual metabolic cycle so things which could wait which required energy did not operate.

That gives an idea as to what functions we would expect to depend on vitamin D. It would be those functions which are useful, but not essential all year round.

The Vitamin D Receptor Inhibits the Respiratory Chain, Contributing to the Metabolic Switch that Is Essential for Cancer Cell Proliferation is an interesting paper which links D3 to redirecting Acetyl-CoA from the mitochondria to the cytosol thereby increasing biosynthetic activity.

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