The non-profit Vitamin D Council is reporting that The Chicago Blackhawks may be the first professional sports team in history to have its team physician put most of the players on 5,000 IU of vitamin D — a dosage only naturally consistent with those who get regular sun exposure.

“According to my sources, the Chicago Blackhawk team physicians began diagnosing and treating vitamin D deficiency in all Blackhawk players about 18 months ago. Apparently, most players are on 5,000 IU per day,” Dr. John Cannell reported in The Vitamin D Council’s most recent newsletter. “After many losing seasons, last year the Blackhawks came out of nowhere to get to the Western conference finals. This year they are playing even better.”

Cannell has long believed that peak athletic performance is tied to vitamin D sufficiency — a theory that has been widely studied by sports physicians worldwide for decades. There are hundreds of studies in the literature on this topic.

“A year ago, the flagship journal of the American College of Sports Medicine was the first journal to publish the theory that vitamin D would improve athletic performance,” Cannell wrote. “I can only hope that, if the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup this year, other teams, from high school to professional, may start paying attention to the vitamin D status of their players. That would be a big boost to the Council’s goal of educating the world about the importance of vitamin D.”

To read more about Cannell’s newsletter click here.