Vitamin D News Should Interest Pre-diabetics And Those At High Risk
A recent article in the news about the sunshine vitamin indicated that vitamin D is necessary to activate the immune system. We were already well aware of it’s benefits to calcium metabolism.
You may not have heard that vitamin D has an even bigger role in delaying or preventing diabetes.
Vitamin D deficiency has long been thought a risk factor for type 1 diabetes. This was based on animal and human observational studies.
Recent studies have suggested that when vitamin D and calcium balance is disturbed there follows a increased risk of developing diabetes.
There appears to be a relatively consistent association between low vitamin D status, calcium and type 2 diabetes as well as the onset of metabolic syndrome. Evidence from trials with vitamin D with and without calcium suggests that the two together may have a role in the prevention of the disease.
High Risk individuals would gain the most from extra vitamin D and calcium. They are the obese, the elderly, hispanics and certain ethnic groups, a family history of diabetes, and so on.
One function of vitamin D is that it preserves insulin secretion as well as the potency of the released insulin. Other evidence suggests that low circulating insulin levels is associated with increasing insulin resistance.
Studies have not yet determined the required dose necessary to offset the beginnings of diabetes, they are still working on it. Overdoing it with vitamin D isn’t too smart since Vitamin D is an oil and accumulates with time. 400 International units is the recommended dose. That is what you usually find available in the market. 1500 msg of calcium is often the acceptable level of calcium. A professional might recommend a different dose.
Anastassios G. Et al. The Role of Vitamin D and Calcium in type 2 diabetes. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. J Clin Endocrine Metab. 2007; 92: 2017-2029
Alvarez JA, Ashram A. Role of Vitamin D in Insulin Secretion and Insulin Sensitivity for Glucose Homeostasis. Int J Endocrin
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