Vitamin D and Diabetes - by Nancy Hirsch, CN

If you’re still skeptical about all of the beneficial effects that vitamin D has on your body, a review article published by researchers at Loyola University and appearing in the latest issue of Diabetes Educator shows that vitamin D may prevent or delay the onset of diabetes and reduce complications for those who have already been diagnosed. This article is the newest addition to the many previous studies that show vitamin D positively influences numerous diseases including cancer, diabetes, heart disease, autoimmune disorders, myopia, and osteoporosis.

One study evaluated for the article reviewed 3,000 people with type 1 diabetes and found a decreased risk in disease for people who took vitamin D supplements. “Management of vitamin D deficiency may be a simple and cost-effective method to improve blood sugar control and prevent the serious complications associated with diabetes,” said Joanne Kouba, Ph.D, R.D., L.D.N., a co-author of the study.

However, current recommended daily levels (400 I.U.) may not be adequate to prevent diabetes and other serious diseases linked to low vitamin D levels. Many researchers now believe that people need upwards of 2,000 I.U.’s daily to start moving their levels into the desired range of 50-60 ng/ml. Levels below 20 ng/ml are considered serious deficiency states.

There are many ways to obtain vitamin D. Certain foods like fatty fish and fortified milk contain vitamin D, but diet alone may not be sufficient to maintain proper levels.

The best way to obtain vitamin D is to expose your skin to the sun. In most cases, your body will produce exactly the amount of vitamin D that you need to stay healthy. According to some vitamin D researchers, sunning for 10-15 minutes without sunscreen during the summer months are all you need to form adequate amounts of vitamin D.If sunning is not practical, it is recommended that vitamin D levels be checked before taking any vitamin D supplements.

To check vitamin D levels, the correct test to ask for is called 25-hydroxyvitamin D, or 25 (OH) D. This is the only way to tell if you have optimal levels of vitamin D. Low levels of vitamin D do contribute to many degenerative diseases but excess levels are equally undesirable. Low D needs to be corrected carefully. A word of caution: do not take supplements in amounts greater than 1,000 IU unless you are being tested. Some nutritionists and dieticians recommend starting out with 400 IU’s, and then retesting in 3-4 months to see if levels have sufficiently increased.

Vitamin screening in people who are at risk for diabetes will allow health care professionals to identify a deficiency early on and intervene to improve the long term health of these individuals.