Posted on 10/27/2009 9:16:38 AM PDT by neverdem
Supplements of the sunshine vitamin may improve insulin resistance and sensitivity, both of which are risk factors for diabetes, says a new study from New Zealand.
Insulin resistance, whereby insufficient insulin is released to produce a normal glucose response from fat, muscle and liver cells, was significantly lower in women following high-dose vitamin D supplementation, according to results of a randomised, controlled, double-blind trial published in the British Journal of Nutrition.
The optimal effects were observed when blood vitamin D levels were in the range 80 to 119 nanomoles per litre, said the researchers, “providing further evidence for an increase in the recommended adequate levels”.
D for diabetes
This is not the first time that vitamin D has been linked to diabetes. A recent meta-analysis of data from observational studies and clinical trials in adults showed a "relatively consistent association" between low intakes of calcium, vitamin D, or dairy intake and type-2 diabetes (Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, Vol. 92, pp. 2017-2029).
The new study involved 81 South Asian women with insulin resistance living in New Zealand. The subjects, aged between 23 and 68, were randomly assigned to receive either 100 micrograms (4,000 IU) of vitamin D3 or placebo daily for six months.
At the end of the test period, women in the vitamin D group experienced “significant improvements” in both insulin sensitivity and resistance, said the researchers, which was also accompanied a decrease in fasting insulin levels, compared to placebo.
The greatest improvement in insulin resistance was observed when blood levels of vitamin D, measured as 25- hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) – the non-active 'storage' form of the vitamin – were at least 80 nanomoles per litre.
“Improving vitamin D status in insulin resistant women resulted in improved IR and sensitivity, but no change in insulin secretion,” wrote the women. “Optimal vitamin D concentrations for reducing IR were shown to be 80 to 119 nmol/l, providing further evidence for an increase in the recommended adequate levels,” they concluded.
Shedding light on the sunshine vitamin
Vitamin D refers to two biologically inactive precursors - D3, also known as cholecalciferol, and D2, also known as ergocalciferol. The former, produced in the skin on exposure to UVB radiation (290 to 320 nm), is said to be more bioactive.
Both D3 and D2 precursors are hydroxylated in the liver and kidneys to form 25- hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), the non-active 'storage' form, and 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25(OH)2D), the biologically active form that is tightly controlled by the body.
Source: British Journal of Nutrition Published online ahead of print, doi: 10.1017/S0007114509992017
“Vitamin D supplementation reduces insulin resistance in South Asian women living in New Zealand who are insulin resistant and vitamin D deficient – a randomised, placebo-controlled trial” Authors: P.R. von Hurst, W. Stonehouse, J. Coad
If you body doesn’t produce enough insulin, isn’t that type I diabetes?
Insulin resistance I thought was type II, where your body produces plenty of insulin, but the receptors just don’t pay attention...
Yeah, I wish I had recorded that program. The Universityhouse channel on Dish Network runs college lectures on a variety of different subjects. Usually, it's some liberal hippie/dippie topic, but every once in a while they'll have something on archeology or medical issues or something that is interesting to me. This one kept me captivated for nearly 2 hours. The research data she presented on Vitamin D was really stunning.
They have founbd that even that isn’t enough. I have been a type 1 since I was 9yo and earlier this year my new doc tested me for vitamin D. Even though I drink milk eat cheese and yogurt I was still extremely low on vtamin D. They think it has something to do with the way diabetics absorb the vitiman and we really do need some extra. I was on 50,000IU a week but now am just using an OTC with 2000IU per day.
That isn’t the defination of type 1 or type 2. Type 1 means your body stopped producing insulin and you are always afflicted before the age of 40yo. Type 2 is due to age and lifestyle and the body either can’t use the insulin it produces or the pancreas can’t produce enough. Some type 2 will also at some point stop producing insulin but they still are classified as a type 2. Also type 1 is an autiommune diease where type 2 isn’t.
I work from home and there are some days, even some weeks that I don’t leave the house. I take Vitamin D supplements 10,000 IU/day (more if I’m coming down w/ the flu).
So what I said is basically correct...
NO it isn’t either I didn’t explain it right or you missed something in what I said? A type 2 never becomes a type one becauae the cause is different. A type one stops producing insulin because of a reaction of the immune system not because of lifestyle or age.
Me too with the prednisone intake - l-arg and Vit D (sunexposure) sounds good. I try this. Thanks for sharing!
I’m diabetic and have been taking Vit D for about 6 months. I have 1000 IU pills that are a nice, small oval shape. You don’t have to take big pills.
I’ve been reading about Vit D in the diabetes lit for maybe a bit over a year. I finally read enough about it in a variety of places that I thought I should give it a try. When I went to my endo, he suggested Vit D w/o any prompting from me and was happy that I had already started taking it. As a beige person who just spent 5 years in Seattle, I’m sure my Vit D reserves were depleted, so even though I can’t point to any direct improvement, I think that it’s a good idea to take it for general long term health.
His website looks interesting- he has a weight-loss program in it, as well as diabetic care. I have looked around on the Vit. D council site, and another Vit. D Centric site for a lot of good info. The Vit D Council has an in-home test kit so you can monitor your levels, but I haven’t tried it yet. I got an email from the Vitamin D council, asking people to connect with pediatricians, to see if they would supplement the special needs kids with D3, to try and prevent flus and colds.
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/
http://www.grassrootshealth.net/
What I am saying is this:
Insulin resistance IS NOT insufficient insulin. It is where for whatever reason, the insulin that’s there either doesn’t bind to the receptors, or it binds to the receptors but something else further down the metabolic pathway fails.
This is type II.
When the little Isles of Langerhans stop making any insulin, or the output drops dramatically (and you are correct, it usually happens at a very young age) then that IS NOT insulin resistance, that is Type I diabetes.
The article is somewhat poorly written, but at one point it says that vit D helped with IR, even though secretions remained at the same level.
That means the body didn’t produce any more or any less insulin, it simply started to utilize it better.
So we are not, at least in this article, talking about type I.
A little off-topic, but nanomoles per liter? We've come a long way...
People with a weak or bad liver will not process natural vitamin D from sunlight properly
Best way to supplement is to take D3, K2, A and cod liver oil on empty stomach
That’s actually above the usually recommended levels. I think most people these days are recommending 70-90.
I take 5K-10K units per day, usually about 6 days a week.
Take a day off just to make sure I don’t overload...
Weekly and biweekly vitamin D2 prevents vitamin D deficiency
October 26th, 2009
Boston University School of Medicine researchers (BUSM) have found that 50,000 International Units (IU) of vitamin D2, given weekly for eight weeks, effectively treats vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D2 is a mainstay for the prevention and treatment of vitamin D deficiency in children and adults. Continued treatment with the same dose of vitamin D2 every other week for up to six years after the initial eight-week period prevents vitamin D deficiency from recurring with no toxicity. The BUSM study appears online in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine.
Vitamin D is essential for strong bones because it helps the body absorb calcium and phosphorus from the food we eat. Vitamin D deficiency can lead to rickets in children and the painful bone disease osteomalacia in adults. Vitamin D deficiency can also cause osteoporosis and has been linked to increased risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases including influenza, according to ...”
More:
http://www.physorg.com/news175792987.html
Racist!
LOL. Yeah, that’s what I was thinking. Beige person is so un-PC. He ought to be ashamed!
Get the 25-hydroxyvitamin D, aka 20[OH]D, test done. Find out if you are deficient. Type 2 diabetes is thought to be multifactorial in nature. IIRC, over two dozen genes have been implicated in type 2 diabetes. This study was limited to: "The new study involved 81 South Asian women with insulin resistance living in New Zealand." People of color living in temperate climates are routinely found to be deficient in vitamin D.
A quart of fortified milk is only supposed to have 400 international units of vitamin D, IIRC. That level is still the recommended daily allowance, but many now suspect that level to be far below what is needed. (Search the keyword vitamind. I posted at least a two articles about that.)
Vitamin D in foods: development of the US Department of Agriculture database.
abstract excerpt
The Nutrient Data Laboratory has prioritized foods for analysis and has identified the following as important contributors of vitamin D: finfish and shellfish, naturally occurring sources, and fortified foods such as milk, calcium-fortified orange juice, breakfast cereals, American cheese, margarines, and yogurt.
Adequate levels of vitamin D may not be sufficient to avoid type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance is also associated with obesity.
That's what was prescribed for my mother recently when I got her doc to check her level.
There are two measuring systems for reporting Vitamin D levels in the body. With the first method, optimum serum Vitamin D levels are between 125 to 200 nanomoles per liter, and with the second scale, 50 to 80 nanograms per milliliter.
Generally in the US, we use the 2nd scale.
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