People with very low levels of vitamin D are known to be at higher risk for developing type 2 diabetes. A study demonstrates that vitamin D supplements don’t alter diabetes risk (New England Journal of Medicine, online June 7, 2019).
The trial included 2,423 volunteers with prediabetes. Some had fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 mg/dL. Others had glycated hemoglobin, HbA1C, between 5.7% and 6.4%. This is a marker of blood sugar over a period of several weeks. In addition, certain participants had blood sugar levels two hours after a 75-mg glucose load between 140 to 199 mg/dL. This put them at high diabetes risk, but they did not actually have diabetes. During the two and a half years of the study, the participants took either 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 or a placebo daily.
When the investigators counted how many had developed diabetes during the trial, the differences between the groups were not significant. There were 293 in the vitamin D group and 323 in the placebo group. These findings confirm those from previous studies of vitamin D supplementation on the risk of diabetes.
Increased exercise and changes in diet can reduce the chance of a diabetes diagnosis by more than 50 percent. For someone with prediabetes, that approach seems to hold the greatest promise. You may want to consider measuring your blood sugar to learn how your body reacts to different foods.
We're empowering you to make wise decisions about your own health, by providing you with essential health information about both medical and alternative treatment options.
It would interesting to get the viewpoint or opinion of Michael F. Holick PhD MD at Boston University (the creator of the 25- Hydroxy Vitamin D blood marker test) as to why the trial did not show a difference. Among various possibilities is how well did they absorb it; were the participants overweight; what were the tested blood levels for Vitamin D before and after the daily intake of 4000 I.U.; in what form was the Vitamin D consumed; were there medications being taken that adversely affected absorption?
My thoughts,
Mike
PhD Health & Nutrition practitioner
Maybe they should try sunshine. The sun is the natural way to get vitamin D, and the sun produces a different effect than supplements. The sun and supplements are NOT the same.