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Vitamin D May Lower Diabetes Risk

An increased vitamin D intake may reduce the risk of type-1 and possibly also type-2 diabetes. This notion is supported by many studies, for example.

A 2001 study in Finland that followed a birth cohort of more than 10,000 children found that those who regularly received a supplemental dose of 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily during their first year of life had a 78% lower risk of developing type 1 diabetes compared to those who regularly received less than the recommended amount.

A study by Knekt et al. published by the American Diabetes Association in Diabetes care (October 2007) shows a 17-year follow-up study of about 4,000 men and women, where the researchers found that individuals with higher blood levels of vitamin D had a 40 percent lower risk of developing type 2 diabetes than those with lower levels of this vitamin.

The exact mechanisms by which vitamin D exert their beneficial effects are however not clear, but the studies suggest that Vitamin D deficiency may be involved in both forms of diabetes and that further studies are warranted.

References: Hyppönen E, Läärä E., Reunanen A., Järvelin M-R and Virtanen S. 2001, Intake of Vitamin D and risk of type 1 diabetes: a birth-cohort study. In: Lancet 2001: 358: 1500-03.

Mattila C, Knekt P, Männistö S, Rissanen H, Laaksonen MA, Montonen J, Reunanen A. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and subsequent risk of type 2 diabetes. In: Diabetes Care. 2007 Oct;30(10):2569-70. Epub 2007 Jul 12.