The Importance Of Vitamin D To Type 2 Diabetics

The Importance Of Vitamin D To Type 2 Diabetics

Type 2 diabetes has been associated with low levels of vitamin D, but associations can be tricky. Do low vitamin D levels cause diabetes, or does having Type 2 diabetes cause low vitamin D levels? Or does some third factor cause both? A group of researchers at the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, Louisiana set out to discover the truth. The results of their work were published in the January 2011 issue of the journal Diabetes Care.

Information from healthy adults included in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey of 2001 to 2006 was included in the study. Those with fasting blood sugars of 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.5 to 6.9 mmol/L), and systolic (top number) blood pressures of 120 to 139 and diastolic blood pressures (bottom number) of 80 to 89 were considered prediabetic or prehypertensive and their vitamin D levels were obtained. People who were prediabetic and/or prehypertensive were found to be more than twice as likely to have low levels of vitamin D rather than normal levels. It was, therefore, concluded it is entirely possible low levels of vitamin D could be at least partly responsible for Type 2 diabetes. Mexican pharmacy online

Vitamin D is available in:

  • fortified milk
  • soy milk
  • cereal
  • orange juice, and
  • in mushrooms, especially those that have been irradiated with
  • ultraviolet light

At least two food companies, Monterey Mushrooms and Sun Bella, began irradiating their mushrooms in 2009

  1. eight ounces of fortified orange juice provide about 41 per cent of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamin D, as does a cup of fortified soymilk or cow’s milk
  2. a cup of fortified cereal provides about 17 per cent of the RDA
  3. one packet of Quaker Instant Fortified Oatmeal for Women provides 65 per cent of the RDA
  4. a cup of orange juice has 112 calories and a glycemic index of 46
  5. a cup of whole milk has 200 calories while a cup of non-fat milk has 100. Milk’s glycemic index is a low 30
  6. a cup of soymilk has 132 calories with a glycemic index of 31 – malegra oral jelly

Breakfast cereals vary, so check the label on your favorite brand.

Ifood.tv suggests making a grape or raspberry dish by pouring a mixture of chilled orange juice and lime juice over grapes or raspberries, and garnishing with a sprig of mint. Iced tea with orange juice is good, too. Brew a cup of tea and pour it over ice cubes in a pitcher, then add orange juice and chill.

Another good way to get your vitamin D is by spending a few minutes in the sunshine each day without using sunscreen.

When most people with diabetes are tested with a simple blood test, the results show low on vitamin D. Some of the symptoms of vitamin D deficiency include muscle aches, muscle weakness, fatigue, and bone pain. An article published in the Nutrition Research Review, June 2009 said that several clinical studies show vitamin D improves insulin sensitivity, even in people with normal blood sugar ranges.

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