Nutrition & bone health
Benefits for diabetes and blood sugar control
by Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD
In this country, diabetes afflicts more than 20 million Americans and is the sixth
leading cause of death. As with heart disease and cancer, there is a striking latitudinal
association: people who live in sunny climates tend to have lower risk of diabetes.
Northern Finns, for example, who experience only two hours of sunlight in December,
have the world’s highest reported incidence of type 1 diabetes, and vitamin D supplementation
is shown to reduce their risk of this disease. In 1966, 12000 Finnish babies were
given 2000 IU vitamin D a day from one year of age and watched over the next thirty
years. Those taking the vitamin D decreased their risk of developing type 1 diabetes
by 80%. This same study showed that those children low in vitamin D at one year
of age had a four-fold increased risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
In the US, the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III)
found that as blood levels of vitamin D rose, the risk for diabetes decreased, and
those with the highest vitamin D levels had one-quarter the diabetes risks of those
with the lowest vitamin D blood levels. In another light, a study by Borissova and
colleagues in Bulgaria found that giving vitamin D supplements in the winter to
adults with type 2 diabetes improved blood sugar control. Even in sunny Italy, vitamin
D blood levels were significantly lower in patients with diabetes.
And what are the mechanisms by which vitamin D helps to prevent diabetes? We now
know this nutrient enhances insulin output and insulin sensitivity, and people with
a low level of vitamin D have poorly functioning insulin-producing cells and a poor
response to insulin, even when their blood sugar levels are normal.
Click here to continue.
Our Personal Program is a great place to start
At the Center for Better Bones we promote an all-natural approach to bone regeneration
and repair that includes nutrition, diet, exercise, and lifestyle guidance. Our
Personal Program is a convenient, at-home version of this approach.
Questions about the Personal Program for Better Bones? Call toll-free at 1-877-200-1269.
Original Publication Date: 01/15/2009
Last Modified:
03/14/2012
Principal Author: Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD