Vitamin D deficiency and Insulin resistance

10 years ago
Posted in: Your Health

There’s been much talk about Vitamin D deficiency and the need for supplementation lately.  I even posted about how it benefits those with thyroid issues. It seems the more Vitamin D is studied, the more we discover its involvement in different body processes.

People with Type 2 diabetes tend to have problems with insulin resistance, a condition where your body is not able to adequately use the insulin that it produces. Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells of the pancreas. It helps your body cells take in glucose which it uses as energy.

Many studies have now found that most people with Type 2 diabetes have extremely low vitamin D levels which may add to increased insulin resistance. The exact mechanism by which the lack of vitamin D leads to insulin resistance hasn’t been enumerated but the cases of individuals with type 2 diabetes who have low vitamin D levels is alarming. More studies are needed to determine the exact correlation.

Vitamin D is obtained by exposure to sunlight, food source or supplementation. Most people aren’t exposed long enough to sunlight to make vitamin D and with talk of ultraviolet light causing cancer, most people don’t want sunlight exposure. One would have to eat loads of fish, cheese, milk etc to get enough vitamin D in their diet. Most diets are not balanced enough and even milk is fortified with vitamin D. Supplementation seems to be the way to go.

There are currently two forms of vitamin D available, Cholecalciferol and Ergocalciferol. Cholecalciferol is what your body makes if it is exposed to sunlight while ergocalciferol is a synthetic version obtained by prescription only. Cholecalciferol is available over the counter. The recommended daily allowance used to be 400 iu but it is now recommended that an average person needs 800 to 1200 iu daily for adequate supplementation. Those that are severely deficient may need even more.

Please note that this is for informational purposes only. Contact your healthcare professional to determine what your vitamin D levels are before you begin supplementation!

 

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