D is for diabetes
Vitamin D cuts the risk of diabetes by as much as 72 percent
Last week I warned you about the latest findings linking some common diabetes drugs with two very serious health hazards (10/2/08 eTip, subject line: “Reason to reconsider”). Obviously, the pharmaceutical route is a double-edged sword when it comes to managing blood sugar levels and controlling this complicated condition. Which is why avoiding it altogether — or reversing it if you do have it — is a much better course of action.
As we talked about last Thursday, Dr. Wright has written about numerous ways to protect yourself from and even eliminate current cases of type 2 diabetes (again, to search for back issues of Nutrition & Healing dealing with this topic, visit www.wrightnewsletter.com and log on to the archives with the username and password listed in your most recent newsletter).
And some new research offers yet another simple and — more importantly — natural way to keep diabetes out of your future. Researchers from Finland found that vitamin D plays a key role in your risk of the disease.
At the study’s outset, they recruited nearly 1,400 subjects who were diabetes-free. Over the next 22 years, 412 of the participants developed diabetes. At the conclusion of the study, the researchers found that people who had the highest blood levels of vitamin D were 72 percent less likely to develop diabetes than those with the lowest levels — and this dramatic result held steady even after the research team had adjusted for other factors like weight and physical activity.
Dr. Wright has been singing the praises of this essential nutrient for years — long before it started making mainstream headlines. And, as he’s said over and over again, the very best source of vitamin D is also the cheapest — in fact, it doesn’t cost a dime: Sun exposure — without sunscreen — is the ultimate way to increase your body’s vitamin D levels. He recommends roughly 20 minutes of exposure each day, or just enough to turn your skin slightly pink. At that point, head back into the shade.
And it’s always a good idea to back up your internal vitamin D production with a good supplement as well. (As Dr. Wright mentioned in the August issue of Nutrition & Healing, even people living in the sun-drenched southern states still have an alarming rate of vitamin D deficiency.) For adults, he recommends 4,000 IU (International Units) daily for adults and teenagers, 1,000 IU for infants and small children, and 2,000 IU for everyone in between.
Source:
“Study backs low vitamin D-diabetes risk,” Reuters Health news, 9/1/08
