Can Vitamin D Prevent Type II Diabetes?

Can Vitamin D Prevent Type II Diabetes?

Type II Diabetes is when the human body cannot properly manage sugar. When you get this disease, you will have it your entire life. Type II Diabetes occurs when your body is not producing enough insulin, or your body is not open to insulin or being resistant to it. Insulin is a hormone produced by the beta cells in your pancreas. The pancreas excretes insulin after eating. This will allow the glucose, coming from the food, to enter you muscle & liver tissues.

Without the right amount of insulin, your body is unable to break down sugar into glucose. Without enough glucose, your cells will be unable to function properly. This will lead to sugar build-up in your blood stream which can cause damage to your body.

Factors that might cause people to get Type II Diabetes:

• Being Overweight
• Family History
• Certain Races
• Age
• Prediabetes
• Gestational Diabetes

Vitamin D & Type II Diabetes

Vitamin D aids in keeping your bones healthy and strong because Vitamin D is needed to absorb the nutrients needed – calcium & potassium.

Studies have been done and had led doctors to believe that people with low levels of Vitamin D are more likely at risk to develop Type II Diabetes. Also, studies show that those who are diagnosed with Type II Diabetes are usually having very low levels of Vitamin D compared to those without diabetes.

Role of Vitamin D to Pancreatic Beta-Cell Function

Enough Vitamin D helps “turn-on” specific receptors in the pancreatic beta cells. Vitamin D helps it function properly. There have been studies that when animals were deprived of vitamin D receptors, they were unable to produce enough insulin. There have also been studies that reports the relationship between vitamin D and insulin sensitivity – when vitamin D levels are low, insulin sensitivity is decreased.

There have been evidences pointing that getting enough Vitamin D can help in reducing the risk of being diagnosed with Type II Diabetes, but further study is still needed.

You should not replace any of your prescribed medications with Vitamin D. It is always better to talk to your doctor before you think about taking any other medications.