Type II diabetes is becoming more common as obesity rates in America continue to increase. Children and teens across the country struggle to control their blood sugar levels, which puts them at risk of developing the disease. But what if there was another factor affecting the blood sugar of these kids that we've been missing?
University of Missouri researchers have recently found a trend in 35 pre-diabetic obese children who were all receiving treatment in the MO Adolescent Diabetic Obesity Program. Each one of them had insufficient or deficient vitamin D levels, along with similar diet and activity levels. The participants were either given a high vitamin D supplement or a placebo which they took every day for six months. Those who took the vitamin D supplements alone received a response nearly as powerful as what the researchers have seen using a prescription drug. The participants had a decrease in insulin levels which led to better glucose control without changing their body weight, dietary intake, or physical activity.
It hasn't been recommended for obese children and adolescents to take the dosage of vitamin D distributed in the study, but rather take a deficiency test and determine if that is a factor which may be contributing to a risk of diabetes. If so, they should take the recommended amount of vitamin D supplements as a natural and inexpensive way to reduce their risk of developing the disease and lower their blood sugar. Vitamin D deficiency is common, but it affects those who are obese more. This is because they process vitamin D up half as efficiently as normal-weight people. Vitamin D isn't processed as easily because it gets stored in fat tissues, which means they need to consume more than others to maintain the right level of vitamin D.
Many patients suffer through the side effects of their prescription drugs, and the fact that vitamin D is healthy for your body makes it a much better choice. I think this is a breakthrough especially since there is a natural way to correct the deficiency and lower blood sugar. Vitamin D also helps maintain healthy bones, muscles and nerves, and can be obtained by just playing outside for a little while per day!
Lindsey Dugas (1)
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Vitamin D is also linked to calcium absorption. Do you think the two are related in this case?
ReplyDeleteKimberly Ty (3)
Do you know if any research has been done looking into the mechanism by which vitamin D leads to a reduction in type II diabetes? I think it would be interesting to see which part of the insulin signalling pathway it acts on, and how this could inform our knowedge of the disease.
ReplyDeletePosted by Sean McDougall
I like that this article points out just how effective and necessary vitamin D is in health. The fact that vitamin D is absorbed poorly in obese individuals as it becomes stored in adipose cells conveys the importance and need for individuals to adjust daily recommended doses according to their body types. I would be interested though to find out the mechanism responsible for vitamin D's effect on lowering blood sugar.
ReplyDeleteMarshall Moini (2)
Hopefully this study will lead to more research regarding the mechanism of vitamin d reducing the risk of type II diabetes. I also hope it leads to a breakthrough in the obesity factor of this generation. For instance, if all the obese children had vitamin d deficiency, maybe that is a cause for their weight as well. They might just need to do longer studies to see the results.
DeleteLindsey Dugas (1)
This is great news as many people are starting to realize that they should be taking natural supplements over prescription medication whenever possible. This could even give low-vitamin D diabetics motivation to start eating healthier foods that contain vitamin D. Also this information could encourage these diabetics to start exercising more if they knew it would increase the efficacy of the vitamin D in their bodies.
ReplyDeletePosted by Poya Jafari (2)
That's true. Hopefully some people will realize that natural supplements are an option alongside prescription drugs and that they should always research both and consider all their options before listening to one doctors opinion. I've had bad experiences with prescription medication that could have been avoided if my doctor or I took the time to consider other options. Hopefully it will also result in diabetic patients working out and eating better!
DeleteLindsey Dugas (1)
This leads to an interesting question about whether insulin resistance in obese patients is caused by a lack of vitamin D. If vitamin D helps improve the bodies use of insulin, then a lack of it could cause type II diabetes. With all the benefits that come from taking vitamin D supplements, this is just one more reason why people should be taking them.
ReplyDeletePosted by Kaitlin Jones (3)
There always seems to be some kind of deficiency of some kind which can lead to many things that would be bad for someone. The usually inexpensive ways of treating the disease are overlooked because a prescription of x would generate more money.
ReplyDeleteSunni (1)
That is a good point. Many people don't realize that there might be an inexpensive and natural alternative to their prescription. Unfortunately biomedicine is often driven by profit more than anything.
DeleteLindsey Dugas (1)