http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/02/23/study-sees-link-vitamin-d-diabetes/
Low levels of vitamin D don't put
older women at greater risk for type 2
diabetes, a large study of
The findings may further temper
the enthusiasm for vitamin D that built up in recent years, as studies linked
it to lower risks of everything from diabetes, to severe asthma, heart disease, certain
cancers and depression.
The problem with those studies is
that they were observational, which means that researchers simply looked at
people's vitamin D intake, or their blood levels of the vitamin, and whether or
not they developed a given health condition.
Those types of studies cannot
prove that vitamin D was the reason for any lower disease risk.
"You can't make dietary recommendations based on observational
studies," said Dr. Jennifer G. Robinson, a professor of epidemiology and
medicine at the
In an interview, she pointed to
the recent report on vitamin D from the Institute
of Medicine (IOM), an independent scientific body that advises the
It also said average Americans
already have vitamin D blood levels at or above the amount that's needed for
good bone health. (Read
the entire article)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/23/us-vitamin-blood-sugar-idUSTRE71M79U20110223
Drinking yogurt with extra vitamin
D may help people with diabetes regulate their blood sugar, a study from Iran
finds.
In the trial, 90 adults with
diabetes were divided into three groups, all given daily yogurt drinks: one
group received plain yogurt, one got yogurt with extra vitamin D, and one was
given yogurt with extra vitamin D and calcium.
At the end of 12 weeks, "we
found a relatively remarkable improvement" in blood sugar levels in the
groups that got extra vitamin D, compared to the plain yogurt group, co-author
Tirang Neyestani, associate professor at National Nutrition and Food Technology
Research Institute in Iran, told Reuters Health in an e-mail.
Past studies on the role of
vitamin D in diabetes have not been able to show cause and effect.
It's noteworthy that this study
does, and that it suggests vitamin D has a positive effect on people with type
2 diabetes, said Dr. Anastassios Pittas, assistant professor of medicine at
Tufts University School of Medicine in