User:AlidaFossssuntain73

Usually Vitamin D deficiency is thought of as a vitamin needed for healthy bones as it's essential to the absorption of calcium. Studies are now showing a Vitamin D deficiency is associated with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers at City of Hope Medical Center in Duarte, United States, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in the United States, and National Cheng-Kung University Hospital and University in Taiwan, designed and carried out a study to reveal how inadequate amounts of vitamin D could affect the pancreas and insulin sensitivity.

Their work, published in January 2012 in the journal Pancreas, included 150 non diabetics. It was found:

   the blood vitamin D levels were highest in those whose beta cells, the pancreatic cells that make insulin, were functioning the best, and
   low vitamin D levels were seen in those whose beta cells showed poor function.

The same was true for insulin sensitivity. Those who were best able to use their body insulin had the highest levels of vitamin D, and low levels of vitamin D were associated with low insulin sensitivity, the cause of Type 2 diabetes.

From the above, the researchers concluded a vitamin D deficiency plays two roles in Type 2 diabetes, both in lowering insulin sensitivity and in lowering the beta cells' ability to function.

According to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University, certain individuals are at a high risk for vitamin D deficiency. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that breast-fed infants be given vitamin D supplements, especially if they are not exposed to sunlight, since breast milk alone is inadequate to supply enough of the vitamin.

You receive vitamin d from three main sources:

   the sun (when its rays reach your skin, your body makes vitamin D),
   supplements, and
   foods enriched with vitamin D, for example milk.

The following people have difficulty absorbing vitamin D:

1. People with dark skin living far from the equator can develop a vitamin D deficiency because their skin pigment blocks sunlight.

2. Elderly people have a lowered ability to make vitamin D, and should have supplements if they do not spend a great deal of time outdoors.

3. Individuals who cover most of their skin for cultural or religious regions do not have adequate sun exposure.

4. Anyone diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, cholestatic liver disease, and inflammatory bowel disease with surgical resection also have an impaired ability to absorb vitamin D.

5. Obese individuals can suffer vitamin D deficiency throughout most of their body because it can become stored in the fat, where it is unavailable to the rest of the body.

Vitamin D was discovered during the 20th century, and adding it to milk was found to eliminate rickets in children. It is now known this vitamin aids in the absorption of calcium and phosphate by the intestines, making the minerals available for making bones. Vitamin D plays a part in immune functions, possibly preventing autoimmunity, a state in which the body's own immune system attacks different parts of the body.

Some studies have shown the possibility of adequate levels of vitamin D lowering the risk of colon, prostate, breast, and pancreatic cancer, although results are not yet conclusive. Further research will elucidate all the functions vitamin D has in human health.

To discover answers to questions you may be asking yourself about Type 2 Diabetes, click on this link... Natural Diabetes Treatments

Clicking on this link will help you to learn more about Type 2 Diabetes Solutions... Beverleigh Piepers RN... the Diabetes Detective.

Beverleigh Piepers is the author of this article. This article can be used for reprint on your website provided all the links in the article are complete and active. Copyright (c) 2011 - All Rights Reserved Worldwide