Calcium, vitamin D lower diabetes risk
Calcium and vitamin D, whether from food or supplements, may help lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a research review.
Calcium and vitamin D, whether from food or supplements, may help lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a research review.
A number of studies have found links between type 2 diabetes risk and calcium, vitamin D and dairy food intake. When the results from these studies are combined, the new review found, people with the highest intakes of vitamin D and calcium had an 18% lower risk of diabetes than those with the lowest intakes. Similarly, people who ate the most dairy food had a 14% lower diabetes risk than those who ate the least dairy food.
Though it is not clear why calcium and vitamin D are linked to diabetes risk, lab research has pointed to some possibilities, according to the review authors, led by Dr. Anastassios G. Pittas of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.
Both nutrients may be important in the functioning of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, and in the body’s proper use of insulin, the researchers explain in their report, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Insulin is a hormone that helps move sugar from the blood into the body’s cells to be used for energy; type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin, allowing blood sugar levels to soar.
REUTERS
A number of studies have found links between type 2 diabetes risk and calcium, vitamin D and dairy food intake. When the results from these studies are combined, the new review found, people with the highest intakes of vitamin D and calcium had an 18% lower risk of diabetes than those with the lowest intakes. Similarly, people who ate the most dairy food had a 14% lower diabetes risk than those who ate the least dairy food.
Though it is not clear why calcium and vitamin D are linked to diabetes risk, lab research has pointed to some possibilities, according to the review authors, led by Dr. Anastassios G. Pittas of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.
Both nutrients may be important in the functioning of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, and in the body’s proper use of insulin, the researchers explain in their report, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Insulin is a hormone that helps move sugar from the blood into the body’s cells to be used for energy; type 2 diabetes develops when the body becomes resistant to insulin, allowing blood sugar levels to soar.
REUTERS