Vitamin D, an inexpensive supplement, is garnering much attention in the media theses days. Vitamin D that has long been recognized as being involved in regulating the absorption and use of calcium and phosphorus in the process of bone and teeth formation in the body, but new research is discovering that vitamin D is associated with a far greater range of activities in other disease conditions.

Scientists are praising the vitamin for its role in disease prevention when present in sufficiently high amounts that are substantially more than the current recommended levels considered as adequate, those being 200 International Units (IU) daily for everybody from newborns to 50 years of age, 400 IU daily for people 51 to 70 years old and 600 IU daily for everyone older than 70 years.

The lack of vitamin D is responsible for many disease conditions scientists claim
Many scientists consider those recommended levels far too low to optimize health for the long term and are critical of the slowness of the Institute of Medicine, the official U.S. advisory group, in launching studies that can show that higher intake levels are appropriate. The lack of vitamin D in the body is the focus of their concern. Insufficient levels have been linked to diabetes, various cancers, cardiovascular disorders, and other chronic disorders.

Ongoing research seems to be confirming that nearly every health condition is in some way influenced by vitamin D. An article from last year, 2009, from the Loyola University Chicago Niehoff School of Nursing quoted professor Sue Penckofer, Ph.D., R.N., as saying “Vitamin D has widespread benefits for our health and certain chronic diseases in particular,” It was also stated that “This article further substantiates the role of this nutrient in the prevention and management of glucose intolerance and diabetes.”

In March of this year, a news report issued by Denmark’s University of Copenhagen opened by saying their scientists had discovered that Vitamin D is crucial in the activation of the body’s immune defenses. And only with sufficient intake of the vitamin are the killer T cells able to effectively combat serious infections in the body.

Vitamin D and the diabetic condition
Confirmation of recent vitamin D findings should be of great importance to diabetics. Diabetics are those persons who have diabetes or prediabetes, health conditions resulting from higher than normal blood sugar levels that are caused by an impaired metabolic process that normally keeps blood sugar levels within a healthy range. Research seems to make it clear that higher intake levels of vitamin D could provide benefits for both type-1 and type-2 diabetes, the major categories of diabetes.

Regarding diabetes, in the above noted 2009 review article from Loyola’s Niehoff School of Nursing, it was stated that an adequate vitamin D intake may delay or prevent the onset of diabetes and also could reduce complications in those who already have the disease. That would be a welcome outcome for all diabetics.

Also, it was reported in February of this year that researchers in the U.K., after reviewing existing studies of vitamin D levels among almost 100,000 middle-aged and elderly people, concluded that high levels of vitamin D are able to reduce the chance of developing type-2 diabetes by 55 percent. Wow!

By 55 percent? An astounding conclusion
To me, that is an astounding conclusion, the incidence in the diagnosis of type-2 diabetes in America is growing at an increasingly faster rate, if  anywhere near 55 percent of those cases could be prevented it would be a staggering achievement, the cost savings would be immense and the health benefits to the individual would be phenomenal.

And those of us who already have to deal with the problem of higher than normal blood sugar levels will be grateful if it really is established that higher intake levels are effective, as Loyola and others report.

The American Diabetes Association does not recommend increased intake of vitamin D
The American Diabetes Association is cautious in its approach and is not suggesting changes to vitamin D intake. Their position is that there is a need for more studies to be completed before the effects of higher vitamin D intakes can be shown to make a difference. They state: “There is no clear evidence of benefit from vitamin or mineral supplementation in people with diabetes (compared with the general population) who do not have underlying deficiencies.”