Is there any connection between Vitamin D, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes

“If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal and not with people or things.”- Albert Einstein

Hello Zuncia Family,

Today’s post is about the link between Vitamin D, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. In the last post, we discussed about the connection between Insulin resistance and age-related metabolic disease.

Let’s dive in this short post:

There are emerging evidences that high level of Vitamin D play a role in prevention of Type 2 diabetes. Vitamin D deficiency is involved in abnormal glucose metabolism, altered insulin secretion and type 2 diabetes.

Mechanistically, vitamin D provides protection from diabetes-related complications through its anti-inflammatory and immune-modulatory effects as well as attenuating the expression of proinflammatory cytokines involved in insulin resistance like interleukin-1 and interleukin-6.

At a cellular level, the active form of vitamin D, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, regulates expression of the insulin receptor gene facilitates glucose transport into muscle cells and suppresses renin gene expression following hyperglycemia by blocking renin–angiotensin activity. In addition, elevation of parathyroid hormone in response to vitamin D deficiency may also reduce insulin release from pancreatic β cells.

In a systematic review and meta analysis published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism in 2017, the authors showed that Vitamin D supplementation can improve glycemic control by lowering HbA1c, FPG and HOMA-1R.

They recommended a minimum dose of 100 microgram/day (4000 IU/d) to bring serum 25(OH)D values to more than 40 ng/ml (100nmol/L) to improve glycemic measures in type 2 diabetic patients. It seems that Vitamin D promote insulin sensitivity with reduction of HOMA-1R.

Terms

HbA1c: The haemoglobin A1c aka glycosylated haemoglobin test is used to evaluate a person’s level of glucose control over 3 months period.

FPG: Fasting Plasma Glucose

HOMA-1R: Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance. It is used widely as an indirect method for quantifying insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell function.

There is so much benefit of staying insulin sensitive to live healthy and disease free life. The research shared in the last week post demonstrated that insulin sensitive group didn’t develop any age-related disease after 11 years of tracking. Please check if you haven’t.

Today’s Mantra: I am Happy and Healthy.

With so much love,

Sudesh

Founder, zuncia.com