Taking vitamin D supplements could drag 17million Americans and Brits back from ... trends now
A vitamin D supplement every day can help keep diabetes away, a study suggests.
In a meta-analysis of 17 studies, Tufts University researchers found that pre-diabetics could reduce their likelihood of developing the potentially-crippling condition by 15 percent.
The 'sunshine vitamin', which is absorbed by the skin through the sun, is known to increase a person's glucose tolerance and their blood's sensitivity to insulin.
Officials estimate that 100million people across the US and UK have pre-diabetes — someone with unhealthy high blood sugar that is not high enough to be considered diabetic.
Vitamin D has many uses in the body, and not getting enough every day has been linked to brittle bones, a bad mood, and numb fingers.
Researchers found that over a four-year span, pre-diabetics who regularly used vitamin D supplements (dotted line) were 15 percent less likely to have their condition convert into diabetes than those who did not (solid line)
'Vitamin D in people with prediabetes was beneficial in decreasing risk for diabetes and increasing the likelihood of regression to normal glucose regulation, with no offsetting safety signals,' researchers wrote.
Weight-related conditions such as obesity, diabetes and pre-diabetes have reached crisis levels in the US.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 70 percent of Americans are overweight, and 40 percent are obese.
Being too fat is one of the leading risk factors for type 2 diabetes and a host of other serious medical conditions.
Type 2 diabetes occurs when a person's body either does not produce enough insulin or their blood begins to resist insulin because of a constant high blood sugar.
Unlike type 1 diabetes, a person cannot be born with the condition. In most cases, type 2 diabetes is caused by poor diet and exercise.
The CDC reports 40million Americans suffer from diabetes, with more than 90 percent having type 2.
While diabetes is not curable, some people with high blood sugar can still turn things around.
Vitamin D is crucial to the body's metabolizing of calcium and is long known to be great for bone health. Emerging research shows it can also help the body regulate blood sugar, making it a
