A lack of sunshine can increase the risk of diabetes, regardless of how much people weigh, according to a new study that found a direct correlation between low vitamin D levels and glucose metabolism.
The results published in the Endocrine Society’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism show that people who have low levels of vitamin D are more likely to be obese and also are more likely to have Type 2 diabetes, prediabetes and metabolic syndrome than people with normal vitamin D levels.
Scientists explained that vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium and maintain bone and muscle health, but the vitamin is only produced by the skin after exposure to sunlight so people will absorb smaller amounts of the vitamin through foods, such as milk fortified with vitamin D.
“The major strength of this study is that it compares vitamin D levels in people at a wide range of weights (from lean to morbidly obese subjects) while taking whether they had diabetes into account,” said one of the study’s authors, Mercedes Clemente-Postigo, MSc, of Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Málaga (IBIMA).
After analyzing participants from the Spanish town Malaga and Girona, it was discovered that that obese subjects who did not have glucose metabolism disorders had higher levels of vitamin D than diabetic subjects. Also, lean subjects with diabetes or another glucose metabolism disorder were more likely to have low levels of vitamin D.
“The study suggests that vitamin D deficiency and obesity interact synergistically to heighten the risk of diabetes and other metabolic disorders. The average person may be able to reduce their risk by maintaining a healthy diet and getting enough outdoor activity,” said one of the study’s authors, Manuel Macías-González, PhD, of Complejo Hospitalario de Málaga (Virgen de la Victoria) and the University of Málaga.
The cross-sectional study compared vitamin D biomarkers in 118 participants at the university hospital Virgen de la Victoria in Malaga as well as 30 participants from the Hospital Universitari Dr. Josep Trueta in Girona, Spain.