More than 165,000 Utah adults have diabetes according the Utah Department of Health. People with diabetes are at greater risk for heart disease, some cancers, kidney and nerve damage and vision problems.
Researchers from the Department of Nutrition and Biochemsitry, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, demonstrated that eating vitamin D-fortified yogurt could improve fasting glucose, insulin sensitivity, cholesterol levels and biomarkers of endothelial function – a precursor for heart disease in diabetics.
The interior surface of your blood vessels are lined with endothelial cells, which play an essential role in blood circulation, allowing blood to flow more efficiently. Insufficient vitamin D is associated with endothelial dysfunction and a risk factor for heart attack, stroke and atherosclerosis – the build up of plaque on the inner walls of blood vessels.
The study authors randomly assigned 100 participants with type 2 diabetes to receive a plain yogurt drink or a yogurt drink fortified with 500 IU of vitamin D3. Participants consumed the yogurt drink twice daily for 12 weeks.
After 12 weeks, blood tests confirmed that participants who received the fortified yogurt showed significant improvements in cholesterol levels, fasting glucose levels, and endothelial function. Remarkably, the yogurt increased HDL cholesterol levels while lowering LDL cholesterol levels. Scientists attribute this action to improved insulin sensitivity.
Researchers, who published their findings in the November 2011 edition of BMC Medicine, noted that most study participants were vitamin D deficient at the beginning of the trial. At the conclusion of 12 weeks, 95 percent of participants who received the fortified yogurt elevated their vitamin D levels to normal.
A 2009 study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, a journal published by the American Medical Association,found that 75 percent of U.S. adults and teens are vitamin D-deficient. Good food sources of vitamin D include fish – salmon, mackerel and tuna, eggs and cod liver oil, which contains 1,360 IU per tablespoon.
Exposing your bare skin – free of sunscreen – to sunlight also provides vitamin D. Depending on the darkness of your skin, the season and the amount of skin you expose to the sun’s UV rays, as little as 5 to 30 minutes of sunlight between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. twice per week may provide significant levels of vitamin D.
Winter months in Utah provide little opportunity for sun exposure making dietary or supplementary sources of vitamin D essential.
These finding suggest that increased intake of vitamin D may reduce the risk of heart disease among individuals with type 2 diabetes.
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