Personal Evolution

Lack of sunshine increases the risk of diabetes MORE than being obese

From the Daily Mail

  • Study: Vitamin D levels are more closely linked with diabetes than obesity 
  • People with low levels of vitamin D more likely to have type 2 diabetes
  • Also more likely to have pre-diabetes and metabolic syndrome 
  • Vitamin D is ‘more closely linked with glucose metabolism than obesity’

 

We’ve long been told that the main risk factor for type 2 diabetes is obesity.

Now, however, scientists have discovered a lack of sunshine increases the risk of diabetes more than weight.

A new study has warned people who have low levels of vitamin D are more likely to be obese and more likely to have type 2 diabetes.

They are also more likely than people with normal vitamin D levels to have pre-diabetes – a condition which means a person’s blood sugar is elevated.

If left untreated, they are likely to develop type 2 diabetes within a decade.

A lack of the 'sunshine' vitamin D - rather than being obese -  raises the risk of diabetes, researchers say. The vitamin plays a role in how the body metabolises sugar

A lack of the ‘sunshine’ vitamin D – rather than being obese –  raises the risk of diabetes, researchers say. The vitamin plays a role in how the body metabolises sugar

Their risk of metabolic syndrome – a medical term for a combination of diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity – is also increased.

Metabolic syndrome puts a person at greater risk of heart disease, stroke and other conditions affecting blood vessels.

The new Spanish study found it was a deficiency in vitamin D – dubbed the ‘sunshine vitamin’ – rather than what a person weighs that increased their risk of diabetes.

Read the rest of the article here.