D for Diabetes?

Over the last five years or so, researchers have established tentative links between Vitamin D deficiency and metabolic syndrome (aka syndrome X), a condition characterised by abdominal obesity, high blood pressure and high levels of either blood sugar or insulin.

People with metabolic syndrome have an elevated risk for type-2 diabetes and/or cardiovascular disease, as well as other health problems. Now a study from Spain provides new evidence that the two are closely linked. It looked at a group of morbidly-obese individuals and found that 63 percent of them had metabolic syndrome.

A little more than half of the group also had too little vitamin D in their bodies. More significantly, however, roughly 61 percent of those with metabolic syndrome were vitamin D deficient, leading the researchers to say they were closely linked - at least in morbidly-obese individuals. The Spanish study was strictly observational, so it makes no claims about the value of vitamin D supplementation. It does, However add yet another reason to make sure you either get enough sun time or take a daily dose of Vitamin D3.