According to a recent report, those individuals that have a higher level of blood vitamin D also had a 40 per cent decreased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, when compared to those who had lower levels of the vitamin.
The results were gleaned from a 17-year long follow-up of around 4,000 men and women . Over the course of this period, approximately 187 people developed type 2 diabetes. The researchers adjusted for various factors, and found that an inverse association could be drawn between blood vitamin D and the development of type 2 diabetes.
The study was conducted in Helsinki, Finland. An expert from the National Public Health Institute, Dr. Paul Knekt, reportedly commented: “Vitamin D comes from the diet (mainly from fish), supplements and sun exposure. Previous human studies have suggested that high intake of fish fat is related to a reduced risk of coronary heart disease. Our diabetes finding is thus in line with the suggestion of beneficial health effects of fish.”
The study is published in the October edition of leading diabetes journal Diabetes Care.

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