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Blood sugar levels are so important. You hear us talk about prediabetes, diabetes, CGM (continuous glucose monitors), HbA1c all the time for a reason- blood sugar and the inflammation it causes is thought to be a root cause of dementia, heart disease, cancer and more.
There are some of you who are genetically predisposed to higher blood sugar. For others it may be due to weight gain. For others it is our lovely processed food, high carbohydrate diet. This meta analysis study indicates though that low Vitamin D levels may also contribute.
We are low in Vitamin D. Whether it is due to our indoor lifestyle, wearing sunscreen, or not eating the fatty fish and eggs which give us a dietary source, most people are low in Vitamin D and need to supplement. There are many benefits to Vitamin D (read the blogs!), but one you may not know about is that it has been shown to reduce the risk of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.
This blog is dedicated to Type 2 diabetes. It is a meta analysis of eight trials with around 4,896 patients, published in 2020 in Diabetes Care, which looked at studies, “Effects of Vitamin D Supplementation on Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes in Patients With Prediabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.”
Findings?
- Benefit was found in non obese subjects.
- Reversal from prediabetes to normal glycemic levels happened in 21% of those in the D group (only 14% in control)
- They state that prediabetes and new onset diabetes were not well defined, and they do not have long term data on whether those patients eventually got Type 2 diabetes.
But they do conclude, “In persons with prediabetes, vitamin D supplementation reduces the risk of T2DM and increases the reversion rate of prediabetes to normoglycemia. The benefit of the prevention of T2DM could be limited to nonobese subjects. Individual participant data meta-analyses are needed to confirm these findings.”
Our thoughts at Biohackr Health?
Glucose control is important. Many people get diabetes as they age due to age, genetics, weight, and diet. This is something you can fight against, and we are here to help you.
- WEIGHT. If overweight, losing weight will help you with blood sugar control. Weight help can be from building muscle to semaglutide and tirzepatide. We offer the range of treatments. Weight treatments
- TEST. What is your HbA1c? That gives you an idea of your three month glucose control. If elevated, it means you are prediabetic. Start treatments and then retest to see the effectiveness.
- CGM. We offer continuous glucose monitors. This will help you analyze YOUR pattern- what foods spike your blood sugar? meal size? protein and fats with carbs? exercise effect? CGM blogs
- MUSCLE MASS. Muscle helps with lowering the risk of diabetes as well. Build muscle mass, particularly important as you age. Creatine can help. Creatine science
- PROBIOTIC. Did you know certain bacterial strains help with glucose control? They do, and we have them in our probiotic. A healthy gut makes your body better and can lower your diabetes risk as well. SHOP