Especially Diabetics Need High Levels Of Vitamin D
Do you have diabetes? New research is indicating that low levels of vitamin D could potentially double the risk for cardiovascular disease for diabetic patients.
The Washington University in St. Louis, the School Of Medicine, published an article about the topic. The researchers there think they know why this is happening.
Diabetic patients cannot process cholesterol normally, those that are deficient in vitamin D. How to fix the problem? By increasing the dosage of vitamin D.
The skin automatically takes in vitamin D through the ultraviolet rays of the sun. Researchers say approximately 5-30 minutes of sun exposure between 10 AM and 3 PM at least twice a week to the face, arms, legs, or back without sunscreen usually lead to sufficient vitamin D synthesis.
Who is more at risk? Some breastfed infants, people over 50, people living in northern latitudes, people with dark skin, people with fat malabsorption, and obese people.
What is considered to be adequate intakes for people? For most younger folks, 5 mcg (200 IU) is adequate. For folks over 50, you need 10 mcg (400 IU).
The best sources of fish are sardines, salmon, tuna, mackerel, swordfish, and fish liver oils.
Other foods that contain vitamin D are found in beef liver, cheese, egg yolks, orange juice, milk, yogurt, margarine, beef liver, cereal, and swiss cheese.
If you are under 50, you would need to drink about 4 glasses of milk daily to get an adequate supply of vitamin D. For people over 50, you might want to try cod liver oil.
For more information, here is the Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet.
If you are interested at all, the author of this post just had a doctor visit. Everything checked out okay for the most part and I’m not a diabetic. Well, you guessed it — my level of vitamin D was definitely low. Please ask your doctor about your vitamin D level.
