Overview Diabetes and vitamin D

Diabetes: A risk factor is low vitamin D

• Diabetes is 5X more frequent far from the equator
• Children getting 2,000 IU of vitamin D are 8X less likely to get Type 1 diabetes
• Obese people get less sun / Vitamin D - and also vitamin D gets lost in fat
• Sedentary people get less sun / Vitamin D
• Worldwide Diabetes increase has been concurrent with vitamin D decrease and air conditioning
• Elderly get 4X less vitamin D from the same amount of sun
      Elderly also spend less time outdoors and have more clothes on
• All items in category Diabetes and Vitamin D 564 items: both Type 1 and Type 2

Vitamin D appears to both prevent and treat diabetes

• Appears that >2,000 IU will Prevent
• Appears that >4,000 IU will Treat , but not cure
• 90% less T2 Diabetes in the group having lots of Vitamin D
• Appears that Magnesium helps both Prevention and Treatment
• Many diabetics would be better treated if Gut-Friendly Vitamin D were used

Number of articles in both categories of Diabetes and:

• Dark Skin 25;   Intervention 57;   Meta-analysis 40;   Obesity 37;  Pregnancy 45;   T1 (child) 39;  Omega-3 12;  Vitamin D Receptor 25;  Genetics 13;  Magnesium 32    Click here to see details

Some Diabetes studies

• Take Vitamin D to prevent prediabetes from progressing into diabetes – American Diabetic Association – 2024
• Diabetes and Vitamin D meta-analyses - many studies 39+ as of Nov 2024
• 99.7% of people who got Diabetes had been regularly consuming food emulsifiers - May 2024
• Type 2 Diabetes treated by Vitamin D (often 50,000 IU weekly) – meta-analysis July 2023
• Diabetic inflammation synergistically decreased by Vitamin D and exercise – RCT June 2022
• Incidence of Type-2 Diabetes increased 3X in 30 years (by the way, Vitamin D helps) – July 2022
• Vitamin d treats Type II Diabetes in many ways (14 article review) - Sept 2021
• T2 Diabetes 30 percent more likely if poor Vitamin D Receptor – meta-analysis of 47 studies – July 2021

50 ng of Vitamin D fights Diabetes

• Saudi study defines normal Vitamin D level to be 50 to 70 ng (diabetes, etc.) - June 2020
• Diabetes 5X less likely if more than 50 ng of Vitamin D – April 2018

T1 Diabetes

• T1 Diabetes 3X lower risk if high vitamin D (over 40 ng) – Meta-analysis Nov 2020
• Type 1 Diabetes is prevented and treated by Vitamin D – review of 16 studies – Sept 2019
• Type 1 Diabetes prevention with Vitamin D and Omega-3 – Symposium April 2019

Pre-Diabetes

• 4X reduction in prediabetes progressing to T2D if more than 50 ng of vitamin D – RCT March 2023
• Prediabetes reduced by weekly 60,000 IU of Vitamin D – RCT Jan 2021
• Prediabetes 1.5 X more likely to go away if take Vitamin D – meta-analysis July 2020

Diabetes, Metabolic Syndrome and Magnesium - many studies

90% less T2 Diabetes in the group having lots of Vitamin D

See also: Type 2 Diabetes 2 X less likely if triple the vitamin D level (222,000 Danes) - Sept 2024

76% reduced risk of Diabetes if use small vitamin D doses - meta-analysis Feb 2023

• Vitamin D and Risk for Type 2 Diabetes in People With Prediabetes -A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis of Individual Participant Data From 3 Randomized Clinical Trials https://doi.org/10.7326/M22-3018
  • only used 20,000 weekly or 4,000 IU daily
  • Need to treat 30 people to eliminate one person getting diabetes (NNT)
• Dr. Campbell video review
• Annals Video Summary of study - Vitamin D and Risk for Type 2 Diabetes in People With Prediabetes https://doi.org/10.7326/M22-3698 Feb 2023
• Summary for Patients: Vitamin D and Risk for Type 2 Diabetes in People With Prediabetes PDF
• Preventing Type 2 Diabetes With Vitamin D: Therapy Versus Supplementation Feb 2023 https://doi.org/10.7326/M23-0220

4,600 hits for Diabetes and "Vitamin D" in the title in Google Scholar

Google Scholar

• The Impact of Vitamin D Deficiency and Insufficiency on the Outcome of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients: A Systematic Review - 2023 FREE PDF
• Vitamin D deficiency and its associated factors among patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus: a systematic review and meta-analysis - Oct 2023 FREE PDF
• An Overview of Systematic Reviews of the Role of Vitamin D on Inflammation in Patients with Diabetes and the Potentiality of Its Application on Diabetic Patients with COVID-19 - March 2022 FREE PDF
• Protective Role of Vitamin D Therapy in Diabetes Mellitus Type II- Aug 2021 FREE PDF
• Vitamin D in Diabetes: Uncovering the Sunshine Hormone’s Role in Glucose Metabolism and Beyond - April 2023 FREE PDF
• Vitamin D Supplementation for Prevention of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: To D or Not to D? Dec 2020 FREE PDF

5 Reasons that medical professionals do not prescribe Vitamin D for Diabetes

1. No profit for Big Pharma
   +Diabetes-A Lucrative Disease April 2023
2. Less income for doctors or hospitals if stop diabetes
3. The Vitamin D dose needed often varies by 4X between individuals for many health problems
   Doctors prefer using a single dose of a drug for all patients
4. Doctors are unaware that small doses of vitamin D gut-friendly can be used
   Gut-Friendly Vitamin D is available on Amazon, but not in pharmacies, nor by prescription
   they are uncomfortable prescribing 4,000+ IU of vitamin D
   in many countries, doctors can only prescribe D2 (which does not work as well), not D3
5. Doctors are unaware that adding Magnesium helps prevent/treat Diabetes
   they often just want to use a monotherapy

57 Diabetes and Interventions

32 studies in both categories Diabetes and Magnesium

This list is automatically updated

4 studies in both categories Diabetes and Calcium

This list is automatically updated

7X increase in T2 Diabetes by 2060 in those under age 20 (mainly in blacks) - Jan 2023

TrialSite News    PDF

From Hypponen - 7X less diabetes for children taking 2,000 IU of vitamin D

CLICK HERE for details

US military: 3.5 X more likely to get type I Diabetes if low vitamin D - 2014

from Video by Dr. Gorham Dec 2014

Percentage change in age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among adults aged >18 years Nov 2012

{FONT(size="18")}Diabetes average by 82% (average) in just 15 yearsFONT}

The figure above shows the percent change in age-adjusted prevalence of diagnosed diabetes among adults aged >18 years in the United States during 1995-2010.
During 1995-2010, the relative increase in age-adjusted prevalence of diabetes ranged from

• 8.5% in Puerto Rico to
• >225% in Oklahoma, with an
• overall median increase of 82.2%.

The age-adjusted prevalence increased by >50% in 42 states and by >100% in 18 states.
States in the South had the largest relative increase in prevalence, with the age-adjusted median increasing >100%.

• Diabetes Infographic Sept 2013 (nothing about vitamin D)
• Relations of vitamin D status, gender and type 2 diabetes in middle-aged Caucasians May 2014
     women with < 15 ng/ml were 3X more likely to get or have T2DM
• Full Fat Dairy May Reduce Your Risk of Diabetes and Other Health Problems Mercola Sept 2014
  8 portions of full-fat dairy products a day cut their risk of diabetes by nearly 25 %
  Women who ate at least one serving of full-fat dairy a day gained 30 % less weight over 9 years
  Raw milk is better
• Magnesium Reduces Diabetes Risk by 53% Report on a 2013 study
• Diabetes and Magnesium 2010 mgwater
• Diabetes Ages Your Brain Five Years Faster Than Normal Mercola Dec 2014
  Includes information on Vitamin D, Magnesium, Vitamin K2, Omega ratios, exercise, gut bacteria
• Many Schools Failing on Type 1 Diabetes Care NYT Oct 2015
• Increase in Diabetes in selected countries

• "'If Diabetes Was A Country, It Would Be The Third Largest Country In The World" - Huffington Post- AU 2016?
• New York Times Jan 2017
  Lawsuit made Jan 30, 2017 against Sanofi, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Insulin now costs up to $900/month
• GreenMedInfo Nov 2017
  "Diabetes just became the #3 killer in America and the #1 killer in Mexico"
  "1 out of 2 Americans ALREADY have diabetes or pre-diabetes."

Diabetes is prevented and treated by Curcumin (which increases activation of the VDR)

• Turmeric Extract May Prevent, Even Reverse Diabetes (Type 1 and 2)
  Latest of 21 articles on Diabetes and Turmeric in GeenMed Info, Aug 2015,Nothing about vitamin D
• Curcumin stopped conversion of pre-diabetes to diabetes Aug 2013
  9 month RCT with 250 mg, Curcumin 0% converted, without Curcumin 16% converted: GreenMedInfo
• Curcumin helps many health problems
• Curcumin extract for prevention of type 2 diabetes July 2018 - includes video summary
  "After nine months of treatment, 16 % of subjects in the placebo group went on to get full-blown diabetes. "
  :How many in the curcumin group? None."

BMI and Diabetes Washington Post Aug 2015

Interactive graphics. Black line = US, nothing about vitamin D
About 347 million adults in the world have diabetes, more than twice as many as in 1980.
Diabetes rates in adults since 1980, adjusted for age

Prediabetes

• People drinking one can of sugar-sweetened soda/day had a 46 % higher risk of developing prediabetes Nov 2016
• Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in pre-type 1 diabetes and its association with disease progression Feb 2014
  • Prediabetes is defined as the presence of multiple islet autoantibodies. If and when the disease progresses, however, does not seem to be influenced by the vitamin D levels. Within the group of children with positive autoantibodies, a few children quickly developed type 1 diabetes - however this was independent from their vitamin D levels.
• Prediabetes reduced by weekly 60,000 IU of Vitamin D – RCT Jan 2021
• How Meaningful Is Prediabetes for Older Adults? NYT Feb 23, 2021
  • refers to "Risk of Progression to Diabetes Among Older Adults With Prediabetes" Feb 2021
  • doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.8774 *Can be read at DeepDive
  • 
• People drinking one can of sugar-sweetened soda/day had a 46 % higher risk of developing prediabetes Nov 2016

33+ VitaminDWiki pages with PREDIABET in title

This list is automatically updated

Diabetes Types 3, 4, and 5

  Diabetes type 3 (Alz), 4 without obesity
   ((Link between diabetes and Alzheimers is probably low vitamin D__

  Diabetes type 5 (malnutrition) - official as of April 2025

Diabetes complications (nothing about Vitamin D) - 2016

Briefly Discusses
Skin Complications, Eye complications, Neuropathy, Foot Complications
Ketoacidosis & Ketones, Kidney Disease (Nephropathy)
High Blood Pressure (Hypertension), Stroke
Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic Nonketotic syndrome (HHNS)
Gastroparesis. Heart Diseases, Mental Health, Pregnancy
 Download the PDF from VitaminDWiki

Finger blood sugar tests do not help unless using Insulin

Is the Finger-Stick Blood Test Necessary for Type 2 Diabetes Treatment? June 2017

• "Blood glucose testing does not offer a significant advantage in blood sugar control or quality of life for patients with type 2 diabetes who are not treated with insulin, according to a study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine."
• "In the MONITOR trial, 450 patients were assigned to no blood sugar monitoring, once daily glucose monitoring, or enhanced once-daily glucose monitoring with an internet-delivered tailored message of encouragement or instruction for 1 year."
• "Results showed no significant differences in blood glucose control across the 3 groups. There were no significant differences in health-related quality of life or for hypoglycemia, hospitalizations, and emergency room visits."
• "There was also no difference in the number of individuals who had to start using insulin treatment to better control blood glucose levels."

New type of Insulin (GMO) results in increased deaths - Aug 2017

GMO Insulin Increases Morbidity and Mortality in Type 2 Diabetics GreenMedInfo
The GMO forms have a different structure and 4X as much of GMO form is needed to get the same benefit

• # of references at GreenMedInfo for other diabetic treatments: ginger (37), spirulina (38), and black cumin seed (39), nutraceuticals such as L-arginine (40), vitamin C (41), magnesium (42), omega-3 fatty acids (43), and vitamin D (43), and both high-intensity interval training (44) and aerobic exercise (45)

If diabetic and taking metformin you must check Vitamin B12 levels

Routine vitamin B12 screening may prevent irreversible nerve damage in type-2 diabetes Nov 2018

Diabetic Epidemic

• Great Diabetes Epidemic, A Manifesto for Control and Prevention Amazon $15

• Step back to 1994. Suppose an epidemic struck the United States, causing blindness, kidney failure, and leg amputations in steadily increasing numbers.
  Suppose that in less than a decade's time, the epidemic had victimized one out of every eight people
  That epidemic is real, and its name is diabetes, now the nation's sixth leading cause of death.
  Chart from the web (2018?)
  

Food more costly ==> more diabetes

Spain 2018

Many Diabetic associations recognize plant-based diets - 2019

Plant-Based Diets Recognized by Diabetes Associations Dr. Greger
5 minute video and transcript

• As Dr. Williams put it, the evidence “for the benefits of plant-based nutrition continues to mount.” “This now includes lower rates of stroke, hypertension, diabetes…, obesity, [heart attacks, and cardiac death], as well as many non-cardiac issues that affect our patients in cardiology, ranging from cancer to a variety of inflammatory conditions.”
• "Reading the existing [scientific] literature and evaluating the impact of plant-based nutrition, it clearly represents the single most important yet underutilized opportunity to reverse the pending obesity and diabetes-induced epidemic of disease and death.”

Updated Oct 2023

• Dr. Kim Williams, the American College of Cardiology’s immediate past president, began an editorial on plant-based diets with a classic quote from Schopenhauer: “All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
• In 2013, plant-based diets for diabetes were “ridiculed” and placed in the “Fad Diets” section of the official endocrinology practice guidelines despite acknowledgment that the eating pattern reduces diabetes risk and improves management better than the American Diabetes Association recommendation.
• By 2015, the guidelines explicitly endorsed a plant-based diet as its general recommendation for diabetic patients, and, now, the American Diabetes Association itself is also on board.
• The Canadian Diabetes Association has taken the lead by recommending plant-based diets—“a regimen that encourages whole, plant-based foods and discourages meats, dairy products, and eggs, as well as all refined and processed foods”—for disease management and also recommending Canadian diabetes education centers to develop educational materials and provide individualized counseling sessions to address obstacles to change in order to improve people’s perceptions of plant-based diets.
• Ignorance may be the biggest barrier to eating plant-based. Nearly nine out of ten patients interviewed hadn’t heard of plant-based eating to treat or manage diabetes, despite most staff being aware of its benefits, yet only about one in three diabetes educators and clinicians recommending it to their patients.
• Two common reasons given were that they didn’t mention it because they didn’t believe their patients would eat a plant-based diet and they were unclear about the supportive scientific evidence. However, the researchers cited studies in which vegan diets had a greater than 95 percent adherence rate, likely because the participants experienced significant improvements, and plant-based eating has been shown to be more effective than an ADA-recommended diet at reducing the use of diabetes medications, long-term blood sugar control, and cholesterol.
• There is a delay in the dissemination of new scientific findings from the scientific literature to the clinician and finally to the patient, which is one of the reasons I started NutritionFacts.org.
• The science on plant-based diets is clear, but the bigger challenge is overcoming the “inertia, culture, habit and widespread marketing of unhealthy foods,” says Dr. Williams. “Reading the existing literature and evaluating the impact of plant-based nutrition, it clearly represents the single most important yet underutilized opportunity to reverse the pending obesity and diabetes induced epidemic of morbidity and mortality.”
• "...strictly plant-based diets were “well accepted with over 95 percent adherence rate,"
• Greger category listing has 30 items along with related searches

Diabetic problems: map of the body

Healthline

CDC US Diabetes maps 1994, 2015

Testing for diabetes in US: start at age 35 if BMI >25 USPSTF - Aug 2021

US Preventive Services Task Force lowers diabetes screening age for overweight

American Diabetes Association and American Association of Clinical Endocrinology disagree
   - the age should be 45 years old. not 35

Each additional decade of T2 Diabetes reduces lifespan by 2.5 years - Oct 2023

MD Edge

Voice analysis determened persons having Type 2 diabetes with 71% accuracy - Oct 2024

Medscape
Still gathering data: www.colivevoice.org
Proably many years until this becomes available as an online service

Dabetes is assocated with categories: Intervention 56, Pregnancy 43, Infant-Child 39, Obesity 34, Cardiovascular 33, Magnesium 27, Skin - Dark 24, Vitamin D Receptor 23, etc.

(as of Oct 2023) Intervention - non daily 22, Metabolic Syndrome 17, Hypertension 13, Virus 12, Genetics 12, Kidney 12, Depression 11, Omega-3 11, Cognitive 10, Autoimmune 9, Deficiency 9, Cancer 9, Loading dose 8, Mortality and D 8, Vision, 7, Rheumatoid Arthritis, 7, Multiple Sclerosis, 6, Lupus, 6, Immunity, 6, Injection, 6, Antibiotics, probiotics, 6, Middle East, 6, Youth, 5, Stroke, 5, Vitamin D and Vitamin K, 5, Vit D Binding Protein, 5, Thyroid and parathyroid, 4, Sports and Vitamin D, 4, Bone - Health, 4, Books, videos on Vitamin D, 4, Fortification with Vitamin D, 4, Pain - chronic, 4

Details of Associations with the category Diabetes