Calcium, vitamin D may lower diabetes risk | Health | Reuters
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Calcium and vitamin D, whether from food or supplements, may help lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a research review.
A number of studies have found links between type 2 diabetes risk and calcium, vitamin D and dairy food intake. When the results from these studies are combined, the new review found, people with the highest intakes of vitamin D and calcium had an 18 percent lower risk of diabetes than those with the lowest intakes.
Similarly, people who ate the most dairy food had a 14 percent lower diabetes risk than those who ate the least dairy.
Though it's not clear why calcium and vitamin D are linked to diabetes risk, lab research has pointed to some possibilities, according to the review authors, led by Dr. Anastassios G. Pittas of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.
Both nutrients may be important in the functioning of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, and in the body's proper use of insulin, the researchers explain in their report, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Calcium and vitamin D, whether from food or supplements, may help lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a research review.
A number of studies have found links between type 2 diabetes risk and calcium, vitamin D and dairy food intake. When the results from these studies are combined, the new review found, people with the highest intakes of vitamin D and calcium had an 18 percent lower risk of diabetes than those with the lowest intakes.
Similarly, people who ate the most dairy food had a 14 percent lower diabetes risk than those who ate the least dairy.
Though it's not clear why calcium and vitamin D are linked to diabetes risk, lab research has pointed to some possibilities, according to the review authors, led by Dr. Anastassios G. Pittas of Tufts-New England Medical Center in Boston.
Both nutrients may be important in the functioning of insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, and in the body's proper use of insulin, the researchers explain in their report, published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
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