By Joseph Hazan,M.D., FACOG
It is becoming evident that vitamin D deficiency
is extremely common in
conditions like diabetes, PCOS, obesity,
hypertension, heart disease, cancer,
Alzheimer’s, osteoporosis and several
other disease entities.
The reason Vitamin D is vital has to do
with its role as a hormone precursor.
Overweight individuals are particularly
deficient in vitamin D levels.
This fat soluble vitamin tends to accumulate
in the fat tissue where it is
useless. Additionally obese individuals,
due to their larger size require
higher intake of Vitamin D to maintain
adequate serum levels.
Hyperinsulinemia, hypertension, high levels
of C-reactive protein and
homocysteine which are all indicators of poor
cardiovascular condition
are shown to be coincident with low
vitamin D levels.
Studies have shown improved glucose
tolerance, better insulin sensitivity,
and lower risk of type 1 and type 2 diabetes.
Insulin resistance is a major
problem common to obesity, diabetes,
metabolic syndrome and PCOS.
This situation has been shown to improve
with increased vitamin D intake.
During pregnancy vitamin D deficiency
has been shown to increase the risk
of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia.
Therefore adequate intake of
vitamin D supplements are essential.
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