Two easy ways to help reduce the risk for diabetes

A lot of people know that a low glycemic index diet and exercise is important when it comes to reducing the risk for type 2 diabetes.

The research reviewed here documented two other factors also affecting the risk of diabetes that most people are probably not aware of. One of these studies evaluated if sleep could have a relationship to diabetes (Cappuccio FP, et al. 2010).

The research included 107,756 participants both females and males included in 10 studies. The researchers concluded that both quantity and quality of sleep consistently and significantly predict the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

The other study investigated if vitamin D is involved in the development of type 2 diabetes (Liu E, et al. 2010).

It was found that individuals in the highest tertile of 25-hydroxyvitamin D, the most common way of measuring vitamin D levels, had a 40% lower incidence of type 2 diabetes when compared with individuals in the lowest tertile.

Get enough good quality sleep, some sunshine and take between 1000-2000 IU of vitamin D3 daily.

To read more about the many benefits of vitamin D, click here.

Cappuccio FP, D’Elia L, Strazzullo P, Miller MA. Quantity and quality of sleep and incidence of type 2 diabetes: a systematicreview and meta-analysis. Diabetes Care. 2010 Feb;33(2):414-20. Epub 2009 Nov 12.

Liu E, Meigs JB, Pittas AG, Economos CD, McKeown NM, Booth SL, Jacques PF. Predicted 25-hydroxyvitamin D score and incident type 2 diabetes in the Framingham Offspring Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 Jun;91(6):1627-33. Epub 2010 Apr 14.