Vitamin D does not prevent type 2 diabetes in people at high risk

Taking a daily vitamin D supplement does not prevent type 2 diabetes in adults at high risk, according to results from a study.

Supplements. Photo: Kayla Maurais/Unsplash

The Vitamin D and Type 2 Diabetes (D2d) is the largest study to directly examine if daily vitamin D supplementation helps keep people at high risk for type 2 diabetes from developing the disease. The study included adults aged 30 or older and assigned participants randomly to either take 4,000 International Units (IU) of the D3 (cholecalciferol) form of vitamin D or a placebo pill daily.

All study participants had their vitamin D levels measured at the start of the study. At that time, about 80% of participants had vitamin D levels considered sufficient by U.S. nutritional standards.

Observational studies have reported an association between low levels of vitamin D and increased risk for type 2 diabetes. Additionally, smaller studies found that vitamin D could improve the function of beta cells, which produce insulin.

However, whether vitamin D supplementation may help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes was not known.

At the end of the study, 293 out of 1211 participants (24.2%) in the vitamin D group developed diabetes compared to 323 out of 1212 (26.7%) in the placebo group – a difference that did not reach statistical significance. The study was designed to detect a risk reduction of 25% or more.

D2d enrolled a diverse group of participants with a range of physical characteristics, including sex, age, and body mass index, as well as racial and ethnic diversity. This representation helps ensure that the study findings could be widely applicable to people at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

In addition to the study’s size, one of its major strengths is the diversity of its participants, which enabled us to examine the effect of vitamin D across a large variety of people.

More than 50% of adults in the United States take nutritional supplements and use of vitamin D has increased substantially over the last 20 years.

Because of these trends, the study also evaluated the safety of taking 4,000 units of vitamin D daily — greater than the average daily recommended dose of 600-800 IUs a day, but within limits deemed appropriate for clinical research by the Institute of Medicine.

The researchers saw no difference in the number and frequency of predicted side effects such as high blood calcium levels and kidney stones when they compared the vitamin D and placebo groups. (National Institutes of Health)

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