Can low vitamin D cause low blood sugar?

If you have a vitamin D deficiency, you’re more likely to develop type 2 diabetes. Vitamin D helps your body produce hormones that regulate your blood sugar. Without it, your blood sugar is more likely to fluctuate and spiral out of control.

• Fatigue.
• Bone pain.
• Muscle weakness, muscle aches, or muscle cramps.
• Mood changes, like depression.

We should recognize vitamin B12 deficiency as one of the causes of an impaired awareness of hypoglycemia in diabetic patients.

Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to the onset of diabetes. This review summarizes the role of Vitamin D in maintaining the normal release of insulin by the pancreatic beta cells (β-cells). Diabetes is initiated by the onset of insulin resistance.

Vitamin D After two months of taking a 4,500-IU supplement of vitamin D daily, both fasting blood sugar and A1C improved.

[1,2] Vitamin D increases insulin sensitivity through the effect on its muscle cell receptors by increasing insulin receptor or increasing the sensitivity of insulin receptor to insulin and the effect on peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) δ and the influence on regulation of extracellular calcium.

“If you put people on 2,000-4,000 [milligrams] of vitamin D based on what their deficient value was, you can usually get them corrected in four to six weeks, which is when you are really going to need the vitamin D.

For most adults, vitamin D deficiency is not a concern. However, some groups — particularly people who are obese, who have dark skin and who are older than age 65 — may have lower levels of vitamin D due to their diets, little sun exposure or other factors.

Simply adding an over-the-counter vitamin D supplement can make improvements in just three to four months’ time.

Hormone deficiencies. Certain adrenal gland and pituitary tumor disorders can result in a deficiency of key hormones that regulate glucose production. Children can have hypoglycemia if they have too little growth hormone.

Hypoglycemia is the condition when your blood glucose (sugar) levels are too low. It happens to people with diabetes when they have a mismatch of medicine, food, and/or exercise. Non-diabetic hypoglycemia, a rare condition, is low blood glucose in people who do not have diabetes.

Reactive hypoglycemia (postprandial hypoglycemia) refers to low blood sugar that occurs after a meal — usually within four hours after eating. This is different from low blood sugar (hypoglycemia) that occurs while fasting.

What causes a vitamin D deficiency? A deficiency in vitamin D can result from inadequate exposure to sunlight, inefficient production in the skin, not enough vitamin D in your diet, and health conditions that can affect it including, gastrointestinal disorders, renal diseases, and liver diseases.

A new study concludes that people with prediabetes who take vitamin D supplements can lower their risk of type 2 diabetes. Past research indicates that vitamin D can positively affect blood sugar levels, inflammation, and insulin production.

Vitamin D helps regulate the amount of calcium and phosphate in the body. These nutrients are needed to keep bones, teeth and muscles healthy. A lack of vitamin D can lead to bone deformities such as rickets in children, and bone pain caused by a condition called osteomalacia in adults.

The Vitamin D Council recommends that healthy adults take 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily — more if they get little or no sun exposure. There’s evidence that people with a lot of body fat need more vitamin D than lean people.

More recently, it was also shown that vitamin D prevents epigenetic alterations associated with insulin resistance and diabetes. In conclusion, vitamin D deficiency is one of the factors accelerating insulin resistance formation.

Vitamin D reduces insulin resistance probably through its effect on calcium and phosphorus metabolism and through up regulation of the insulin receptor gene [13]. One study on 5,677 subjects with impaired glucose tolerance showed that vitamin D supplementation increased insulin sensitivity by 54% [14].

1. Get more sleep. A good night’s sleep is important for your health. …
2. Exercise more. …
3. Reduce stress. …
4. Lose a few pounds. …
5. Eat more soluble fiber. …
6. Add more colorful fruit and vegetables to your diet. …
7. Cut down on carbs. …
8. Reduce your intake of added sugars.

1. Spend time in sunlight. Vitamin D is often referred to as “the sunshine vitamin” because the sun is one of the best sources of this nutrient. …
2. Consume fatty fish and seafood. …
3. Eat more mushrooms. …
4. Include egg yolks in your diet. …
5. Eat fortified foods. …
6. Take a supplement. …
7. Try a UV lamp.

Some factors that may reduce or block its absorption include: Conditions such as celiac disease, chronic pancreatitis, Crohn’s disease, and cystic fibrosis. These can all affect the intestines, preventing them from absorbing vitamin D found in food. BMI (body mass index) higher than 30.

Daily vitamin D was more effective than weekly, and monthly administration was the least effective.

For most adults, a normal level of vitamin D in the blood is 20 nanograms per milliliter or above. The amount of vitamin D a person needs per day depends on their age. The body depends on vitamin D for a variety of reasons, but it is especially important for bone health.

Research shows that a lack of vitamin D in your body can lead to hair loss. One role vitamin D plays is stimulating new and old hair follicles. When there isn’t enough vitamin D in your system, new hair growth can be stunted.

The symptoms of vitamin D deficiency are often very subtle, so many people don’t know they are deficient. But, some of the effects of vitamin D deficiency include: Fatigue or tiredness.

“For the vast majority of people, even those with low but not deficient levels, taking extra vitamin D will not provide any short-term noticeable benefits like feeling better, having more energy, or improvement in mental focus.”

Research links vitamin D levels to sleep quality. In fact, several studies associate low levels of vitamin D in your blood to a higher risk of sleep disturbances, poorer sleep quality and reduced sleep duration ( 9 , 10 , 11 ).

While the upper limit of this recommendation is 2,000 IU per day, research shows that high doses of vitamin D (10,000 to 50,000 IU daily) may be necessary for patients who have a history of malabsorption. While vitamin D toxicity (also called hypervitaminosis D) is rare, it can have serious side effects.

Skipping meals, eating less than usual, or eating later than usual but taking your medication at your usual time can also lead to low blood sugar levels. Unplanned excess physical activity without eating enough can also cause a drop in blood sugar levels.

1. Eat all your meals and snacks on time and try not to skip any.
2. Take the right amount of insulin.
3. If you exercise longer or harder than usual, have an extra snack.
4. Don’t take a hot bath or shower right after an insulin shot.
5. Stick to your diabetes management plan.

Good choices are a piece of fruit, a few whole wheat crackers, a glass of milk, or a carton of yogurt. In people with diabetes, hypoglycemia can come on suddenly and needs to be treated right away so it doesn’t get worse. Eat or drink a quickly digested carbohydrate food, such as: ½ cup fruit juice.

1. sweating.
2. feeling tired.
3. dizziness.
4. feeling hungry.
5. tingling lips.
6. feeling shaky or trembling.
7. a fast or pounding heartbeat (palpitations)
8. becoming easily irritated, tearful, anxious or moody.

The good news is that this condition can often be reversed — allowing people to once again notice the signs of low blood glucose — if hypoglycemia is avoided for a few weeks through careful monitoring of blood glucose.

If you have symptoms of hypoglycemia, do the following: Eat or drink 15 to 20 grams of fast-acting carbohydrates. These are sugary foods without protein or fat that are easily converted to sugar in the body. Try glucose tablets or gel, fruit juice, regular — not diet — soft drinks, honey, and sugary candy.

• High blood sugar.
• Increased thirst and/or hunger.
• Blurred vision.
• Frequent urination (peeing).
• Headache.

1. Choose foods with fiber. Stabilize your blood sugar by eating fiber from whole grains, beans and other legumes, vegetables, and fruit.
2. Eat light, eat often. …
3. Give chromium a go. …
4. Cut back on refined carbs. …
5. Say no to alcohol and caffeine.