The consequences of uncontrolled diabetes can be total blindness, kidney disease, heart disease, amputations, and, in the worst case, death.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that every seven seconds ends the life of a person, according to data from the World Health Organization. In addition, when this condition is not controlled, there is a risk of blindness, kidney problems, heart disease, amputations, and other serious conditions.

However, before this condition is diagnosed there is a period known as prediabetes in which high levels of sugar in the blood are registered, but it is still not enough to consider that the disease has already appeared.

In that sense, there are options that can be taken into account to prevent the development of this condition, such as optimizing the intake of vitamin D, as shown by a recent study, which compiles the ways to prevent type 2 diabetes.

Specifically, the study, which was taken up by the scientific journal Healthline, maintains that the consumption of vitamin D could prevent diabetes since this mineral works as a mechanism for controlling blood sugar.

In this sense, a series of previous investigations have shown that the vast majority of patients diagnosed with this disease do not consume vitamin D, or have shown to have a deficiency of the vitamin from the sun, as it is also known. This means that people who do not include this vitamin in their diet are the most likely to suffer from diabetes in any of its variants.

According to the Healthline report, vitamin D levels in the blood should be at least 30 ng / ml. Also, some research suggests that people with high levels of vitamin D in their blood are 43 percent less likely to develop diabetes compared to those with a lower level.

Is it also effective in children?

As for children, a study published a year ago, observed that minors who received vitamin D supplements had a significant death in the chances of suffering from diabetes . Specifically, the supplemented children showed a 78 percent lower risk than those who did not receive a supplement with this vitamin.

Likewise, scientific studies have found evidence that people who previously had a deficiency of the vitamin from the sun and, later, take supplements to replace it, improve the functioning of cells related to the production of insulin, an enzyme that is responsible for mobilizing glucose in the blood). In addition, it was observed that sugar levels normalize, which means that the risk of diabetes decreases considerably.

How do you get vitamin D?

Vitamin D supplements are one of the direct sources of this mineral, however, sun exposure has been shown to be one of the most effective ways to synthesize this mineral. However, some considerations should be taken into account, since prolonged exposure or at inappropriate times could represent a risk of generating some injuries, therefore, specialists recommend that sunbathing be between 5 to 10 minutes, preferably during the first or the last hours of the day, since ultraviolet rays strike less strongly.

Another way to obtain vitamin D is through the diet since this mineral is found in some foods of animal and vegetable origin, such as oily fish since the fats in this food are rich in the vitamin from the sun. Cod liver oil is another source of this mineral.

However, there are some cases in which some people require high intakes of vitamin D, ranging between 2,000 and 4,000 IU to maintain optimal levels and for the body to function properly.