Vitamin D, most commonly absorbed into the body from sunlight, is being linked to preventing Type 1 Diabetes.

The University of San Diego is the source of the study, and found children from higher latitudes (Canada) have a higher incidence of Type 1 Diabetes.

the incidence of diabetes tends to be low at or near the equator, where the rate often approaches zero, and then rises steadily at progressively higher latitudes, reaching peaks in places like Canada, Finland and southern Argentina’s Tierra del Fuego [source]

“The research suggests that childhood type 1 diabetes may be preventable with a modest intake of vitamin D3 (1,000 IU/day), ideally with five to 10 minutes of sunlight around noontime, when good weather allows,” Garland said.

“Infants less than a year old should not be given more than 400 IU per day without consulting a doctor. Hats and dark glasses are a good idea to wear when in the sun at any age, and can be used if the child will tolerate them,” he advised. [source]

We were encouraged to give Vitamin D supplements to Z as an infant, since you can’t really put a newborns fresh and fragile skin in open sunlight. Continuing to give him the supplements, especially in this lame June weather, is something Jen and I are going to discuss.

The amounts of Vitamin D you should supplement is being debated.

The amounts of vitamin D that Dr. Garland suggests are far higher than what Health Canada recommends - 400 IU a day for breast-fed infants under 1 and 200 IU for older children. Health Canada’s maximum safe dose is 1,000 IU a day for those younger than 1 and 2,000 for those older, although the government agency said last month that it intends to review its recommendations in light of new research linking insufficiency of the vitamin to a number of diseases.

Health Canada said in an e-mail response to questions from The Globe that it recommends Canadians follow its existing doses pending the outcome of the review.

The Canadian Diabetes Association has been financing research into vitamin D, including a study by Dr. Taback that gave infants 400 IU or 2,000 IU daily to see whether there were any adverse effects. [source]

That research is one of the things you can support by donating to Team Diabetes. Can you imagine that something as simple as sunshine and a vitamin supplement could cure / prevent Juvenile Diabetes? It’s truly remarkable.

If you want all the scientific speak, check out the medical journal, Diabetologia.

This is the second time this week Vitamin D has been hailed as a magic cure all.

On Tuesday, The University of Toronto released information saying Vitamin D helped in protecting against breast cancer.

Last week came reports a lack of Vitamin D has also been linked to osteoporosis in adults.

So get outside and soak up some sun. You know, once it starts shining.

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