Vitamin D Supplements Improve Mood in Women With Type 2 Diabetes

A new study led by Sue Penckofer from the Niehoff School of Nursing reveals that taking vitamin D supplements not only reduces blood pressure in women with type II diabetes but also improves their mood and could be responsible for a small amount of weight loss in some women.

The researchers conducted the study on a group of 46 women with an average of 55 years. All of the participants had diabetes for an average of eight years and also suffered from vitamin D deficiency. The participants were given a daily dietary intake of over 50,000 International Units (IUs) of vitamin D, well above the recommended daily intake of 600 IUs.

At the end of six months, the researchers found that the vitamin D levels in the blood of the participants had returned to normal while blood pressure levels improved. They also displayed improvement in their mood while their average weight dropped from 226.1 pounds to 223.6 pounds.

"Vitamin D supplementation potentially is an easy and cost-effective therapy with minimal side effects. Larger, randomized controlled trials are needed to determine the impact of vitamin D supplementation on depression and major cardiovascular risk factors among women with Type 2 diabetes", Penckofer said.

Source: Medindia