Statistics say that 529 million people worldwide are now living with Type 2 diabetes, and by 2050, the numbers are projected to rise to 1.31 billion.1 A major risk factor for blindness, stroke, amputations, heart attacks, and kidney failure, diabetes is now the ninth leading cause of death globally, with 1 million dying annually from this disease.2
These numbers are indeed alarming, but the good news is there are simple strategies to control diabetes. Many people overlook the fact that simple lifestyle changes will go a long way in managing or even preventing this disease. For example, studies show that restoring your levels of one key nutrient could be the missing piece in reversing insulin resistance — vitamin D.
Large Doses of Vitamin D Help Stabilize Blood Sugar in Just Weeks
Type 2 diabetes is a disease rooted in insulin resistance. It occurs when your cells stop responding well to insulin, the hormone that shuttles glucose out of your bloodstream and into your cells for energy. Over time, your pancreas works harder and harder to keep up, until it can’t. Blood sugar climbs, damage accumulates, and you begin to feel it. What most people don’t realize is that low vitamin D is a hidden driver behind this entire process.
A recent systematic review and meta-analysis published in BMC Endocrine Disorders analyzed the effects of vitamin D supplementation on blood sugar control in people with Type 2 diabetes. Researchers reviewed data from 46 randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine whether adding vitamin D alone — not alongside other nutrients — could help regulate blood sugar, insulin function, or insulin resistance.3,4
• Most participants were vitamin D deficient, which worsens glucose regulation — The study encompassed over 4,300 adults — 2,164 of them received vitamin D, while 2,149 were given a placebo. Most of the participants were deficient in vitamin D at baseline.
• Supplementation significantly improved vital markers of metabolic health — The researchers found that vitamin D supplementation lowered fasting blood sugar by an average of 5.02 mg/dL, regardless of age or gender.
The authors also reported that hemoglobin A1c — a three-month average of blood sugar — dropped by 0.20%, and insulin resistance, measured by HOMA-IR, improved significantly. For those unfamiliar, HOMA-IR is a calculated score based on your fasting insulin and glucose that helps doctors assess how hard your body is working to maintain blood sugar levels.5
• High doses of vitamin D worked best in short timeframes — Specifically, doses above 2,000 IU delivered the most substantial benefits. The timeframe mattered too, with the biggest benefits seen in trials that ran 12 weeks or less. This means the metabolic benefits become apparent quickly, allowing you to track your progress and adjust dose and duration as needed.
• People who were deficient saw the largest improvements — Those who were vitamin D deficient — meaning their vitamin D blood levels were below 20 ng/mL — had the most significant improvements in metabolic markers. This strongly suggests that if you’re already replete in vitamin D, additional supplementation offers little added benefit. But if you’re deficient, the impact is direct and measurable.
• Vitamin D also helps balance other hormones linked to insulin resistance — It impacts the production of parathyroid hormone (PTH). Elevated PTH levels have been linked to insulin resistance. By suppressing excess PTH, vitamin D allows for better insulin function and lower glucose levels.
Vitamin D Deficiency Worsens Diabetes and Makes It More Difficult to Manage
An article in Everyday Health provides additional information on how your vitamin D levels affect your chances of getting a diabetes diagnosis. “It’s easy to underestimate how critical this micronutrient is for big functions in the body, like improving insulin sensitivity,” says Aimée José, RN, CDCES, a diabetes coach based in San Diego.6
• How does vitamin D help manage diabetes? According to the article, this nutrient enhances insulin’s ability to move glucose through your body. It also helps regulate calcium levels and binds to beta-cell vitamin D receptors in the pancreas.
• This nutrient also stimulates insulin release in the bloodstream — It also plays a role in curbing inflammation, which is also a risk factor in insulin resistance, diabetes, and other diseases.
• Vitamin D’s influence extends beyond just insulin — It affects the pancreas directly, helping preserve the function of beta cells responsible for producing insulin. Once these cells are damaged or exhausted, the body loses its ability to regulate sugar independently. Supporting them early could mean keeping diabetes from getting worse.
However, most people today are not getting the vitamin D they need to ward off diabetes and, as the featured study demonstrates, having low levels is linked to an increased risk of this disease.
• Many people with darker skin have this deficiency — In countries where people typically have a darker complexion, like in India, the prevalence of diabetes and vitamin D deficiency is high.7
• Vitamin D deficiency triggers a domino effect of nutrient deficiencies — According to the article, it triggers other deficiencies like calcium and phosphorus imbalances, putting you at risk of leading to thyroid and bone issues, such as fractures. Vitamin D deficiency is also associated with cardiovascular disease, autoimmune disorders, and depression.
• Vitamin D deficiency is also associated with Type 1 diabetes8 and gestational diabetes9 — Dr. Benjamin Nwosu, MD, chief of pediatric endocrinology at Northwell Health, said, “There is also a vitamin D hypothesis in [T]ype 1 diabetes.
It suggests that the further you move away from the equator, the higher the prevalence of autoimmune diseases like [T]ype 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis. When you’re getting enough vitamin D from the sun, it protects you from some of those autoimmune triggers.”10
• Other health conditions also arise because of vitamin D deficiency — The article notes that vitamin D negatively affects muscle function, mood, and immune function, all of which are associated with diabetes as well. “For example, older people with diabetes are more likely to develop foot ulcers, and the severity of the ulcer grows if vitamin D levels worsened,” the article notes.11
Maximizing the Benefits of the ‘Sunshine Vitamin’
Whether or not you’re diabetic or prediabetic, optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the most important measures to help you protect your health and reduce your risk of chronic diseases. While it’s found in small amounts in some foods like beef liver, fatty fish, egg yolks, and mushrooms,12 the best way to get enough of this nutrient is through sun exposure.
• What’s the recommended levels for vitamin D? Ideally, aim for vitamin D levels between 60 and 80 ng/mL (150 to 200 nmol/L). To make sure you’re meeting this amount, I recommend having your levels tested at least twice a year.
• How much sunlight should you get? To meet these levels, you’ll need to expose your bare skin to direct peak sunlight daily. Before doing this, make sure to do a simple “sunburn” test. You need to stay under direct sunlight just to the point where your skin starts to turn a slight pink color. Another important consideration is to make sure you’re not consuming seed oils when you get peak sunlight — more on this below.
• You can’t overdo vitamin D from sunlight alone — Your body stops making vitamin D when you’ve got enough. However, remember that if you have darker skin, you’ll need to spend more time in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D as someone with lighter skin.
• Not everyone has access to sunlight all year round — In this case, vitamin D supplementation is a better choice. Look for a vitamin D3 supplement, and take it with some healthy fat like butter or tallow, so your body will absorb it better.
A Note About Sun Exposure and Linoleic Acid
While sunlight is necessary to reap vitamin D and promote your overall well-being, it demands careful management. One particular concern is eating a diet high in vegetable oils. These oils are loaded with linoleic acid (LA), an omega-6 fat that easily oxidizes when exposed to UV light.
• What happens when you expose your skin to the sun while still consuming vegetable oils? To put it simply, the seed oils will react to UV light from the sun and will initiate a cascade of breakdown products. This leads to inflammation, DNA damage, and sunburn. It makes sun exposure work against you, not for you.
• Eliminate seed oils from your diet before going under peak sunlight — If you haven’t completely warded off seed oils, simply limit sun exposure to the gentler morning or late afternoon hours. Ideally, you should be off seed oils for four to six months before getting peak sun exposure. Once you’ve stopped consuming these LA-rich oils for at least six months, you can resume getting peak sun exposure.
• What if sun exposure is unavoidable before your body has fully cleared vegetable oils? In this case, it’s important to take protective measures. One strategy is to take 12 milligrams of astaxanthin daily. This marine-derived antioxidant bolsters your skin’s resistance to sun damage by neutralizing free radicals and reducing inflammation, providing added UV protection.
• Niacinamide cream (vitamin B3) is also a beneficial tool — Applying it topically protects against UV-induced DNA damage and strengthens your skin barrier, enhancing resilience to sun stressors. Many people have reported significant improvements using niacinamide cream before sun exposure.
• Take a baby aspirin before sun exposure — Aspirin inhibits the conversion of LA in your skin into harmful oxidized linoleic acid metabolites (OXLAMS), key contributors to skin and other cancers. By hindering OXLAM formation, aspirin provides an additional layer of defense against sun damage.
• C15:0 also speeds up LA removal from your skin — As I’ve recently discovered, a special type of fat called C15:0 was able to purge LA in your skin faster. C15:0 is found in raw, grass fed milk, and just 2 grams of this fat per day causes your keratinocytes, or your outermost skin layer, to incorporate it instead of LA within a single skin-cycle — a period that takes around four weeks.
Hence, if you regularly consume raw milk, your LA levels will decrease by 25% to 30% in three to four months. When you keep it up for 12 to 18 months, the LA in your adipose tissue will be reduced by 80%, instead of two to three years by following a low-LA diet alone. After doing this, whatever remaining ultraviolet risks on your skin come from direct DNA damage and can’t be fixed by your diet.
Beyond Vitamin D — Other Nutrients to Help Manage Blood Sugar Levels
In addition to vitamin D, there are other nutrients and compounds that help people manage Type 2 diabetes. Many of these are available in supplement form and offer targeted support for the systems most affected by this disease, including blood sugar regulation, nerve health, and cellular energy. Here are a few examples:13
• Magnesium — You need magnesium for over 300 biochemical reactions in your body, and it plays a role in insulin sensitivity and glucose metabolism. Low magnesium levels are common in people with diabetes and supplementing with it improves blood sugar response.
• Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) — If you’ve experienced tingling or burning in your hands and feet, a sign of diabetic neuropathy,14 this supplement will help. ALA is a powerful antioxidant that helps reduce nerve damage linked to high blood sugar.
• Berberine — This plant compound works by lowering cholesterol and blood sugar in diabetics. A study found that it helped improve metabolic markers related to diabetes control, such as blood sugar, total cholesterol and hemoglobin A1c.15
• Cinnamon extract — Clinical trials have found that this spice helps reduce fasting blood sugar and insulin resistance in people with Type 2 diabetes and prediabetes.16
If you’re struggling with blood sugar spikes, insulin resistance, or early diabetic complications, you now have a roadmap. Your next step isn’t about trying harder — it’s about trying smarter. By restoring vitamin D, removing seed oils, getting strategic sunlight, and stacking key nutrients, you’re not just managing symptoms — you’re solving the problem at its root.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Vitamin D and Diabetes
Q: How does vitamin D help with Type 2 diabetes?
A: Vitamin D improves how your body responds to insulin, lowers fasting blood sugar, reduces inflammation, and protects insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas from damage.
Q: What’s the best way to increase vitamin D levels?
A: The most effective way is through daily peak sun exposure on bare skin, but make sure you have reduced your LA consumption for at least four to six months. If sun exposure is not possible, supplement with vitamin D3 — ideally with a meal that contains healthy fat like butter or tallow.
Q: Who benefits the most from vitamin D supplementation?
A: People who are vitamin D deficient — especially with levels below 20 ng/mL — see the biggest improvements in blood sugar control and insulin sensitivity.
Q: How long does it take to see results from vitamin D?
A: Short-term, high-dose supplementation (over 2,000 IU) can deliver measurable improvements in fasting blood sugar and insulin resistance in as little as 8 to 12 weeks.
Q: Are there other supplements that help manage blood sugar?
A: Yes. Magnesium, alpha-lipoic acid, berberine, benfotiamine, and cinnamon extract all support insulin function, reduce oxidative stress, and help regulate glucose levels alongside vitamin D.
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