According to the Daily Mail, people with high levels of Vitamin D have a significantly lesser risk of developing diabetes.

Scientists in Finland monitored several thousand people, aged 40 to 74, for 22 years, during which time 412 developed the disease. Especially men, with the highest blood level of the vitamin were 72 per cent less likely to develop type 2 diabetes. The effect was reduced in women, but still there.

It is thought that low levels of vitamin D affect the body's ability to produce insulin. The development of diabetes type 2 is a growing problem, along with obesity.

Risk increases with age  -  less than one per cent of people under 34 have diagnosed diabetes compared with 10 per cent aged 75 and over.

Good sources of vitamin D include milk, whole eggs and oily fish.

According to an article by Serena Gordon on Health Day News, a study found high amounts of toxic metals including lead, mercury and arsenic in 'Ayurvedic' Medicines purchased on the internet.

The U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine informs that Ayurvedic medicine is an ancient Indian practice that combines the use of numerous modalities, such as herbal medicine, massage and special diets, to promote wellness and prevent illness.

About one in five ayurvedic medicine products purchased on the Internet contain significant levels of lead, mercury or arsenic, according to a study published in the Aug. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, lead by Dr. Robert B. Saper, an assistant professor of family medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, and director of integrative medicine at Boston Medical Center.

According to Saper, "We randomly purchased 193 traditional Indian (ayurvedic) medicine products from the Internet. About 60 percent were from U.S. companies and 40 percent from Indian companies. Twenty-one percent had significant levels of lead, mercury and arsenic.”

All of these metals can be toxic at high levels.

Seventy-five percent of the 193 products randomly selected and purchased over the Internet claimed to be manufactured under Good Manufacturing Practices. The researchers found that 20.7 percent contained metals. The rate in U.S. manufactured products was 21.7 percent, and in Indian products, it was 19.5 percent.

However the study found that products made by members of the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) were less likely to contain metals.

Michael McGuffin, president of the AHPA, said, "It's not an accident that AHPA members performed better. We've called our members attention to the presence of heavy metals in plant materials. Lead is ubiquitous. It's in the soil and in the plants. I don't think you can get these levels to zero, but it is the manufacturers' responsibility to know the amount and to limit it."

He advises that if you question the company’s representatives about the levels of toxicity in their product and they don’t know, to take it as a warning sign.

Saper says that the FDA doesn’t currently have a maximum level allowable for lead, mercury and arsenic in dietary supplements, but believes that they should.