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.