According to the American Diabetes Association diabetics have a two to fourfold greater risk of dying of heart disease than non-diabetics.
Heart and blood vessel disease is the leading cause of death in people with type 2 diabetes.
Unfortunately it has been found the majority of people with type 2 diabetes have:

• low levels of vitamin D...
  this puts them at a greater risk of heart and blood vessel disease than those diabetics who have normal vitamin D levels, and
• have 20 per cent more vitamin D deficiency than non-diabetics.
  

A study reported from Washington University School of Medicine in St.
Louis, Missouri, USA, found that vitamin D in type 2 diabetics was able to suppress foam cell formation.
Foam cells are cells that hold cholesterol and are part of the composition of atherosclerosis, or fatty plaques that clog your blood vessels.
This may explain the increased level of heart and blood vessel disease in diabetics who are low in vitamin D.
Whatever the mechanism involved in heart disease and vitamin D, maintaining a normal level of the vitamin is important to good health, not only of the heart and blood vessels but of the bones as well.
A good supply of vitamin D will also help to prevent bone fractures.
The United States' National Institute of Health recommends:

• 200 International Units (IU) of vitamin D per day for adolescents and adults up to 50 years of age
• 400 IU for people 51 to 70, and
• 600 IU for people 71 and over.
  

One culprit responsible for low vitamin D levels is reduced exposure to sunlight, therefore one way to get this benefit is to expose your skin to natural sunlight for a short period each day and allow it to be manufactured naturally.
This is a controversial method since sun exposure can also cause skin cancer, and a healthful amount of exposure depends upon many factors including geographic latitude, skin pigmentation and genetics.
Another method is through nutrition: Vitamin D deficiency also results in part from poor nutrition...
this is one of the most challenging issues for people with type 2 diabetes.
Vitamin D is found in the following foods, adding some of these to your eating plan may help raise your vitamin D level:

• 1 egg contains about 200 IU of vitamin D
• foods fortified with vitamin D include orange juice, dairy products, and certain cereals.
  
• 1 cup of fortified orange juice can contain 100 IU, depending upon the amount of fortification.
  A cup of fortified nonfat milk has 115-124 IU per cup.
  Six ounces of fortified yogurt contains 80 or more IU.
  Some brands of soymilk, such as Silk, are fortified with vitamin D...
  the amount is given on the labels.
  
• Vitamin D-fortified cereals include Kix, Kelloggs low fat granola with raisins, Raisin Bran, Total, and Quaker Instant Oatmeal for Women.
  

An intake of vitamin D will not guarantee freedom from heart disease but it's one more contribution to your good health.
It lends a helping hand in the prevention of those long-term complications that can accompany type 2 diabetes and unstable blood sugar levels, as evidence also suggests that vitamin D plays an integral role in insulin sensitivity and secretion.