Vitamin D - Cancer & Health

This is an interesting article I ran across on the benefits researchers are finding in increasing Vitamin D supplementation. Nand and I have been taking 4,000 to 6,000 IUs a day of D3 (capsules) for several months (I follow the advice of several other bloggers), and plan to have our D-level checked the next time we have a physcial.

Vitamin D is much more than just a vitamin. It has become a major focus of many research studies over the past few years as evidence increasingly supports an inverse relationship between the vitamin and the incidence and mortality rates of several common cancers.

So how does Vitamin D prevent cancer? Vitamin D acts more like a hormone than a vitamin, but its exact mechanism is still unclear although the scientists have some theories. However, the evidence that vitamin D plays a role in the prevention and decreased mortality from breast, prostate, colorectal and ovarian cancers is growing.

Experts estimate that the annual number of new cases of breast cancer, in the United States alone, could be reduced by 25 percent if individuals took 2,000 IU/day of Vitamin D. This would raise blood levels of Vitamin. D from an average of 24-30 ng/ml (in our regional population) to a range of 40-60 ng/ml.

One study found that women with serum level of Vitamin D greater that 38 ng/ml were 58 percent less likely to develop breast cancer than women with levels less than 15ng/ml. And, even more interestingly, among women who were diagnosed with breast cancer and had serum levels higher than 29 ng/ml there was a 42 percent lower 15-year mortality rate than those with a vitamin D level of less than 20 ng/ml at diagnosis. These experts also suggest that taking vitamin D could reduce the annual incidence of colorectal cancer in this country by 27 percent.

Is there a downside to increasing our intake of Vitamin D? At present, it seems that the potential benefits of Vitamin D and calcium supplements far outweigh any known or unforeseen side effects. Vitamin D is also currently being studied for its promotional effects on cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and mental health among others, all with increasingly promising data.

Professor Kathy Kolasa, a registered dietitian and Ph.D