Studies Suggest Vitamin D Benefits May Include Cancer Prevention

Studies Suggest Vitamin D Benefits May Include Cancer
Prevention by RA Butters

have also been found with non-Hodgkin lymphoma, ovarian cancer and kidney
cancer.

Center Director William B. Grant said the findings provide strong evidence that levels
of the vitamin are important in controlling the outcome of cancer. He also said he
believes the support for UVB-vitamin D-cancer theory is scientifically strong enough
to warrant use of vitamin D as a component of treatment in cancer prevention.

Low sun exposure and sunshine vitamin deficiencies tied to incidence of certain
cancers around the world

Using information from the World Health Organization's International Agency for
Research on Cancer, Moores Cancer Center at University of California, San Diego
(UCSD) literally mapped the incidences of various forms of cancer throughout the
world. The results showed that the areas with the lowest exposure to the sun's UV
rays (and therefore, lowest levels of vitamin D) have the highest incidence of several
forms of cancer.

The researchers stressed that even after correcting for environmental variables such
as diet, cigarette smoking, alcohol intake, weight, and fertility, the association
between low D vitamin levels and the incidence of breast, kidney, and other cancers
remained strong.

Sunlight exposure a crucial factor

D vitamin is available through some foods, including salmon, fortified milk, and eggs,
but experts say the average diet yields only a fraction of the amount that the body
requires. Exposure to sunlight triggers the body to manufacture the vitamin, and the
Sunlight, Nutrition and Health Research Center says even brief, casual sun exposure
can maximize vitamin D benefits. As little as five to 10 minutes of exposure to the
midday sun can produce up to 4,000 IU of the vitamin, according to the center.

About The Author

RA Butters

Looking for more information on vitamin D? Find out how , as well as the ways in which .

Studies on "sunshine vitamin"
deficiencies indicate that the list of
vitamin D benefits may well include
preventing various forms of cancer.

For nearly a decade San Francisco's
Sunlight, Nutrition and Health
Research Center has been reviewing
ecological studies of solar ultraviolet
B (the sunshine component that
stimulates the body to manufacture
D vitamin) and cancer. According to
the Center, colon and breast cancers
show the strongest correlations to a
lack of sun exposure leading to
deficiency of the vitamin, but links

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this website is for educational purposes only. Please consult with your physician before using natural
remedies and before making any drastic changes to your diet or exercise program.