Can Vitamin D Prevent Cancer?

We know that vitamin D keeps us healthy, but does lack of vitamin D cause cancer?  It’s beginning to look as if the answer is yes.

Medical researchers have been studying vitamin D more and more and the more they look the more it seems to make a difference.

One surprising finding is that most Americans don’t have enough vitamin D.

Some studies have found as many as 85% of people in the north are deficient.  This is because much of the vitamin D in our body is produced in the skin as a result of  sun exposure.  If we live where we don’t get much sun, our vitamin D levels are likely to be low.

If a lack of vitamin really does increase the risk of cancer, this is a huge problem.

Many of the studies showing an increased risk of cancer looked at how much people got in their diet and then looked at the rate of cancer.

Multiple studies have shown the highest rates of breast, colon, prostate and ovarian cancer in those with the lowest levels of vitamin D.

Now, these studies don’t show 100% that taking vitamin D will reduce your risk of cancer, but such studies could take twenty years or longer to complete.  If we need vitamin D that’s too long to wait for an answer.

That’s why many health professionals suggest taking 1000 or so units of vitamin D daily, especially in the winter.

Another idea is to wait fifteen or twenty minutes before you put your sun screen on.  That short exposure gives your skin time to make your own vitamin D but isn’t long enough to get burned.

And cancer isn’t the only thing vitamin D affects.

If you want to find out about vitamin D and heart attacks you can follow that link.

But vitamins and supplements are only one part of health and wellness.  I’ve found a lot of good information at http://www.jfmccaffreymd.com.  You may want to check it out.