Increasing Vitamin D Intake may Prevent Common Cancers

December 28th 2005

Vitamin D and Cancer

Vitamin D may play a bigger role in preventing colon cancer than fiber. It appears to be the vitamin to take to fend off breast and ovarian cancers as well. This is according to a study co-authored by Cedric F. Garland, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego.

According to Garland, if you are black, older or live in the Northeast there is a good chance you don’t get enough vitamin D. The vitamin has already been associated with bone health.

Researchers reviewed 63 studies relating vitamin D and cancer. They found that people with low levels of vitamin D in the blood had higher rates of various common cancers. Sometimes people that had low levels of vitamin D had a 50% increased risk of cancer.

Dr. Peter Holt of the Strang Cancer Prevention Center told ABC News that “cancers that we found were reduced by vitamin D was colon cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and prostate cancer.”

Although the new research does not prove vitamin D will prevent cancer, many experts are recommending exceeding the daily allowance. Researchers recommend 1000 IU of vitamin D daily. This exceeds the current recommendation.

Previously adults between 19 and 50 were have 200 IU (International Units) a day. This works out to just two gasses of milk. Older adults between 50 and 70 were told to have 400 IU and anyone over 70 should have 700 IU. According to experts it is difficult to get this much from food alone.

"Vitamin D's main role is to keep the balance of calcium and phosphorous in the blood, which helps keep bones strong," Sandon said. "However, a lesser-known role is how it regulates cell growth and determines what a cell becomes. A vitamin D deficiency may allow cells to become cancerous rather than becoming healthy cells." This is reported by Forbes online.

The study will appear in the American Journal of Public Health in January.