re: Amazing Cancer-Fighting Powers of Vitamin D

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Vitamin D does a body good Vitamin D does a body good

 

Scientists urge a bigger dose to ward off cancer.

By JEFFREY TANNENBAUM BLOOMBERG NEWS. Ingesting about three times as much ...

 

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Vitamin D does a body good

Scientists urge a bigger dose to ward off cancer

By JEFFREY TANNENBAUM, BLOOMBERG NEWS

 

Ingesting about three times as much vitamin D as the norm may loweran

individual's risk of developing colon, breast or ovarian cancer, a study says.

 

Americans typically ingest 320 units a day of the vitamin, consisting

of 200 from food and 120 from supplements. Daily intake of about

1,000 units may cut the odds of getting colon cancer by about half,

and the chances of getting breast or ovarian cancer by about a third,

according to the researchers.

 

Vitamin D supplementation could reduce cancer incidence and

mortality " at low cost, with few or no adverse side effects, " the

researchers said in an article appearing in the February 2006 issue

of the American Journal of Public Health.

 

" The strongest effect is for colorectal cancer, " said lead author

Cedric Garland, 59, an adjunct professor of family and preventive

medicine at University of California-San Diego, in a telephone

interview Tuesday. " There's also a substantial effect for breast and

ovarian cancer. "

 

The substance involved is vitamin D3, usually called just vitamin D,

although there is also a vitamin D2 that doesn't have the same

effects, Garland said.

 

The U.S. National Academy of Sciences recommends daily vitamin D

intake of at least 200 units for adults 50 or younger; 400 units at

ages 51 to 70, and 600 units for people 71 or older. The upper limit

for safe intake is 2,000 units daily. Thus, the dose recommended by

the researchers exceeds what most people now get and what the

government recommends.

 

A glass of milk contains about 100 units of the vitamin, Garland

said. While cod liver oil is rich in vitamin D, it also contains a

lot of vitamin A and the two vitamins compete for reception by the

body, Garland said. He doesn't recommend cod liver oil as a source of

vitamin D.

 

To ensure getting 1,000 units of vitamin D, most people probably can

take two 400-unit tablets, with the other 200 units coming from foods

such as salmon, orange juice, yogurt and cheese, Garland said.

Getting enough vitamin D through supplements would cost less than 5

cents a day, he said.

 

Although sunlight helps the body produce natural vitamin D, the

researchers urged getting the minimum of 1,000 units through food and

supplements. Dark-skinned people, who need more sunlight to make

vitamin D, are at increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, the

scientists said.

" The easiest and most reliable way of getting the appropriate amount

is from food and a daily supplement, " Garland said in a statement.

 

The paper distills findings from 63 studies of how the vitamin

relates to cancer risk. The journal is published by the Washington-

based American Public Health Association.

 

Earlier, researchers including Garland wrote that intake of 1,000

units a day of vitamin D is associated with 50 percent lower

incidence of colorectal cancer.

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