Vitamin D Slashes Cancer Risk

An extensive systematic review of scientific literature has shown that taking 1,000 international units of vitamin D3 daily may reduce a person's cancer risk by as much as 50%.

Investigators at the University of California, San Diego (USA) evaluated 63 studies on the relationship between vitamin D and cancer that had been published between 1966 and 2004. The studies included 30 on colon cancer, 13 on breast cancer, 26 on prostate cancer, and seven on ovarian cancer. Some of the studies touched on more than one type of cancer.

Analysis of the results was published in the December 27, 2005, online edition of the American Journal of Public Health. The majority of studies found a protective relationship between sufficient vitamin D status and lower risk of cancer. Based on their findings, the authors recommended a daily intake of 1,000 IU/day of vitamin D, half the safe upper intake established by the [U.S] National Academy of Sciences. The vitamin should be from the diet, food supplements, and a minimal exposure to sunlight (no more than 15 minutes of exposure daily over 40% of the body, other than the face, which should be protected from the sun).

"A preponderance of evidence, from the best observational studies the medical world has to offer, gathered over 25 years, has led to the conclusion that public health action is needed,” said first author Dr. Cedric F. Garland, professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego. "Primary prevention of these cancers has largely been neglected, but we now have proof that the incidence of colon, breast, and ovarian cancer can be reduced dramatically by increasing the public's intake of vitamin D.”




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