We hope that our previous post relating to vitamin D was of interest to you. To continue the discussion, we’re looking at the importance of vitamin D and critically, how a deficiency is connected to:
- Greater cancer risk
- Greater pain
- Type 1 diabetes
Greater cancer risk
- Increasing the daily intake of vitamin D to 2000 International Units could halve the risk of developing breast and colorectal cancer, two studies have reported. The results, from the same group of researchers from a variety of research institutions, are based on a pooled analysis and meta-analysis of studies, and may increase pressure on decision makers to increase the recommended daily intake of the vitamin.
"The data were very clear, showing that individuals in the group with the lowest blood levels had the highest rates of breast cancer, and the breast cancer rates dropped as the blood levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D increased," said lead author Cedric Garland from the University of California in a statement.
- The link between vitamin D intake and protection from cancer dates from the 1940s, when Frank Apperly demonstrated a link between latitude and deaths from cancer, and suggested that sunlight gave "a relative cancer immunity."
- Death from fatal cancer was reduced by 55% amongst people with higher vitamin D levels. This is according to data collected from 3,299 patients, taking part in the Ludwigshafen Risk and Cardiovascular Health study and reported in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.
- Researchers from the Creighton University School of Medicine in the United States, found during a study of 1,179 healthy, postmenopausal women, that those taking large amounts of vitamin D3 in conjunction with calcium had a 60% or higher chance of not getting cancer than their peers.
- The study adds to a growing body of science supporting potential anti-cancer benefits of the vitamin. And this increases the volume of calls for raising the recommended daily allowance from 400 IU to 1,000 IU.
Vitamin D deficiency linked to greater pain
- A new study has linked vitamin D and a reduction of chronic pain, lending to voices calling for increased fortification or supplementation of the nutrient in diets.
- The study, presented at the American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting in San Francisco, found that one in four patients who suffer from chronic pain also have inadequate blood levels of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency – which can lead to osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases, is more common in inhabitants of colder climates.
- A recent study, for example, indicated that the median adult intake of vitamin D in the US is only 230 IU per day, versus the researchers' recommended 2000 IU per day.
- The study, undertaken at the Mayo Comprehensive Pain Rehabilitation Center in Rochester, Minnesota, involved 267 adults undergoing outpatient treatment for chronic pain. The researchers recorded their serum vitamin D levels, pain medication (morphine), as well as general health, and found patients lacking sufficient vitamin D also required higher doses of morphine for a longer period of time. Of these patients, 26% had vitamin D inadequacy and needed almost twice the dose of morphine of the group with adequate vitamin D levels.
Type 1 Diabetes – vitamin D may protect children from type-1 diabetes
- The overwhelming body of science supports vitamin D supplements for protection against the development of type-1 diabetes, indicates a new meta-analysis.
- According to data from five observational studies, infants who received vitamin D supplements were 29% less likely to develop type-1 diabetes than non-supplemented infants, reports the review in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.
- Type-1 diabetes occurs when people are not able to produce any insulin after the cells in the pancreas have been damaged. The disease is most common among people of European descent, with around 400,000 Brits with the condition. Moreover, the incidence of the disease is on the rise at about 4% per year.
Conclusion
Modern research has shown that the amount of vitamin D we require to avoid many chronic diseases is closer to 2000iu per day rather than 1000iu or less. Levels in our blood are graded as:
- 30ng/ml - a sufficient, healthy level
- 20 – 30ng/ml - an insufficient level
- Under 20ng/ml - a deficient level
How do you ensure you are getting sufficient vitamin D?
- Diet: Meat, oily fish, fortified cereals and dairy products, eggs and certain mushrooms (exposed to UV light) are all high in vitamin D.
- Get more sun: Natural sunlight is the cheapest way of getting sufficient vitamin D. Oil under the skin mixes with sunlight to naturally generate vitamin D. Burning should always be avoided.
- Supplementation: If your diet doesn’t provide sufficient vitamin D and you prefer to avoid the sun (or cover up with sunscreen) then supplementation is advised.
Foodstate Vitamin D – The Best Type Of Supplement: Please remember that most vitamin D supplements are in fact inactive D3 and D2 precursors, that are hydroxylated in the liver and kidneys to form 25- hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D), the undesirable non-active 'storage' form.
Be sure to avoid this more common form that most supplement companies sell. The Foodstate Vitamin D (as validated by the Linus Pauling Institute) has the active metabolites and is the biologically active form that your body can recognise, absorb and use properly. Each capsule contains 2000iu of vitamin D3.