Health Benefits of Vitamin D
As you’ll know, the NHS recommends that we all supplement with vitamin D – specifically vitamin D3 – in the winter to help boost our immune system against colds and flu. But there is another very important reason to take extra vitamin D.
Vitamin D is a vital factor in helping protect against cancer stem cells. Indeed, the NHS website quotes a large study from the National Cancer Center in Japan, that links higher vitamin D blood levels with significantly lower rates of cancer.
Every single day your immune system needs to combat about 10,000 cells that turn cancerous. Whether those cancer cells survive and begin to multiply to become a health threat depends on whether your immune system is strong and healthy.
Whether your immune system is strong and healthy in turn depends to an important extent on whether you have adequate vitamin D.
Yet health scientists warn that vitamin D deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency today. Indeed almost 90% of the population in Northern Europe and North America are thought to have less than optimum vitamin D blood levels.
When you can ensure a safe and optimum vitamin D level for just 3p a day – that’s makes no sense.
This article was written by Colin Rose, a Senior Associate Member of the Royal Society of Medicine, who has been writing on science for 40 years.
10 ways Vitamin D3 will improve your health
Vitamin D is one of the most widely researched nutrients. We have done a systematic review of the literature and these studies – referenced at the end of this article – confirm the following.
(1) Vitamin D lowers the risk of colorectal cancer
The risk becomes less as the level of supplementation is increased – up to approximately 2,000 IU a day.
(2) Vitamin D reduces the risk of chronic infections
It does so by improving immune response.
(3) Vitamin D helps inhibit prostate cancer cells
It does this by supporting the increased production of a protein called GcMAF, which helps inhibit cancer cells growing in the prostate. GcMAF has a potent general anti-cancer effect that may reduce tumour size in as little as 10 days.
(4) Vitamin D activates macrophages which consume cancer cells
The same protein GcMAF activates components of the immune system called macrophages, whose function is to literally consume cancer and viral cells.
(5) Vitamin D reduces risk of breast and lung cancer
Vitamin D reduces the risk of breast cancer, probably by inhibiting
a gene that plays a role in breast cancer – a so-called oncogene (ie. a gene that carries the ability to cause cancer) called Her-2.
It also lowers the risk of lung cancer.
(6) Vitamin D is essential for calcium absorption and therefore strong bones
Vitamin D3 is also essential to ensure calcium absorption and hence helps produce strong bones. Sufficient Vitamin D3 cuts the risk of osteoporosis or osteomalacia (softening of bones).
(7) Vitamin D can activate 1,000 health-promoting genes
Overall, vitamin D as D3 – the natural form that is the same as created by sunlight – is able to activate almost 1,000 genes that contribute to health.
(8) Vitamin D reduces inflammation
Vitamin D helps reduce chronic inflammation in body tissues – and inflammation is a key driver of many long-term illnesses including heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
(9) Vitamin D improves SAD, mood and sleep quality
Vitamin D has been shown to improve general mood and sleep quality. A 2018 study links low vitamin D with a number of sleep disorders, and other studies implicate low vitamin D with S.A.D. – Seasonal Affective Disorder.
(10) Vitamin D improves brain function
People with a deficiency in vitamin D have less neuroprotection. Indeed, one study shows an almost 50% increased risk of decreased cognitive function when vitamin D is deficient.
Combine Vitamin D with Omega 3, Curcumin and Vitamin K for cancer protection
Although the foundation of health is always regular activity and a good diet, there are specific nutrients that are also known to help reduce the risk of cancer. They include:
- Curcumin
- Lycopene
- The compound EGCG (epigallocatechingallate) found in green tea and green tea extract
- Omega 3
- Beta carotene
- Lutein
- Flavonoids – found in vegetables, fruits – especially the flavonoids in berries like bilberries and raspberries, and grapeseed.
- Soy Isoflavones – associated with the lower levels of breast and prostate cancer in Japan.
The D-K combo
If you are supplementing with Vitamin D, make sure you are also taking a supplement with Vitamin K in it. Or eating lots of high-vitamin-K foods, like kale and spinach.
That is because vitamin K ensures that calcium is absorbed and metabolised into bones where you want it and not deposited on artery walls – which could lead to arteries becoming harder, stiffer and less flexible.
Vitamin K is also a ‘co-factor’ with vitamin D, calcium and glucosamine to help restore connective tissue damaged in joint problems like arthritis. So, vitamins D and K are important to joint health.
Vitamins D3 and K2 – the ideal forms – are also important for heart health, helping prevent the build-up of plaque in arteries. Indeed, a study in 2004 showed that people with the highest intake of vitamin K had a 50% lower mortality risk than those with the lowest level.
Vitamin K is also produced in the gut by beneficial bacteria called probiotics. Therefore, a probiotic supplement can be a good way to ensure a healthy level of vitamin K.
Make curcumin bioavailable
If you are supplementing with curcumin (from turmeric), ensure that the supplement includes both piperine (a black pepper extract), Omega 3 fatty acids and/or a fat like lecithin,because curcumin, whilst hugely beneficial, is not easily absorbed and these ingredients make it a lot more bioavailable.
Vitamin D has protective benefits beyond cancer
Finally, in a 2018 review, Medical News Today reported that:
“Studies are also suggesting that vitamin D might have protective benefits against heart failure, diabetes, cancer, respiratory tract infections, autoimmune disease, and even hair loss.”
How much Vitamin D is optimum?
It is important to get a safe, yet optimum, vitamin D3 supplement. Studies show that this is 2,000 IU or 50mcg a day. You can get a helpful free report on Vitamin D at https://nutrishield.com/download-pages/free-vitamin-d-ebook/
You can also buy vitamin D3 for less than 3p a day from here https://nutrishield.com/the-products/vitamin-d/
This article was written by Colin Rose, a Senior Associate Member of the Royal Society of Medicine, who has been writing on science for 40 years.
If you found this article helpful and believe it can help others who are concerned to help prevent cancer, then please share it. You can also follow me through the icons below.
[DISPLAY_ACURAX_ICONS]
PS. A “best of the best” eating plan
We said that the foundation for health is a really good diet. Click here for a summary of the ‘best of the best’ taken from the largest prestige university scale studies. https://nutrishield.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/CR-News-Food-table.pdf
Register now for a free monthly e-newsletter on the latest in nutrition and health research.
Dr Paul Clayton designed NutriShield as a comprehensive health supplement with OPTIMUM levels of essential nutrients. See more detail elsewhere on this site or click on the button.
Dr Paul Clayton’s best-selling book Health Defence is available from booksellers.
Read it here online or see the website www.healthdefence.com for excerpts and links to buy direct from the publisher.
See online here for delicious recipes from the Health Defence Cookbook incorporating healthy foods featuring in a Mediterranean Diet.
References:
https://www.nhs.uk/news/cancer/vitamin-d-may-reduce-risk-some-cancers/
Plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentration and subsequent risk of total and site specific cancers in Japanese population: large case-cohort study within Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study cohort BMJ 2018; 360 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.k671 (Published 07 March 2018)
Clinical experience of integrative cancer immunotherapy with GcMAF. Inui T et al; Anticancer Res. 2013 Jul;33(7):2917-9.
Promising role for Gc-MAF in cancer immunotherapy: from bench to bedside: Ehsan Saburi, Caspian. J Intern Med. 2017 Autumn; 8(4): 228–238.
Vitamin K2 enhances osteocalcin accumulation in the extracellular matrix of human osteoblasts in vitro. Koshihara Y, Hoshi K. J Bone Miner Res. 1997 Mar;12(3):431-8. PMID: 9076586
Absolute risk for fracture and WHO guideline. Pharmacological intervention to prevent osteoporotic fractures in the elderly. Clin Calcium. 2007 Jul;17(7):1098-104. PMID: 17607078
The Association between Vitamin D Deficiency and Sleep Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Qi Gao; Nutrients 2018 Oct; 10(10): 1395.
Seyama Y, Wachi H. Atherosclerosis and matrix dystrophy. J Atheroscler Thromb. 2004;11(5):236-45. PMID: 15557705
Dietary intake of menaquinone is associated with a reduced risk of coronary heart disease: the Rotterdam Study. Geleijnse JM, et al; J Nutr. 2004 Nov;134(11):3100-5. PMID: 15514282
Optimal serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels for multiple health outcomes. Bischoff-Ferrari HA; Adv Exp Med Biol. 2008;624:55-71. doi: 10.1007/978-0-387-77574-6_5.