Numerous studies have indicated the vitamin D can help to prevent cancer. But how is it possible for a vitamin to play such a powerful role in preventing cancer?
Vitamin D is an important vitamin for good health, but it actually isn’t a vitamin! Vitamin D is a steroid hormone precursor. We absorb vitamin D by exposure to sunlight. The body metabolizes the vitamin D and then converts it to 1,25(OH)D3. This is the primary form of vitamin D in the body, and it is involved in many different processes in the body and has far-reaching effects throughout the body.
A recent study at McGill University has provided some clues about the anti-cancer mechanism of vitamin D.
The team of researchers at McGill University, that includes David Goltzman and John White, found that when vitamin D was applied to some cancer cells, that they would stop growing.
The researchers found a link between vitamin D intake and a protein called xMYC. The protein cMYC is an important part of the process of cell division. Cancer results when the normal cell division accelerates and cells keep replicating. The study found that vitamin D reduced the amount of the protein in the cell. This in turn reduced the accelerated cell division that is seen in cancer, and it seemed to prevent precancerous cells from becoming cancerous.
How much vitamin D is recommended?
The current studies do not know the exact amount of vitamin D needed to help to prevent disease. The Canadian Cancer Society recommends a daily dose 1000IU per day of vitamin D3 for most people, especially for:
- People living in northern climates
- Older adults since they tend to absorb vitamin D poorly
- People who don’t get much sunlight
- People with dark skin.
If you think that you don’t get much sunlight or you are older, you should strongly consider taking vitamin D supplements to help to prevent cancer.