Is Vitamin D a cure for everything?
Vitamin D is often called the “sunshine vitamin” because it is made by the action of sunlight on the skin, which accounts for 90% of the body’s supply. The “sunshine vitamin” is known to be essential for the immune system, healthy bones and teeth as well as the absorption of calcium needed for strong bones. The problem is: no sun, no vitamin D.
For this reason, in the case of a long winter and a rainy summer, it is important to choose a diet rich in Vitamin D (found generously in oily fish, eggs and liver) and otherwise to use supplements to correct the resulting deficiencies (preferably choosing products with a natural form of the vitamin as opposed to synthetic vitamin as well as the more bioavailable Vitamin D3 rather than Vitamin D2).
Recently, the largest ever published study conducted on vitamin D, established a strong link between changes in blood pressure and a person’s vitamin D intake. Researchers at University College London used data from 35 studies involving over 155,000 people across Europe and North America to come up with their findings.
First published at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics in Paris, the research found a significant link between the two factors. For every 10% increase in vitamin D concentrations, there was an 8.1% decrease in the risk of developing hypertension. Moreover, the study showed that people with high concentrations of vitamin D in their blood had lower blood pressure. This research, which was recently described in the English version of l’EXPRESS, comes in addition to the numerous others demonstrating the benefits that Vitamin D provides for cancer prevention.
Indeed, theories linking vitamin D deficiency to cancer have been tested and confirmed in more than 200 epidemiological studies, and understanding of its physiological basis stems from more than 2,500 laboratory studies. (Freedman D, Dosemeci M, McGlynn K. Sunlight and mortality from breast, ovarian, colon, prostate and non-melanoma skin cancer: a composite death certificate based case-control study. Occup Environ Med 2002;59:257–62.)
One particular noteworthy study was completed by Joan Lappe and Robert Heaney (Vitamin D and calcium supplementation reduces cancer risk: results of a randomized trial –American Society for Clinical Nutrition, 2007) found that improving vitamin D nutritional status substantially reduced ( by 77%) all-cancer risk, after just four years, among 1,180 post-menopausal women participating in this trail. In addition, another recent study also links Vitamin D deficiency with an increased risk of developing obesity (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2013) 67, 680–682; doi:10.1038/ejcn.2013.48; published online 20 February 2013).
In conclusion, it appears that raising vitamin D serum levels to 40ng/ml has many health benefits. For this reason taking Vitamin D is good all year round, whether it is cold and rainy, or whether you like to put on sunscreen on the first sight of summer sun. (While sunscreen prevents skin burn and thus lowers the risk of skin cancer, concern has also been expressed that it may inhibit Vitamin D production through your skin.)