New data coninutes to emerge regarding the health benefits of vitamin D beyond its role in bone health. Vitamin D3 deficiency has been associated with chronic fatigue syndrome, diabetes, cancer, obesity, neuro-degenerative diseases, osteoporosis, depression, as well as health problems.
Vitamin D influences your entire body. Receptors that respond to the vitamin have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones.
Vitamin D has a protective effect against cancer in several ways, including:
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Increasing the self-destruction of mutated cells (which, if allowed to replicate, could lead to cancer)
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Reducing the spread and reproduction of cancer cells
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Causing cells to become differentiated (cancer cells often lack differentiation)
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Reducing the growth of new blood vessels from pre-existing ones, which is a step in the transition of dormant tumors turning cancerous
Are you vitamin D deficient?
Recent studies have shown that the general public is grossly deficient in vitamin D. There are a number of factors contributing to this:
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Often people avoid the sun completely these days due to fears of skins cancer by staying indoors or covering their bodies tip to toe with sunscreen whenever exposed to sunlight. Sunscreen along with window glass can block UV-B which produces vitamin D drastically or entirely.
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Children today tend to spend more time indoors playing computer games rather than getting outdoors
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As we age our skin becomes less efficient at producing vitamin D and the elderly tend to spend even more time indoors
Just fifteen to twenty minutes of sunshine on bare skin each day helps your body to manufacture about 10,000 to 15.000 IUs of vitamin D3. The New Zealand sun is extemely strong and the message is to be very careful about length of exposure. The amount of sunlight it takes to make enough vitamin D is always less than the amount that causes reddening or burning. Some people will only need a few minutes after which time it is very important to protect the skin by applying sunscreen or covering up.
It is recommended to supplement with vitamin D3 during the winter months or year round if you work indoors and don't tend to get out in the sun during the day. Also try to include foods that are high in vitamin D3 in your diet, these include cod liver oil, fortifed milk, salmon, mackerel, sardines and eggs.
Did you know...
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Many cancer tumors cannot grow or function in the presence of vitamin D
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Low vitamin D levels jave been known to increase the risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome
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Vitamin D is the happiness vitamin protecting us from depression and SAD
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Vitamin D deficiency can affect the gene directly linked to multiple sclerosis risk
SOURCES
Intermountain Medical Center (2010, March 17). Treating vitamin D deficiency significantly reduces heart disease risk, studies find. ScienceDaily. Retrieved October 14, 2010, from http://www.sciencedaily.com¬ /releases/2010/03/100315161716.htm. Natural News (2010, September 29). Vitamin D Cuts Cancer and Heart Disease Risk by Up to Fifty Percent. Retrieved October 1, 2010, from http://www.naturalnews.com/029880_vitamin_D_heart_disease.html. New Zealand Herald (2010, September 27). Survey Looking at vitamin D deficiency. Retrieved September 28, 2010, from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10676431. Could This Simple Habit Actually Reduce Cancer and Diabetes by 50%? Retrieved October 4, 2010, from http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/09/06/vitamin-d-linked-to-cancer-and-autoimmune-disease-genes.aspx
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