Cancer and Vitamin D

A post by Blanche Scharf http://www.yourhealthupdates.com I have been studying natural healing modalities for the last 25 years. In that time I have had the privilege of working with some of the greatest minds in Natural Healing including Naturopaths, Scientists, and Energy Healers. I have seen people miraculously heal from all kinds of dis-ease thru non-invasive methods. Personally, I have experienced all kinds of diets from Macrobiotics to Raw Foods. Now is a very important time to start sharing this health information with as many people as possible, so people can make well informed decisions about their health and not fall victim to a sickcare system based on profit, rather than one of supporting wholeness, compassion and love To see more posts by Blanche Scharf, click here

The cancer and vitamin D connection is finally getting the coverage it deserves.  It has been known that people in more industrialized northern countries have higher cancer rates than those in developing countries and there are many theories from dangerous pollutants spewed out by industry, food supply, stress levels etc. 

But research into vitamin D is suggests that cancers and other disorders in rich countries aren’t caused mainly by pollutants but by a vitamin deficiency known to be less acute or even non-existent in poor nations. This again proves being overfed does not mean all nutritional needs are addressed.

The medical establishment theories behind the development of chronic conditions have looked at everything except nutrition. From all kinds of studies they are “looking for a bogeyman that doesn’t exist,” argues Reinhold Vieth, professor at the Department of Nutritional Sciences at the University of Toronto and one of the world’s top vitamin D experts. Instead, he says, the critical factor “is more likely a lack of vitamin D.”

Low vitamin D status is tied to a host of serious ailments, including multiple sclerosis, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, influenza, osteoporosis and common infections.  Professor of medicine Robert Heaney of Creighton University in Nebraska says vitamin D deficiency is showing up in so many illnesses besides cancer. 

In the last few years scientists have been able to validate the role vitamin D plays in regulating a host of body functions. Men who have a deficient vitamin D level have a greater risk of myocardial infraction then men who had a sufficient amount. Harvard researchers reported this in the Archives of Internal Medicine. The authors cited vitamin D’s effect on smooth muscle cell proliferation, inflammation, vascular calcification, and blood pressure as possible protection against heart attacks.

Vitamin D deficiency may be a major player in the many illnesses. However the cancer connection is intriguing, in that the sun is blamed for causing it in the case of skin cancer. The main way to get enough vitamin D is thought sunlight without suntan lotion, which blocks vitamin D synthesis. People through the ages have been exposed to the sun without suntan lotion, or a great deal of protective clothing.

Being exposed to sunlight reduces breast, prostate, and colon cancers. The sun advice has been misguided information “of just breathtaking proportions,” said John Cannell, head of the Vitamin D Council, a non-profit, California-based organization. “Fifteen hundred Americans die every year from [skin cancers]. Fifteen hundred Americans die every day from the serious cancers.”

This is akin to throwing out the baby with the bathwater. Melanoma the most dangerous kind of skin cancer rarely occurs on the face and hands, it appears on areas of the body not sun exposed as often. There are more cases of melanoma in people living at northern latitudes, where the sun is less intense.

Vitamin D from food sources are inadequate compared to what is needed for cancer prevention, and what we produce in our skin. Humans in the past have spent much more time outside, and had a lower incident of all kinds of cancer including skin.

Vitamin D is converted into a hormone, and it has role in fixing damaged cells, and maintaining the cells health. The cancer and Vitamin D connection is being established by researches. What this says is nutrition is the most underused tool in preventing and treating cancer, and a host of other ailments.

Related posts:

• Kinds of Cancer
• Obesity is Tied to Vitamin D Deficiency
• Going beyond Basics in Understanding Cancer
• Cancer May Be a Wake Up Call
• The Importance of Vitamin K