Vitamin D and Cancer–New Information!

Welcome to this week’s look at headlines in natural health on iHealthTube.com.

Vitamin D is in the news a lot this week thanks to a couple of studies that link blood levels to a couple of different cancers.

The first study comes out of Harvard as well as many other organizations and links higher vitamin D levels to lower colon cancer risk.  The analysis included over 57 hundred colorectal cases and 71 hundred controls from the US, Europe and Asia.  Typically, vitamin D recommendations are based on bone health.  In the study, those with vitamin D concentrations considered deficient on those parameters, had a 31 percent higher risk of colorectal cancer.  Those that had concentrations above the bone health recommendations were linked to a 22 percent lower risk.

Colorectal cancer is the third most common cancer and third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both men and women in the US.

And now research out of San Diego is showing a similar association between vitamin D levels and breast cancer.

The National Academy of Medicine recommends vitamin D blood levels be 20 nanogram per milliliter.  But the recent study is now suggesting levels be nearly three times that.  The findings showed that people with blood levels above 60 nanograms per milliliter had one fifth the risk of breast cancer compared to those with less than the recommended 20 nanogram per milileter.  One of the principal investigators said to reach that level of 60 nanograms per milliliter, one would require supplements of about 4 to 6 thousand international units per day… or less with moderate sun exposure.  He also stressed the importance of testing.

Finally… do you eat lentils?  You might want to add them to your diet after a recent study showed their benefit on blood glucose levels.

The study out of Canada showed that replacing half a serving of rice with lentils cause blood glucose to drop by up to 20 percent.  And replacing potatoes with lentils led to a 35 percent drop.  Lentils, which aren’t extremely popular in North America, can slow digestion and the release of sugars in starch into the bloodstream and reducing blood glucose levels.

That’s what’s making headlines in natural health this week… make sure to go to iHealthTube.com and signing up for our free email newsletter to stay connected to the latest in natural health!