Vitamine D / cancer

[Frenchy]

It's all over the news , they said taking Vitamine D reduces the chance of getting cancer by 60% but I haven't heard about how much you should take ? As "prescribed" ? Did anyone caught it on the news ?

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

It's all over the news , they said taking Vitamine D reduces the chance of getting cancer by 60% but I haven't heard about how much you should take ? As "prescribed" ? Did anyone caught it on the news ?

I don't think they know. I've been hearing conflicting stories for a couple of weeks, now.

However, 15 to 20 minutes exposure of just your face and arms to bright sunlight each day gives you a therapeutic dose of vitamin D...and it's cheaper.

[CyberKitten]

There is also lots of vitamin D in milk (I figure I get enough in milk. Granted, it's an additive there but drink a few glasses a day and you should be fine.) Also, if you love sardines, you have it made, lol

However, to reply to the original question, the authors of the study recommend f 1,000 IU of Vitamin D a day. Keep in mind it is specific to certain cancers. FYI, here is the abstract of the article:

The Role of Vitamin D in Cancer Prevention

Cedric F. Garland, DrPH, Frank C. Garland, PhD, Edward D. Gorham, PhD, MPH, Martin Lipkin, MD, Harold Newmark, ScD, Sharif B. Mohr, MPH and Michael F. Holick, MD, PhD

Cedric F. Garland, Frank C. Garland, and Edward D. Gorham are with the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego. Cedric F. Garland, Frank C. Garland, Edward D. Gorham, and Sharif B. Mohr are with the Naval Health Research Center, San Diego, Calif. Martin Lipkin is with the Strang Cancer Prevention Center, New York, NY. Harold Newmark is with the Laboratory for Cancer Research, Department of Chemical Biology, Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ. Michael F. Holick is with the Vitamin D Laboratory, Section of Endocrinology, Nutrition and Diabetes, Department of Medicine, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, Mass.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Cedric Garland, DrPH, Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, 0631C, University of California, San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA 92093-0631 (e-mail: cgarland@ucsd.edu).

Vitamin D status differs by latitude and race, with residents of the northeastern United States and individuals with more skin pigmentation being at increased risk of deficiency. A PubMed database search yielded 63 observational studies of vitamin D status in relation to cancer risk, including 30 of colon, 13 of breast, 26 of prostate, and 7 of ovarian cancer, and several that assessed the association of vitamin D receptor genotype with cancer risk.

The majority of studies found a protective relationship between sufficient vitamin D status and lower risk of cancer. The evidence suggests that efforts to improve vitamin D status, for example by vitamin D supplementation, could reduce cancer incidence and mortality at low cost, with few or no adverse effects.

[Frenchy]

I will buy some , I just hope I don't do what I did with the vitamine C that is still in my cupboard......

[SableCollie]

I just figure I get mine through sunlight each morning when I am outside cleaning. I know a lot of cereals have Vit. D added, as do milk and milk alternatives (soymilk etc.) because it helps with calcium absorption. I try to get my vitamins from other things than pills, because I hate taking pills and I always forget to take pills anyway!

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by SableCollie

because I hate taking pills and I always forget to take pills anyway!

Me too ! But I never forget to give the doggies their pills. So I should put mine with theirs. Milk, I only drink it with chocolate cake, chocolat muffins , chocolate Pop Tarts... you get the idea.

[hazelrunpack]

Originally Posted by Frenchy

Me too ! But I never forget to give the doggies their pills. So I should put mine with theirs. Milk, I only drink it with chocolate cake, chocolat muffins , chocolate Pop Tarts... you get the idea.

oooooo....I love my milk that way!

[mummummum]

You forgot icecream and milkshakes and gingerale floats

[Frenchy]

ooohhh yes , ice cream count as milk

Now I'm craving chocolate cake/ice cream

[TeriM]

I bought myself a latte machine so now I'm sure to at least have one milk drink in a day (or two ..... ) .

[CyberKitten]

I hate to burst your bubble but the vitamin D additive only counts for milk!!!! Regular milk and some soy products but you have to watch those very carefully. If you drank copious amts of good old fashioned milk - the type from dairy cows - you should get the regular amt of Vitamin D. But any other dairy products - butter and even (sadly) ice cream, have absolutely NO (as in zero) Vitamin D. Maybe if it was not added to milk but it is an additive in milk to help people who live in colder climates (like Canada and northern Europe) get what they would not get if they lived in sunnier climates. Actually, the authors of this study have different recommendations for people who live in northern climates - ie take it year round - as oppossed to those who live in places with lots of sunshine.

Happy milk drinking (Here in the Maritimes, we have strawberry milk and other kewl flavours - it's how I get some of my younger patients to drink milk on occasion - and one dairy here sells banana and strawberry milk by the litre. There is a new flavour in NB - Orange - but I've yet to try that. I have stuck to Strawberry and banana, lol - but fortunately, I have drank tons of kilos of milk all my life. (Then again - this is a good example of scientific results vs. anectodal evidence since I ended up with melanoma, one of the cancers said to be prevented by vit. D.)

As a cancer researcher myself, I do wonder about the gender differences. (Only women were involved in this study but then again for most of the last century - the 20th - men were used as research subjects even in the study of breast cancer - and while they do develop breast cancer, they only make up less than 10% of those who do.

However, it is a good study - well sampled and better than most!

I have to admit I too am guilty of buying supplements and leaving them in the cupboard - which actually (if you ARE going to take them) is a better place to store them than the bathroom - which is the asbo9lute WORST place to keep medications and vitamins!

Anyway, that is enough physicianspeak for the day, lol

[Frenchy]

Originally Posted by CyberKitten

I hate to burst your bubble but the vitamin D additive only counts for milk!!!!

:sad: Party pooper :sad:

[CyberKitten]

Ahhhhhhh, gee sorry!!! I love ice cream too!!! I wish they used Vit D supplements, lol

[trippincherri]

Mmmmm banana and strawberry milk, we have that here too and it is darn good.
My sister thought it was a dosage of 1000 micrograms a day of Vit.D,she watched the news I didn't so I dunno lol.

I faithfully take my supply of vitamins daily (there are the odd days I am out of the house too quick and don't eat breakfast so I miss my vitamins) and I think they honestly help.
I have rheumatoid arthritis so I have to get my blood monitored quite regular,because the meds I have to take are dangerous to my organs unfortunatley. And I used to have problems keeping my iron levels up and my liver counts low (meds can raise my liver counts and this can be fatal if not caught) but since I settled on a variety of supplements it has been smooth sailing.
I read in MacLeans magazine that now they are trying to say not all vitamins and supplements are safe! And some can do more harm then good. And that since the pet food scare they are now worried about health store remedies being tainted because a lot of them come from over seas too!! So now they want to regulate supplements, and I can see how that would make sense....but when will this chaos ever end?
I am sick of worrying about what is going into what I put into my body!!

[chico2]

I am at the age :sad: where calcium and vitamin D is a must,to keep me from going from 5'7 to 5',I have been taking 1000mg for many,many years together with 1000 of calcium.
I do not drink milk,prefer beer and cranberry-juice(not in the same glass )
I am outside pretty well all day in the summer,get lots of sunshine..but still take VD..