Vitamin D3 is the form of vitamin D that is we hear about--the form that is make when cholesterol reacts with sunlight on your skin. D2 is often what you find in multivitamins--D3 is the vitamin that should be receiving more attention from women fighting breast cancer, and women who want to increase the odds that they won't get breast cancer...
One recent study suggested that the risk of breast cancer was reduced by as much as 50% when vitamin D in the blood was at least at the level of 52 nanograms per milliliter. If you have or have had breast cancer, you should ask your doctor to measure your vitamin D level--your survival rate could depend on the amount that you store.
How do you reach that amount in your blood if you are deficient? Through diet and supplements that equals about 1000 international units of D3 every day.
The Vitamin D Council presents research supporting the need for vitamin D by women with breast cancer...
One study found that women that had vitamin D receptor positive tumors had longer disease free intervals than those women that had no measurable receptors for vitamin D. Those women with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a more rapidly fatal course. What does that mean? Treat women with D deficiencies so that those receptors will develop--increasing the odds of longer survival rates...
Vitamin D inhibits the formation of excessive blood vessel growth around the tumor. That means that if you are not deficient in vitamin D, your cancer will be inhibited from growing.
Women that live in sunnier climates live longer after being diagnosed with breast cancer.
Toxicity can occur when taking too much vitamin D, so like any supplement, discuss with your doctor. Some women are taking as much as 4,000 IU of vitamin D3 per day--but they are also being monitored by their doctor!
Now this is the kind of news that I'd like to shout from the mountain tops! I asked my new oncologist about D3 and he didn't know about the most recent studies or research--go figure. Do not trust that your oncologists knows about the most current research that is being implemented by scientists and doctors globally--again, this is your fight--knowledge is power. I now wish that I had been a bit more savvy about nutrition as I went through chemotherapy. I had a helluva time with it, and in hindsight, had I known more, I know I would have fared better.
Vitamin D3 is cheap, so if you do not live where the sun shines year round, it is a nice little insurance that you can incorporate into your diet today...
There are some great sites out there to educate yourself about alternative therapies. For this post, my source is www.breastcancerchoices.org
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