While chronic inflammation is a nuisance to most people, scientists know it could trigger something more serious–colon cancer.
Now research reveals a new way to reduce this inflammation.
According to research from the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, losing weight while taking vitamin D supplements helps reduce chronic inflammation, something which could also reduce a person’s risk of colon cancer.
The findings are published in the July issue of Cancer Prevention Research.
“We know from our previous studies that by losing weight, people can reduce their overall levels of inflammation, and there is some evidence suggesting that taking vitamin D supplements can have a similar effect if one has insufficient levels of the nutrient,” says Catherine Duggan, Ph.D., a Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center principal staff scientist in the Public Health Sciences Division. “It’s the first study to test whether adding vitamin D augments the considerable effect of weight loss on inflammatory biomarkers.”
The Research
Recruiting 218 overweight women whose levels of vitamin D were considered low, researchers had them participate in a year-long diet and exercise program, something identified in previous research as a way to reduce inflammation. Half of the study participants were also given 2,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily to help raise their vitamin D levels.
At the end of the study, researchers measured the amount of chronic inflammation they had.
The good news? All of them had reduced inflammation levels, even if they didn’t take vitamin D supplements.
But the best news was that the women who took these supplements had the lowest amounts of inflammation, reducing their risk of colon cancer the most.
“We were quite surprised to see that vitamin D had an effect on an inflammation biomarker only among women who lost at least 5 percent of their baseline weight,” says Duggan. “It is thought that this state of chronic inflammation is pro-tumorigenic, that is, it encourages the growth of cancer cells. Weight loss reduces inflammation, and thus represents another mechanism for reducing cancer risk.”
However, researchers stress this isn’t a recommendation to take more vitamin D supplements. Instead, women should speak to their local healthcare provider about measuring their vitamin D levels–and if it’s high, getting on a vitamin D regimen.
Of course, losing weight should also be a strategy if they’re overweight as well.
“If ensuring that vitamin D levels are replete, or at an optimum level, can decrease inflammation over and above that of weight loss alone, that can be an important addition to the tools people can use to reduce their cancer risk,” says Duggan.
Readers: Do you deal with chronic inflammation? If so, how do you deal with it?
Sources:
Weight Loss, Combined with Vitamin D, Reduces Inflammation Linked to Chronic Disease – FredHutch.org
Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation in Combination with Weight Loss on Inflammatory Biomarkers in Postmenopausal Women: A Randomized Controlled Trial (Study) – CancerPreventionResearch.aacrjournals.org
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