Called the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is something our body needs–evidence even shows it can help us live longer.
Now emerging evidence from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute reveals a new reason to increase your vitamin D intake: It lowers the risk of colorectal cancer.
But why? Researchers say vitamin D actually strengthens the immune system–something that could fight off dangerous tumor cells.
“People with high levels of vitamin D in their bloodstream have a lower overall risk of developing colorectal cancer,” says Shuji Ogino, lead researcher of the study. “Laboratory research suggests that vitamin D boosts immune system function by activating T cells that recognize and attack cancer cells. In this study, we wanted to determine if these two phenomena are related: Does vitamin D’s role in the immune system account for the lower rates of colorectal cancer in people with high circulating levels of the vitamin?”
The study, which was reported in the journal Gut, used data from the Nurses’ Health Study and Health Professionals Follow-Up Study, which had previously tracked 170,000 participants with similar health data. For this study, however, they took samples from 218 participants who did not have colorectal cancer and 624 people with the disease.
To find out how high their levels of vitamin D were before diagnosis, researchers looked at their blood samples, looking for a substance called 25-hydroxyvitamin D. This substance is produced by the liver when vitamin D is present, allowing researchers to measure the vitamin’s levels accurately.
Luckily, the results they found were good: Those with higher levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D were less likely to develop colorectal cancer.
“This is the first study to show evidence of the effect of vitamin D on anti-cancer immune function in actual patients, and vindicates basic laboratory discoveries that vitamin D can interact with the immune system to raise the body’s defenses against cancer,” says Ogino. “In the future, we may be able to predict how increasing an individual’s vitamin D intake and immune function can reduce his or her risk of colorectal cancer.”
As for the reason why, researchers say vitamin D helps activate T cells in the body, something which boosts immune function and helps attack cancer cells. By doing so, cancer has a smaller chance of proliferating, something that could save your life.
It won’t stop the disease if it’s already occurring, however.
“Evidence suggests protective effects of vitamin D and antitumour [sic] immunity on colorectal cancer risk,” write researchers in Gut.
What This Means For You
No one wants to have cancer–but now research may show one way to naturally prevent it. To reduce your risk of colorectal cancer, simply add more vitamin D to your diet; getting more sunshine and eating more vitamin enriched foods are two easy ways to increase your intake.
Readers: How do you get more vitamin D into your diet?
Sources:
Vitamin D Lowers Colon Cancer Risk: What Can’t the Sunshine Vitamin Help? – MedicalDaily.com
Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D and Colorectal Cancer Risk According to Tumour Immunity Status – BMJ.com
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