Which Vitamin Does the Canadian Cancer Society Recommend to Prevent Cancer?
Thursday, November 1st, 2007According to a study in the June, 2007 issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 1,000 International Units (IU) of Vitamin D may help women over the age of 60 decrease their risk of cancer by as much as 77 percent.
The Canadian Cancer Society was so impressed by this and other studies showing the benefits of vitamin D in cancer prevention that they increased the recommended amount of vitamin D that people get to 1,000 IU, especially from October to May when our skin makes less vitamin D because of less sun exposure.
While vitamin D is found in foods such as fish and fortified milk, it is difficult to get 1,000 IU per day from your diet. You would have to drink 10 glasses of milk, eat 10 ounces of salmon, eat 15 ounces of tuna fish or eat 50 eggs per day. I think that you’ll agree - taking a supplement is much easier (and less likely to make you obese).
If you do take a vitamin D supplement, make sure it is the more effective D3 and take it with a meal. Since vitamin D is fat soluble, it will be absorbed better with food containing a moderate amount of healthy fat. According to the US Institute of Medicine, the safe upper limit of vitamin D is 2,000 IU per day.