VITAMIN D: AN UNDERVALUED
MIRACLE
Vitamin D is a miracle, no doubt about
it. It can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s, build bones and stop osteopo-
rosis, and prevent up to 70% of cancers. So
why are so many Americans – up to 58% - so
deficient in vitamin D?
Mostly because this vitamin – actually
a pro-hormone – has very few food sources,
and many people don’t get the vitamin D
they need from exposure to sunlight. Plus,
because vitamin D uses cholesterol as a
building block, cholesterol-lowering drugs
actually make it more difficult for your body
to synthesize vitamin D. And as we age, our
skin changes structure in a way that can
reduce vitamin D production by up to 60%.
Plus, there are genetic factors involved
as well. A polymorphism – a slight muta-
tion – on the VDR (vitamin D receptor)
gene makes it more difficult for the body to
absorb and use available vitamin D, whether
from sunlight or supplements.
Our old recommended daily require-
ments for vitamin D are partly to blame as
well. They have been set at 400 IUs, which is
barely 10% of what the body needs. Unfor-
tunately, vitamin D deficiency is associated
with at least 17 forms of cancer.
Clinical research has found that over
75% of breast cancer survivors in their
studies were vitamin D deficient, and other
studies conclude that high levels of vitamin
D – much higher than our current recom-
mendations – may reduce the risk of breast
cancer by 50%! That’s an amazing statistic
– if vitamin D were a pharmaceutical drug,
the manufacturer could practically boast
a “miracle cure”. And yet, we tend to over-
look something as simple as a nutrient like
vitamin D.
Other studies have found that vitamin
D is able to enter breast cancer cells and
trigger cell death – in other words, vitamin
D can kill breast cancer cells.
While there is no agreement on how
much vitamin D a person needs for a daily
intake, current research certainly shows a
need for higher recommendations. In some
disease treatment, extremely high dosages
of 50,000 to 100,000 IU have been used,
but for most of us, a daily intake of 1,000 to
2,000 IU of vitamin D – possibly boosting
it in a range of 4,000 to 6,000 IU for cancer
prevention – is probably just right.
YOU CAN FIGHT BACK
Of course, the best way to fight cancer
is to do everything you can to prevent it
from gaining a hold to begin with. Stopping
inflammation and helping the cells of the
body develop normally is one of the most
important ways to do just that. That’s why
finding and supplementing with the best
bioavailable curcumin, boswellia extract
purified to contain less than 5% beta-bo-
swellic acid and at least 10% AKBA, high-
quality iodine, and meaningful levels of
vitamin D I’ve outlined here is a must.
Terry Lemerond has 45 years of experience in the
health food industry. For more details, visit jos
website at https://www.terrytalksnutrition.com
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