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Bupa urges everyone to take vitamin D to reduce cancer risk

 

16 December 2009

As the winter solstice approaches, the shortest day of the year signals the start of winter when sunlight hours fall to an average of just two a day. Bupa, the UK’s leading healthcare company is urging people to take vitamin D to reduce their risk of cancer as day-time no longer means sun-time.

Vitamin D helps protect against certain cancers such as breast, bowel, prostate and colon. For people to obtain enough vitamin D naturally, they need either to expose their skin to lots of summer sun or eat large quantities of oily fish. Bupa’s assistant medical director, Dr Virginia Warren said: “Natural ways to get enough vitamin D aren’t realistic because our skin cannot make vitamin D from winter sunlight in the UK as it is too weak. In the summer, people are rightly concerned about risks of skin cancer. And nobody wants to eat four tins of mackerel every day to get their vitamin D from oily fish.”

Now, after analysing years of independent research, Bupa says the only alternative is to take vitamin D supplements to reduce the chance of developing cancer by 26 percent. People need to take at least 1,500 - 2000 international units (IU) a day, which equates to 3-4 high strength capsules (12.5 micrograms/capsule).

Dr Warren continues: “People have to act now to take preventive measures against cancer for their future long-term health. The old-fashioned view was to take a low daily dose of vitamin D for healthy bones. Cancer is today’s biggest killer and we need to protect our bodies from it as much as we can. Taking vitamin D supplements are an effective, inexpensive and easy way of doing that.”

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