What Every Cancer Patient Must Know About Sunlight, Vitamin D And Cancer

What Every Cancer Patient Must Know About Sunlight, Vitamin D And Cancer

Everyone who has been diagnosed with cancer must know this information. Please read the whole article because it may save your life.

Cancer cells are immature cells that divide uncontrollably. These cells can form tumors and break away from their tissue of origin causing the cancer to spread to distant sites (aka- metastasis) through the blood stream or lymphatic tissues. Where do these immature cells come from? One answer is quite simple. The lack of adequate sunlight.

The people of the world have been told that the sun causes skin cancer. This is true if you have been sun burned. Sunburns can cause skin changes that may lead to skin cancer. But did you know that the lack of sunlight can increase you chances of getting of colon cancer, breast cancer and prostate cancer. In fact the lack of proper sunlight has been linked to 17 types of cancer.

Why does sunlight help cancer? The answer is Vitamin D. Cholesterol in your blood is converted into Vitamin D when sunlight hits your skin. Vitamin D helps normal cells stick together (cell cohesion) through something called gap junctions. Gap junctions not only help your cells stick together but help your normal cells communicate with each other. Yes! Cells can talk to each other through special chemical messengers. Gap junctions are like tiny tubes that connect two cells together allowing for communication.

What do cells talk to about? Normal cells tell each other what they themselves are doing and what they expect their neighboring cells to do (like when a cell should divide, and when not to divide). Normal cell division takes place during growth periods (like when an embryo or child is growing) or to replace old or injured cells. You might say that when each of us was an embryo in our mother’s womb, we were one single immature (“cancer like”) cell that divided rapidly to become a living human baby in only nine months. These rapidly dividing embryonic cells did not become a cancerous tumor because the immature cells talked to each other through gap junctions. Through this chemical communication, some cells became specialized mature cells like skin cells, heart muscle cells, liver cells, bone cells etc. Cancer is when specialized mature cell revert back to their embryonic, immature state which leads to uncontrollable division and tumor formation. It is like when cells don’t communicate, they get confused and go wild.

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In a nutshell, Vitamin D deficiency (aka sunlight deficiency) leads to gap junction dysfunction, poor cell communication, poor cell cohesion (they don’t stick together), mature cells reverting back to their immature embryonic “cancer like form”, and tumor growth. Because of the poor cell cohesion, these cancer cells then break away and form new tumors in other parts of your body. This is why cancer can spread (metastasize) from one body organ to another.

Other Vitamin D facts:

1. You cannot eat enough vitamin D in food to help fight cancer. You would have to drink 50 glasses of milk a day to get enough vitamin D. Vitamin Supplements is a good way to increase your Vitamin D levels if getting proper sunlight is not possible. Vitamin D3 is the best supplement

2. Your body cannot make enough vitamin D from sunlight during the winter months if you live in northern states like oregon, washington, new york etc. Even people in warmer, sunny places can be Vitamin D deficient.

3. Ultraviolet – B rays (UV-B) from the sun are needed to make Vitamin D in your blood. Very few UV-B rays hit the earth in the winter months. UV-B rays do NOT penetrate through clouds, walls, clothes, and clear glass. Getting sun rays though clear glass will not help you make vitamin D.

4. Vitamin D is not toxic as once thought. Toxicity is difficult to achieve. (note: water is toxic if you drink too much)

5. Optimal levels of Vitamin D in your blood is 50-80 ng/ml (not 30 ng/ml as some blood labs suggest)

6. Taking 5,000 IU of Vitamin D3 per day is safe especially if you are deficient. Prescription-only Vitamin D is 50,000 IU’s taken once per week. Get your blood tested for vitamin D every few month to determine if your blood levels have reached optimal levels (50-80 ng/ml)

7. Cancer patients need a lot of vitamin D to help in their fight against the disease. It can take months to build up your vitamin D levels in you blood to achieve optimum levels.

8. Tanning beds that create UV-B rays will help your body make Vitamin D. Short periods (10 minutes) of tanning in a safe tanning bed is good for your health.

9. Visit the Vitamin D Council website for more information on Vitamin D and your health.

 

 

 

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