Hundreds of thousands of cases of breast and bowel cancer could be prevented every year around the world if people increased their intake of vitamin D3, scientists have said.
A new study by experts at the University of California, San Diego's Moores Cancer Centre looked at the relationship between vitamin D serum levels and the risk of breast and bowel cancers in order to determine how many cases of the disease could be prevented if vitamin D3 levels met proposed targets.
Reporting in the journal Nutrition Reviews, they estimated that 250,000 cases of bowel cancer and 350,000 cases of breast cancer could be prevented worldwide, particularly if countries north of the equator increased their intake of vitamin D3 through diet, supplements and exposure of skin to sunlight.
Study co-author Dr Cedric Garland, cancer prevention specialist at the centre, commented: "For the first time, we are saying that 600,000 cases of breast and colorectal cancer could be prevented each year worldwide, including nearly 150,000 in the United States alone.
"This could be best achieved with a combination of diet, supplements and short intervals - ten or 15 minutes a day - in the sun," he revealed.
Hundreds of thousands of cases of breast and bowel cancer could be prevented every year around the world if people increased their intake of vitamin D3, scientists have said.
