Sun exposure with vitamin D can reduce cancer risk

A diet that combines Vitamin D with plenty of sunlight can reduce breast cancer risk in women by 43 percent.

A new study of 70,000 women conducted over 10 years revealed that a diet high in Vitamin D made no difference to the risk of disease, reports the Daily Mail.

The reason is that consuming a diet rich in Vitamin D makes a difference only when there is already a sufficient amount produced from sun exposure. Therefore, when sun exposure is low, diet intake does not make any difference.

Researchers at the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France tracked 67,721 women aged 41 to 72 for a decade to see who developed breast cancer.

Their diets and ultraviolet levels where they lived were then analysed to calculate the risks. At the end of the 10-year period, 2,871 breast cancers had been diagnosed, according to a Centre for Research statement.

Some 45 percent of their dietary Vitamin D came from fish and seafood, 16 percent from eggs, 11 percent from dairy products, 10 percent from oils and margarine, and six percent from cakes.

The biggest effects were seen when the researchers examined the impact of both sources of the vitamin.

In regions which had the highest level of daily ultraviolet, women with higher level of  Vitamin D in their diets or who took supplements had a breast cancer risk 32 to 43 percent lower compared with those with the lowest vitamin intake.

"Our findings support a protective effect of sun exposure on the risk of breast cancer,"
says Pierre Engel, who led the study.