Believe it or not, vitamin D not only can help form strong bones, but also help prevent cancer. Sunlight is a key source of vitamin D. So bask in the sun can help lower the risk of cancer.
Research shows that a little exposure to sunlight may reduce the risk of breast, colon, prostate, and several other types of cancer. Amount recommended for sun exposure is for 10 to 20 minutes, two to three times a week. In this number, we even do not need any protection.
In fact, with enough vitamin D can reduce the speed of the development of cancer cells. A study showed that breast cancer patients who did not have a sufficient intake of vitamin D cancer cell growth that is twice as fast compared to patients sufficient intake of vitamins.
Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is found in fish such as tuna, salmon, mackerel, and sardines. In addition, vitamin D is also found in eggs, milk, and cereal. However, to obtain the benefits of vitamin D, the body also requires exposure to sunlight.
Institute of Medicine recommends that consumed the amount of vitamin D for women up to age 50 years of 200 international units (IU) for women aged 51 to 70 years is 400 IU, and for women aged over 71 years is 600 IU. While experts recommend for elderly men is 400 to 800 IU. And the daily dose for a man still needs to be evaluated.
For comparison, one egg contains 25 IU and 113 gram piece of salmon has 400 IU of vitamin D.
Although vitamin D has a good effect for the body, but should not be excessive consumption, especially for non-vitamins from natural sources such as supplements. If consumed in excess, vitamin D will provide good effects to the body. In a serious level, excess vitamin D can damage the function of organs such as the lungs, heart, and kidneys.