We've been exploring the amazing benefits of Vitamin D3 to our bodies. This is another profound issue as the past couple of years have weakened our immune systems making many people more vulnerable to such things as auto-immune disorders and cancer.

If the immune system is compromised, the body is less able to deal with the process of oxidation which can set the body up for the invasion of cancer cells. Oxidation is to the body what rust is to iron.

While our body needs oxygen, when the molecules are not in a proper ratio, the result is an electron dance that causes harmful molecules (free radicals) to be deposited in the arteries of the heart, brain, or other organs. It's like a sludge that can narrow blood vessels, limiting the passage of nutrients in and toxins out of the cells.

The result is inflammation. That is what leads to the body trying to correct the situation, but due to limitations, swelling and pain begin to announce that there's a problem.

Oxidation has been known to increase the onset or intensity of such conditions as diabetes, arthritis, high blood pressure, heart disorders, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, aging, and cancer.

So, how does Vitamin D3 help? I'm glad you asked. Fasten your seat belt, we're about to take off!

Body cells turn over every so many days or weeks. That's a process of regeneration that starts sometime after they are formed. As cells age, there's a loss of effectiveness or function. The inner heart of the cell notices the slowdown and starts a process called apoptosis which ends in the death of the old cell and the startup of the newer one.

If the immune system is compromised, the new cell can go rogue and begin to overproduce. This sets the stage for cancer to begin to form. These rapidly forming cells must have more blood vessels to feed the overgrowth. Vitamin D3 reduces this process called angiogenesis and also prevents the changeover from a normal cell to one that's out of control.

(By the way, the vaxs of the past couple of years compromised many people in a variety of ways. The immune system effectiveness has been lowered. This is one reason why we're seeing so many devastating health issues.)

Research studies realized that high Vitamin D3 levels have reduced the risk of developing colon, rectal, and bladder cancers. The other thing of interest is that people who did have cancer had a lower mortality rate.

This means that those with higher levels of Vitamin D3 had better survival rates.

However, other studies found that supplementing with Vitamin D3 was not helpful in preventing cancer. This conflict is a red flag to me. I want to know who is funding the research. Is there a connection to the pharmaceutical industry? There have been incidences of fudging study results to favor people other than the common man. So, as we've learned, just because some highly placed individuals state opinions doesn't mean that we should believe them.

health.harvard.edu indicated that Vitamin D3 results may relate to a person's body weight. Those who were overweight were not as protected. To me, this suggests that the types of foods eaten will have a strong effect on the overall health of an individual.

For instance, sugar requires zinc in order to be processed in the body. Zinc is vital to protecting the immune system. If a person consumes high levels of sweets, the immune system will not function normally.

When I taught a fifth-grade class on health, I put it to them like this. When sugar is damp, it's sticky. As it's digested, it makes the white blood cells sticky so they are unable to grab hold of viruses or bacteria. This makes a person more vulnerable to having an infection. In reality, it almost paralyzes your white blood cells. The end result is the same.

The other thing about sugar is that it uses up Vitamin B6 and has been declared addictive, Newer research wants to refute that claim. Again, the question is why?

I went back to my older resources. Scientists in 2012 at the University of California, San Francisco, declared sugar to be highly addictive and toxic. In a paper written in The Chronicle in February of 2012, authors of the study believed, based on their research, that. sugar consumption had a role in most chronic illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes.

Cancer cells love sugar. It helps them multiply. They need a lot of calories to support their quick growth. Mayo Clinic dietitian claims that extra weight is the real culprit, but does say the calories in sugar contribute to weight gain. Weight gain was declared "a risk factor for 13 different cancers."

jamanetwork.com wrote about a trial of over 25,000 patients. The article claimed that Vitamin D3 reduced the incidence of fatal cancer or spreading cancer (metastatic) in the study. However, they did say that this was for people with normal weight. For those who were overweight, there was no reduction.

In Ageing Research Reviews, a German Research Study indicated that taking Vitamin D was likely to reduce the death rate from cancer by 12%. Researchers in Europe are often more open to the benefits of nutrients.

Depending on what paper one reads, the FDA recommends a maximum of 400-800 ICU of vitamin D.

However, there are researchers who are getting good results from doses as high as 2,000 IU a day.

Food sources are salmon (wild-caught is best), egg yolks, beef liver, and cod liver oil (which now comes deodorized and with flavors such as citrus.)

Symptoms of Vitamin D3 deficiency include fatigue, bone pain, frequent fractures, muscle weakness and pain, joint stiffness, depression, and insomnia.

Dr. Schottker of the German team made a point of saying that vitamin D2 was not helpful, but daily consumption of D3 did reduce death from cancer.

I have five family members in the medical fields. Those who have an alternative background are more open to taking supplements of various kinds. A lot of their viewpoints are shaped by the type of schooling they received. Medical schools often give very little exposure to their students on anything that doesn't fit the medical or phramaceutical paradigm. I was a nurse but have spent decades researching health and wholeness which often focused on vitamins, minerals, and other supplements.

Stay healthy.
Nancy Pidutti, RN, PhD (NHH), author, Chaplain.