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Vitamin D3

What Is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D, also known as the "sunshine vitamin" because the body manufactures it after being exposed to sunshine, is a fat-soluble vitamin that acts like a hormone, regulating the formation of bone and the absorption of calcium and phosphorus from the intestine as well as helping to control the movement of calcium between bone and blood.

Vitamin D3 is predominantly synthesized in the body after exposure to sunlight as we are only able to get a small amount from our diet. The winter season and most sun block products inhibit the body's ability to produce optimal levels of Vitamin D. As a result, Vitamin D3 supplementation becomes even more necessary to ensure our bodies receive an adequate supply.

The Health Benefits of Vitamin D

Vitamin D3 is used by the immune system to fight infection and helps to control the immune response. It does this by ensuring the immune system does not overwork itself causing various severe health implications. In infancy and childhood, deficiency of vitamin D causes a disease know as ‘Rickets’ which is the softening and deformation of bones, while in adults a lack of the vitamin causes a softening and deformation of the bones known as 'Osteomalacia'.

In recent years the effectiveness of Vitamin D3 as a potential cancer fighting tool has been researched intensely with many studies suggesting intake of the vitamin can severely reduce the risk of various cancers and research published in the ‘Journal of Cell Biology’ November 17, 2008 has shown that:

" Vitamin D can adjust almost everything in the cancer cell, from its genetic messaging to its cytoskeleton. It can switch genes on and off, and it can reduce cell division, and it can ‘calm’ the cancer cells so that they settle rather than spread. It seems vitamin D can actually return a cancer cell to a normal and healthy state."

A concentrated form is currently in phase III clinical trials now and the researchers themselves have stated that the concentrate has “enormous potential to beat cancer”.