Can this one supplement dial down your prostate cancer?
When you’re diagnosed with prostate cancer, so many things feel like they’re out of your control.
How bad it is…how fast it’s spreading… and whether it’s treatable can seem like they come down to the roll of the dice. Either you’re lucky or you’re not.
But, believe it or not, that all may be starting to change.
Because of a group of researchers from Northwestern University say they’ve discovered a simple vitamin that might be able to control how aggressive your prostate cancer is and how quickly it grows.
And they may have unlocked a secret that could help you avoid surgery, chemo and radiation — and maybe even save your life.
And for guys, this may be the best news yet. Because it turns out that keeping your D levels up can make a big difference if you’ve been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
A new study out of Northwestern University has found a connection between your vitamin D levels and how aggressive a prostate tumor may become.
The research analyzed close to 200 men with an average age of 64. And those who scored low on vitamin D levels in their blood (below 30 nanograms per milliliter, or ng/mL) were at a much bigger risk that their prostate tumors would be fast-growing and metastasize.
You see, it wasn’t about luck at all — it was about making sure your body has enough vitamin D to help you fight cancer (more on how it does that in a second).
And this wasn’t the first time that Dr. Adam Murphy, the lead author of the new research, has studied the connection between vitamin D and prostate cancer. He’d previously found that low D levels appear to be one of the big reasons that some men not only have a greater risk of developing the disease, but also dying from it.
His study comes on the heels of research last year that found taking vitamin D supplements could actually reverse some prostate tumors to the point where men no longer needed surgery or other treatments.
Can you believe it? Just stocking up on a simple vitamin may be enough to help you avoid a surgery that could leave you incontinent or even destroy your sex life.
It doesn’t get too much easier than that.
Better still, that study, from the Medical University of South Carolina, was using what researchers called “normal body levels of vitamin D.” In other words, not some giant amount that you would need to get a prescription pill for.
The South Carolina researchers found that vitamin D can “dial down” inflammation, which can play a major role in how cancer develops and spreads.
That’s really good news, because — as I’ve told you before — prostate cancer is already one of the slower-growing cancers around. So if vitamin D could pump the brakes even harder on prostate tumors, it could help millions of men avoid dangerous treatments they don’t need.
Now, vitamin D-3 supplements are about the least expensive vitamins you can buy. And along with daily time in the sun, they’re the very best way to up your D levels.
Plus that, vitamin D is very safe, even when taken in upper-dose amounts.
And if it works half as well as Dr. Murphy believes, it could be the breakthrough that lots of men have been waiting for.
Sources:
“Low vitamin D may mean aggressive prostate cancer” Steven Reinberg, March 2, 2016, HealthDay, webmd.com
