Breast Cancer and Vitamin D

A recent study by U.S. scientists has shown that almost 70% of women living with breast cancer who participated in the study show a deficiency of vitamin D in the body.

Although according to the U.S. Institute of Medicine of the optimal amount of vitamin D in the body should be about 32 nanograms per milliliter of vitamin D, results have shown much smaller amounts of about 27 nanograms per milliliter.

These results are not surprising, as other previous studies have shown that most people have studied various nutrient deficiencies in the body, but cautions that women suffering from breast cancer are more exposed, as if their vitamin D deficiency has a high greater danger. Vitamin D deficiency, aggravated due to chemotherapy and other treatments followed may have adverse effects on sick: increased fatigue, muscle pain, bone less strong (increased risk of fractures), heart rhythm disturbances, low body immunity, sleep irregularities, sudden changes of mood, depression.

Vitamin D has an important role for calcium and phosphorus metabolism in the body, produces vitamin D deficiency and deficiencies of calcium and phosphorus, the drawbacks caused by them. Consequently, it is necessary to administer additional vitamin D women suffering from breast cancer and follow strict level of this vitamin in their body. Vitamin D can be obtained either by sunlight (beware duration of exposure) and in various foods: fish oil, fish, eggs (yolk), milk, cereals.

What is ORAC?

Free radicals have an important role in large number of biological processes, some of which are necessary for life, such as the intracellular killing of bacteria by phagocytic cells such as granulocytes and macrophages. Free radicals have also been implicated in certain cell signaling processes. Many diseases have their origin in inadequate free radicals activity in the body.

Many forms of cancer are thought to be the result of reactions between free radicals and DNA, resulting in mutations that can adversely affect the cell cycle and potentially lead to malignancy. Some of the symptoms of aging such as atherosclerosis are also attributed to free-radical induced oxidation of many of the chemicals making up the body. In addition free radicals contribute to alcohol-induced liver damage, perhaps more than alcohol itself. Radicals in cigarette smoke have been implicated in inactivation of alpha 1-antitrypsin in the lung. This process promotes the development of emphysema.

Knowing this, there was developed a method of measuring antioxidant capacities in biological samples. The method is called ORAC – an acronym for Oxygen Radical Absorbance Capacity. It has been discovered that a small group of super foods have up to twenty times the antioxidant power of other foods. This is why everybody recommends us to eat vegetables and fruits. It is recommended that we eat foods containing at least 3,000 ORAC units a day.

Here is a table containing some foods and their ORAC score.