| Twenty-five years ago, Dr. Cedric Garland and his | | | | prostate or colon. |
| brother, Frank, proposed that many cases of | | | | All men will develop prostate cancer if they live |
| cancer were caused by lack of vitamin D. The | | | | long enough, but the average Caucasian develops |
| medical community treated these respected | | | | prostate cancer after age 85, while the average |
| epidemiologists as if they were nuts. Vitamin D | | | | African American develops it many years earlier. |
| was discovered in 1922 as the vitamin that | | | | People of color require far more ultraviolet light to |
| prevents and treats rickets, a disease that causes | | | | make vitamin D than those who have lighter |
| children and adults to have such weak bones that | | | | skins. Lack of vitamin D damages immunity to |
| they bend. | | | | cause cancers, diabetes and infections. |
| The Garland brothers showed that people who | | | | My advice is for you to think about your vitamin |
| live in the northern parts of the United States | | | | D status. A person with light skin can get enough |
| have more than three times as many colon | | | | vitamin D from a few minutes spent in sunlight |
| cancer deaths as those who live in the South. | | | | each day, but the darker your skin, the more sun |
| They explained that very few Americans meet | | | | exposure you need to meet your daily |
| their needs for vitamin D from the food, so we | | | | requirements. During the winter months in |
| have to meet our needs for vitamin D from | | | | northern latitudes, even light-skinned people will |
| sunlight. Sunlight is less intense in the northern | | | | have difficulty meeting their needs from sunlight. |
| latitudes, and people in the colder climates often | | | | You can get vitamin D from vitamin supplements, |
| do not go out in the winter; therefore, they often | | | | fish oils, fish or fortified cereals. (Fortified milk is |
| suffer from lack of vitamin D. | | | | not a good source because calcium uses up |
| Forty-two percent of African American women | | | | vitamin D.) If you are not sure if you are getting |
| have low blood levels of vitamin D, compared to | | | | enough vitamin D from food or sunlight, go to |
| only 4.2 percent in Caucasians. That means that | | | | your doctor and request a blood test for vitamin |
| African Americans are ten times more likely to | | | | D. If your blood level of vitamin D is below 15 |
| suffer from vitamin D deficiency than Caucasians. | | | | micrograms/liter, you should take 400 international |
| Lack of vitamin D interferes with immunity and a | | | | units or 5 micrograms of vitamin D each day. I |
| person's ability to kill germs and cancer cells. | | | | am convinced that you will be protecting yourself |
| Every day, the human body makes millions of | | | | from cancer and infections. Women will also be |
| cancer cells. Your immunity then filters out these | | | | protecting their future babies from infections and |
| cells and prevents them from growing. When | | | | possibly birth defects. Don't wait for the medical |
| immunity is impaired, the cancer cells can grow to | | | | community to agree on this. |
| form solid cancers, such as cancer of the breast, | | | | |