Ask Dr Miriam

Q My daughter keeps telling me I should be taking vitamin D because it will protect me against cancer. Do you believe that? A Well, what I do believe is some excellent new research from Japan which examined this link and found that the higher the vitamin D concentration is in your blood, the lower the risk of any cancer.

This investigation was done in Japanese people and so is particularly relevant to them but in my book it’s equally relevant to us. This excellent research looked at over 3,000 cases of cancer and more than 4,000 people without cancer who acted as controls, making it a really powerful study.

I have taken 10 mcg of vitamin D3 every day since I read some American research showing it is cancer protective. Since then there’s been doubt about the power of vitamin D to protect you against cancer but this latest research would seem to clear up the controversy.

The news was published on March 10 in the British Medical Journal.