Vitamin D – Increased Immune System Strength

“Cancer is helped by sunbathing. Those who get more sunlight have less cancer. Sunbathing heals cancer by building up the immune system and increasing the oxygen in the tissues. Sunlight does not cause skin cancer unless one suffers through chronic sunburn,” writes Dr. Zane R. Kime, author of Sunlight could Save Your Life.

Vitamin D has a prominent role in the body’s innate immunity as it is important in the maintenance of macrophages and monocytes and its function in defending against infections.[1] Anything that helps strengthen our immune system is going to be helpful in our fight against cancer.

Research findings which show that vitamin D can speed up antibiotic treatment of tuberculosis (TB) have been revealed by scientists at The London School of Medicine and Dentistry. The study — which gives fresh insight into how vitamin D may affect the immune response was published January 6, 2011 in The Lancet. Scientists have shown that a single 2.5mg dose of vitamin D may be enough to boost the immune system to fight against tuberculosis (TB) and similar bacteria for at least 6 weeks. Their findings came from a study that identified an extraordinarily high incidence of vitamin D deficiency amongst those communities in London most at risk from the disease, which kills around two million people each year

Sunshine is healthy for us and our immune systems. The sun’s ultraviolet rays, or UV rays as they are commonly known, are needed by our bodies to produce vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential, as it helps keep our immune systems strong, as well as helping to strengthen bone and muscle. Sunshine also helps improve our general mood.

Lack of light leads to depression and even suicide and it is known that depressed cancer patients and as we saw in the chapter on emotional causes of cancer those individuals who were more depressed were 2.3 times as likely to die of their cancer.

However, it is not so easy to get needed exposure levels. The first day in Burnsville Minnesota that you can get Vitamin D from the sun is April 1st. The last day is September 9. You can Google USNO sun azimuth table and go on the website to plug in any date and city to find out what time of day you can get Vitamin D from the sun. The sun has to be at 50 degrees in altitude for you skin to produce Vitamin D.

If you have avoided the sun for years, increase exposure gradually – preferably after starting on the Budwig or other healthy diet rich in easily available omega-3 fatty acids – making sure you don’t get burned and feel comfortable. German doctor Raimund von Helden MD reports that when he increases the blood levels of vitamin D in his patients (to 40 to 80 ng/ml of 25-hydroxy-cholecalciferol), they report being able to tolerate the sun again.

Sun exposure has been demonized by dermatologists. They prefer you cover up with solar protectors whose chemicals are now known to get into users blood streams. The increasing use of sunscreens and the decreasing amount of time spent outdoors, especially by children, has contributed to an increasing problem of vitamin D deficiency.

In the winter, the sun in Britain is barely strong enough to make the vitamin, and by spring, say scientists, 60% of the population is deficient (defined as a blood level below 30 ng per millilitre).

For most people today the answer is no, you are not getting enough vitamin D which is the same thing as saying most people are not getting enough sun. A new study has found that the number of people being diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency has tripled from 2008 to 2010 in the United States. Some researchers believe that up to 75% of the United States population may not be getting enough vitamin D (levels below 30 ng/ml). This is an expanding problem, especially for children who are spending most of their time in the digital world instead of playing outside.

[1] Advances in Preventive Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/5181847 Vitamin D as an Adjunctive Treatment to Standard Drugs in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients.