BERKELEY, Calif., Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Solar ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation cuts the rates of 16 types of cancer by stimulating production of vitamin D, U.S. researchers say.
That according to a new study released Tuesday by the University of California.
"Enhancing vitamin D status appears to be the single most important simple thing people can do to reduce their risk of cancer, apart from avoiding tobacco and moderation in the intake of alcohol," said study authors Cedric Garland and William Grant from the University of California in San Diego and Berkeley, respectively.
They added that vitamin D supplements are readily available and nontoxic in the preventive range of 1,000 to 1,500 IU per day and do not increase the risk of non-melanoma skin cancers.
They added that American diets provide on 250 to 300 IU of vitamin D per day. People with fair skin living in sunnier regions can make 1,500 IU of vitamin D in about 20 minutes at noon with 10 to 20 percent of their body exposed (arms and back or chest). People with darker skin can require up to four times as much time in the sun to produce the same amount of vitamin D, which the authors thought might be responsible for the higher cancer rate in black Americans.
They cautioned that people should wear hats and keep moving when in the sun, and should expose more of their skin surface rather than staying in the sun longer since vitamin D synthesis is complete in 20 minutes.
The study can be found in Anticancer Research 2006;26:2687-2700.
