Not long ago I posted the Five Top Steps to Good Health.

As an interesting follow-up, here’s what the Canadian Cancer Society had to recommend for their  seven steps to prevent cancer (in red are those that were included in the Five Top Steps):

1. Be a non-smoker and avoid second-hand smoke
2. Eat 5-10 servings of fruit and vegetables each day. Choose high fibre, lower fat foods. If you drink alcohol, limit your intake to 1-2 drinks a day.
3. Be physically active on a regular basis.
4. Protect yourself and your family from the sun.
5. Get yourself screened for common cancers.
6. Visit your doctor or dentist if you notice any change in your normal state of health.
7. Follow instructions when using, storing, and disposing of hazardous materials.

Here’s where you can find the CCS’s Recommendations.

I have an aversion to food supplements. It feels so unnatural to take in pill-form what you should have got in a well-balanced diet. I’m also usually skeptical about how much health benefit food supplements can provide. As a healthy, active individual who tries to eat well, I shouldn’t need to put myself on daily pills, right? That’s my usual gut feeling, anyway.

So you’ll appreciate, then, that I’ve swallowed some pride, because I now take Vitamin D – 1000 IU per day. So should you. So should every every Canadian, of every age.

Here’s what Vitamin D can do for you:

• Prevent breast cancer, colorectal cancer, and/or prostate cancer. 
  • Not just by a little bit, either: studies recently published have shown that 1000 IU of Vitamin D reduced the risk of colorectal cancer by 50%, and breast and prostate cancers by 30%.
  • Vitamin D will even help you if you already have these cancers. 
  • That’s why the Canadian Cancer Society is now making it one of their top recommendations for all Canadians to take 1000 IU of Vitamin D every day.
• Reduce risk of cardiovascular disease.
  • It has been demonstrated that people with Vitamin D deficiency have a higher risk for coronary disease and myocardial infarctions (heart attacks)
• Prevent Type II diabetes
  • People with Vitamin D deficiency are more likely to develop Type II diabetes.
  • Of those who already have diabetes, people with Vitamin D deficiency benefit less from dialysis and die earlier
• Boost your immune system
• Help you sleep

You’ll notice that the diseases Vitamin D will help you with are exactly the ones that you, as a wealthy westerner, are most likely to die from (cancer, coronary artery disease, diabetes). Thus, taking Vitamin D might actually allow you to live longer.

Now I know that some will protest: why do I need to take a pill when can get Vitamin D in my diet? And you could. But you’d have to guzzle milk to do it. Truthfully, Vitamin D is not in very many foods. Even after two large glasses of milk, you’d still be 400 IU short of the recommended daily amount. That’s more milk than most Canadians drink, and having any more would not be helping your fat intake either. Alternatively, you could try to get enough Vitamin D from cod-liver oil. Not only is that disgusting, but you’d be overdosing on another vitamin, Vitamin A, which has some negative health effects.

Another possible protest you may have: shouldn’t I be worried about taking too much? Aren’t pills generally bad for me? It’s true that you should avoid medication wherever possible. But in every decision, you need to weigh the good versus the bad. Vitamin D offers you many proven health advantages. And you’d really never experience any toxic effects until you reach dosages only found in prescription pills. If anything, the 1000 IU recommendation has been set conservatively low. One of the key researchers in Vitamin D says publicly that he personally takes 8000 IU per day!

Well there you have it. I’m converted. Hoping to convert you too! Get yourself on 1000 IU of Vitamin D straightaway. And feel free to ask any questions here,