The secret weapon against breast cancer

by Dr. Alan Inglis

If you’re a woman who has been diagnosed with breast cancer, all the more reason to have your vitamin-D level checked: research suggests a link between low levels and recurrence of, or death from, the cancer.

Evidently, low levels of vitamin D are quite common in women diagnosed with breast cancer.

Naturally, mainstream researchers are quick to back-pedal away from making a recommendation of taking more vitamin D supplements. Big surprise. Some doctors are so brainwashed by the drug companies that they would actually rather give you chemo than supplements.

But I’m not one of them.

I’ve been talking about the importance of vitamin D for years, back before it became "trendy" to even think about. I check my patients’ 25-hydroxy vitamin D level. Levels below 20 nanograms per milliliter (ng/ml) are deficient, 20 to 30 borderline, and 30 to 50 healthy.

I have sent breast-cancer patients of mine to an eminent integrative oncologist in New York City. He liked to keep his patients’ vitamin-D levels between 50 and 60 ng/ml. Based on the available evidence, this seems both reasonable and safe, specifically for higher risk patients with a family history of breast cancer, who have had breast cancer themselves, or who are currently being treated for breast cancer.

You’ll want to work closely with your doctor to get your level back up in the healthy range, which may mean multiple tests to gauge your progress. Be patient — but be diligent, too.