Now, there’s at least one woman in eight who develop the deadly disease. Although there’s no definitive study that isolates the causes of breast cancer, there is growing belief in the medical communities that the illness is linked primarily to genetics and diet. Western diets, in particular, are said to easily predispose anyone to developing the disease due to high contents of preservatives, toxins and chemical food fillers which tend to trigger the so-called cancer genes to multiply.

The world of medicine has never ceased to look for possible remedies that will curb this growing problem among women. And recent directions have pointed to the discovery of Vitamin D being an immune system booster. Vitamin D is said to be capable of arresting the growth of breast cancer cells and while the said nutrient has been long known for its immunity-boosting properties, only recently have experts been able to find a significant link between itself and breast cancer.

This link is particularly observed in a study which led to the conclusion that women who live in areas where they could get a lot of sun tend to have low incidences of the cancer as compared to those who are geographically disadvantaged in relation to sun exposure. The conclusion is, of course, hinged on the fact that Vitamin D is something the body produces vigorously when it is exposed to sunlight, reason why it’s called called the sunshine vitamin.

Whether or not a woman has been diagnosed with breast cancer, everyone is always better off getting a dose of sunshine daily except during the hazardous hours between 10am and 3pm. Further protection from the disease may be obtained by incorporating Vitamin D-rich foods into the diet such as milk and milk products, cod liver oil and other fatty fish, mushrooms, dark green leafy vegetables, soymilk, and rice milk, among others. Supplements may also be taken, but it’s important to remember that they can never be substitutes for natural Vitamin D sourced from real food.

Each year, more than a million women are diagnosed with breast cancer according to the France-based International Agency for Research on Cancer or IARC. Although there is nothing conclusive about the link between cancer and Vitamin D, women are encouraged to have more of the nutrient in their daily diet as a safeguard measure.