Yes, this may sound counterproductive, especially when everywhere you see these commercials encouraging you to use sunscreen to block the sun’s harmful rays from hitting your skin so as to prevent cancer, then how can those very sun rays actually lower the risk of cancer? Truth be told, it is actually the lack of exposure to sunshine that can cause cancer, and specifically breast cancer in many women besides other chronic illnesses. Read on to learn more.
So what is the connection between breast cancer and sunshine? Well, it is Vitamin D. There is a general view that the deficiency of Vitamin D causes breast cancer. But we can get Vitamin D from food stuff and supplements as well, you may argue. So why is sunshine so crucial? Well, it is not just any form of Vitamin D. The Vitamin D deficiency associated with Breast cancer is actually Vitamin D3 Sulfate, which is produced in the body when sunshine is absorbed through the cholesterol in our skin and sulfur is synthesized at the same time. So basically it means a deficiency of sunshine on your skin, as this form of Vitamin D is rare to almost nil in food or supplements. It can only be manufactured through the UVB rays from the sun and naturally available in breast milk or unpasteurized cow milk. But most processed, pasteurized cow milk loses this essential Vitamin by the time it reaches our system. Hence your best bet is to get it naturally from sunlight.
How does it work?
The cholesterol present in our skin when hit by UVB light from the sun and the sulfur that we ingest through food, all work together to create Vitamin D3 Sulfate, since sulfur is abundant in most diets. The energy from UVB causes sulfate to join the cholesterol in our skin and the cholesterol sulfate then converts to Vitamin D3 Sulfate. This is why people taking drugs to lower cholesterol may be at a disadvantage to creating this Vitamin form in their bodies. It is not a coincidence that there is high percentage of breast cancer incidence among those taking Statins, because it is the oxidation of cholesterol in the first place where cholesterol becomes Vitamin D3. The best thing about Vitamin D3 Sulfate is that it is water soluble as well as fat soluble. This property allows it to move through the body uninhibited and enter our cells easily. Also our body’s feedback mechanism ensures the right amount of Vitamin D3 Sulfate in our systems and keeps only as much of it as needed, and the remainder of it is converted back to Vitamin D3 which is essential for calcium synthesis and bone health.
The best time to get sunshine
So what is the best time to reap the benefits of the sun’s Ultraviolet B rays? Well it is not the morning sun or the evening sun, but in fact the afternoon sun, when it is the hottest that the body absorbs these rays the best. This is when the Ultraviolet B rays from the Sun are the most intense and less time is needed to make the Vitamin D3 Sulfate required by the body. So a little bit of sunbathing in the afternoons, is a great practice to stay healthy and cancer free. Exposing the bare skin to the sun at midday is the trick! If you have sensitive skin, you can choose which part of the body to bare. For example, you can expose the hands and legs, instead of the face.
The various forms of Vitamin D
But you may ask, what about all the Vitamin D supplements available out there in the market? Don’t they help in thwarting cancer? The Vitamin D in foods and supplements are not the same as Vitamin D3 Sulfate. Different forms of Vitamin D have their own benefits but none of them can provide the optimum range of health benefits that only Vitamin D3 Sulfate provides.
The most common forms of Vitamin D obtained from foods and supplements are Vitamins D2 and D3 which can be got from various plant or animal food. Vitamin D2 is the most common form of Vitamin D found in foods like fatty fish, liver, cheese, egg yolk, mushrooms or in fortified cereals, orange juice, dairy products, soya milk etc. and great to treat bone related disorders like rickets, osteoporosis, etc. Vitamin D3 is found in fish oils and considered to be more absorbable by the body than Vitamin D2. Both these forms of Vitamin D are essential for calcium metabolism in the body, normalizing the calcium going in and out of our cells. However, we do not have the capacity to turn the Vitamin D2 and D3 into Vitamin D3 Sulfate consumed through food although most diets have aple amounts of Sulfur. It can only be got through manufacturing it in the skin via sunshine!
Hence Vitamin D3 supplements do not provide the same benefits as Vitamin D3 Sulfate and they definitely don’t convey the same benefits as sunshine. Both cholesterol and sulfur protect the skin from damaging radiation that can cause skin cancer. Cholesterol and sulfur become oxidized upon exposure to sunshine thus creating Vitamin D3 Sulfate and acting as antioxidants. This Vitamin D3 Sulfate is very different from Vitamin D2 and D3. The body cannot convert Vitamin D3 taken through supplements and food into Vitamin D3 Sulfate. The conversion of Vitamin D3 from cholesterol and sulfate from sulfur has to happen simultaneously for Vitamin D3 Sulfate to be created. To draw a metaphor, you cannot mix boiled eggs with flour to make a cake. You have to mix the eggs while they are raw in order to bake the cake. Do you get it? Furthermore, Vitamin D3 Sulfate after doing its work converts back to Vitamin D3 thus contributing to bone health and calcium transportation as well! Hence my suggestion is to get all the forms of vitamins that your body needs through food as well as ample sunshine.
Although Vitamin D3 and D3 Sulfate have their own benefits, for example D3 transports calcium but it is D3 Sulfate that protects from cancer. Not only that, Vitamin D3 Sulfate also strengthens the immune system, reduces the chances of cardiovascular diseases through building muscle strength, thwarts kidney diseases, stimulates the beta cells in the pancreas to fight type I and II diabetes, contributes to brain health as it fights brain diseases by breaking up amyloid plaques, alleviates depression, etc.
Sunlight sustains all of life. Without it we won’t exist, neither will the plant or the animal kingdom. So go ahead, soak yourself in some sunlight today! And while you are at it, also get some Vitamin G through grounding. Make sure, your skin touches the earth’s surface as you sunbathe, so you can get both Vitamin D and Vitamin G at the same time! To learn more about this, read the healing nature of grounding.
In conclusion, the link between Vitamin D deficiency and breast cancer is actually a deficiency of Vitamin D3 Sulfate, which can be got naturally through exposing to sunlight where the 3 essential ingredients, UVB light, cholesterol and sulfur come together to manufacture this life-saving Vitamin D3 Sulfate!