According to researchers from the Cancer Treatment Centers of American (CTCA), body mass index (BMI)of cancer patients should be taken into consideration when determining their vitamin D supplementation needs.
The researchers evaluated a group of 740 cancer patients and concluded that those who are obese (BMI higher than 30) had significantly lower levels of vitamin D compared to their non-obese counterparts (BMI lower than 30).
“Currently, the dietary recommendations for vitamin D do not take into account a patients BMI,” says Carolyn Lammersfeld, national director of nutrition for CTCA and a principal investigator in the study.
“We investigated the relationship between vitamin D and BMI in a large sample of cancer patients and found that as BMI groups increased from normal to overweight or obese classifications, there was a significant decrease in vitamin D,” she added.
Scientific studies have been uncovering ever more health benefits of vitamin D beyond bone health in children. However, researchers have been alarmed that the average blood levels of the vitamin appear to have decreased in the U.S. population between 1994 and 2004.
As a result, new guidelines suggest supplementation in excess of the previous recommendations of 200 IUD. In fact, some health practitioners advocate taking as much as 2,000 IUD a day.
Those who are concerned that they do not get a sufficient amount of vitamin D form their diet may consider turning to nutritional supplements.
