That’s a lot of calcium.

Even with all that calcium, modern medical doctors and health “experts” will tell you that as a woman, it’s important for you to take a calcium supplement to keep your bones strong and healthy.

But there’s something you should know before you eat another chewable or swallow another capsule.

A study looked at 1,471 women over five years. Half took 1 gram of calcium a day, and half took a placebo.¹

The women assigned to take calcium supplements were more than twice as likely to have heart attacks compared with those who took a placebo.

Another review done by the British Medical Journal carefully analyzed 11 different calcium supplementation studies. The BMJ found that taking more than 500 mg a day increased heart attacks by 31 percent.²

Those supplementing with calcium were also more likely to have more than one heart attack.

The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture found that most Americans take in around 800 mg of calcium every day. Fortunately, that’s about how much you need if you’re a healthy adult.

And as long as you eat anywhere near a normal diet, you don’t need calcium supplements. You get plenty of calcium through the food you eat.

My favorite way to get my daily dose is to eat lots of dark green leafy vegetables like mustard greens and broccoli.

Some other good sources of calcium are:

Also, I like to use spices when I cook, and two very flavorful spices in their powdered form – curry (30 mg in each Tbsp) and mustard (60 mg per Tbsp) – are loaded with calcium.

To make sure you retain the calcium you take in, try to get 400 mg a day of magnesium. It works in your bones to balance your calcium.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1 Bolland, Mark J., “Vascular events in healthy older women receiving calcium supplementation,” BMJ Jan. 2008; 336: 262
2 Bolland, Mark J., et al, “Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis,” BMJ 2010; 341:c3691

The national campaign to keep us out of the sun has finally caught up with us. The result?

A study from the prestigious Archives of Internal Medicine found that an astounding three out of four Americans don’t get enough vitamin D.

Here’s why you should care:

Low vitamin D levels don’t just cause rickets in children and weaken bones in adults. They are strongly linked to cancer, heart disease, and many other serious health problems.

The study shows that vitamin D levels dropped 20% from 1994 to 2004 on average. The number of people who have a clinical deficiency of vitamin D tripled, and those who are below the healthy level of vitamin D jumped by almost 50%.₁

Given our obsession with staying out of the sun – nature’s way of creating vitamin D in our bodies – and the dramatic drop in vitamin D nutrients in our foods, it’s no wonder that this has become a national epidemic.

Plus, the government has kept its recommended levels for vitamin D supplements way too low for far too long. Its current recommendation is to take:

• 200 IU per day from birth to 50 years old
• 400 IU per day for aged adults 51 to 70
• And 600 IU per day for those 71 and older

The study’s authors recommend taking 1,000 IU or more a day of vitamin D supplements on top of increasing your exposure to the sun. The government, however, is dragging its feet and says it may take up to a year to recommend new guidelines.

Don’t wait. This report will show you how to safely increase your vitamin D levels and avoid the risks of vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D: Don’t Fear the Sun – It’s Nature’s Cancer Fighter

Your body needs exposure to the sun to produce vitamin D. An Anticancer Research study found that just by getting a little sunlight every day – about 20 minutes for fair-skinned people and two to four times that much for those with dark skin – could reduce the risk of 16 types of cancer.₂

Numerous studies prove the cancer-destroying properties of vitamin D. In fact, it causes melanoma cells to self-destruct.₃

One group of scientists at the University of New Mexico found that exposure to the sun helped cancer patients to recover from already established melanoma. So much so, their rate of survival doubled!₄

But with their stern warnings and dire predictions, you won’t hear many dermatologists – or the $6 billion sunscreen industry – voicing this evidence. Just like the great “cholesterol con” that tricked so many into fearing cholesterol and swallowing toxic “statin” drugs – their “fear of the sun” campaign is just as ridiculous.

The real research suggests that the best way to avoid deadly melanoma is to spend more time in the sun. For instance, dozens of studies show that people who work inside – like office workers – have a much higher risk of melanoma than those who work outside – like construction workers and lifeguards.₅

To underscore this point, melanoma commonly occurs in areas that don’t receive any sunlight at all – like the palms of your hands, the soles of your feet, under your arms, beneath your fingernails – even inside your nose.

Enjoy the Sun and Protect Yourself Naturally

First, some common sense: Avoid sunburn. It hurts and damages your skin. Second, stop using chemical-based sunscreens – like the ones you get at the drugstore. The chemicals can actually be carcinogenic. If you like, you can find sunscreens available on the internet that are natural and chemical-free.

Most importantly, it’s critical that you boost your body’s natural defenses. Our change in diet has left us defenseless against the sun’s normally health-enhancing rays. Thanks to commercial farming and processing, the nutrients we need to prevent skin cancer are increasingly absent from our food. That’s why we require supplements to get the nutrients we need.

Here are my favorite supplements to help:

Cod Liver Oil - The lack of healthy omega-3 fatty acids in our diet is one of the primary factors contributing to the rise of skin cancer. Grains, sugars, and processed foods – even commercial beef – are full of omega-6 fatty acids. Not only are these inflammatory, but they prevent your skin from fighting the sun’s UV rays.

A tablespoon of cod liver oil a day will replenish your omega-3 levels and keep your skin looking young and fresh. It will also give you a boost of vitamin D in its most natural form.

Astaxanthin is a carotenoid found in shrimp, lobsters, salmon, trout, and algae. It gives them their red/pinkish color. (Carotenoids are nutrients that protect plants and animals from UV radiation.)

Astaxanthin is hundreds of times more powerful than most carotenoids and multiplies the effects of vitamin C and E, increasing their antioxidant activity.₆ This is one of the best supplements to prevent skin cancer. During periods of prolonged exposure, you can’t beat it. It’s available as a capsule. I recommend 2 mg a day with meals.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid - ALA is a powerful antioxidant that works at all levels – including your skin. Not only does it protect skin cells from free radicals, it protects their mitochondria (the power plant of every cell) and pumps up your cancer defense mechanisms.

It also preserves collagen and prevents the damage associated with aging skin making your skin more youthful and vibrant. I recommend 200 mg to 400 mg daily.

Vitamin C – A lack of vitamin C makes your skin vulnerable to damage from the sun’s rays. And we have recently started getting far less vitamin C in our diets.

I recommend 3,000 mg per day if you’re currently in good health. This will give you enough to produce the collagen required for strong blood vessels and heart disease prevention.

Pregnant women should get at least 6,000 mg per day – and in times of stress or sickness, you can take up to 20,000 mg. A powdered form may be more convenient for larger doses.

Vitamin D – Finally, take a good vitamin D supplement. I recommend 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily, particularly during the winter or if you live in cold, damp climates with little sunlight.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

1. Ginde, A. Archives of Internal Medicine, March 23, 2009; vol 169: 626-632.
2. Grant WB et al, “The association of solar ultraviolet B (UVB) with reducing risk of cancer: multifactorial ecologic analysis of geographic variation in age-adjusted cancer mortality rates,” Anticancer Research, 2006; 26:2687-2700.
3. Danielsson C, et al. (1998). Differential apoptotic response of human melanoma cells to 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 and its analogues. Cell Death Differ. 5:946.
4. Berwick M, Armstrong BK, Ben-Porat L, Fine J, Kricker A, Eberle C, Barnhill R. Sun exposure and mortality from melanoma. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2005 Feb 2;97(3):195-9.
5. Elwood JM, et al. Cutaneous Melanoma in Relation to Intermittent and Constant Sun Exposure – The Western Canada Melanoma Study. Int J Cancer 1985;35:427
6. www.astaxanthin.org/benefits.htm