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Do Vitamins Protect Against Cancer?
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Taking calcium and vitamin D didn't reduce the risk of breast cancer, according to a study of more than 2,000 postmenopausal women published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Researchers randomly assigned women to take either placebos or 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 400 international units of vitamin D daily. Women and their doctors didn't know which pills they were assigned. After seven years, the rate of invasive breast cancer in the two groups was the same.
In their paper, authors say it's possible that the women didn't take the supplements long enough, given that cancer can take decades to develop. Authors note that they also don't know the effect of taking either calcium or vitamin D alone, because women in the study took them together.
Of course, the study also doesn’t reveal the impact of getting calcium from food sources, and vitamin D from the sun, as opposed to from supplements -- or whether the dosages were too low to be effective.
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