Vitamin D Fights Cancer by Promoting Gut Health

A fascinating new study from scientists from the Francis Crick Institute, the National Cancer Institute, and Aalborg University shows that mice fed a diet rich in vitamin D have more powerful immune responses against cancer cells.

Most surprisingly, they found that this immune response originated from the lab mice digestive tracts! Vitamin D promoted the population of a healthy gut bacteria called Bacteriodes fragilis.

How these bacteria improves the immune system’s cancer-fighting ability remains a mystery. Furthermore, it is not clear if the same gut bacteria can help humans fight cancer (even though we do know that vitamin D levels correlate with cancer risk).

Even so, this study adds to the growing body of scientific research that, (1) shows vitamin D is important in reducing cancer risk, and (2) shows that the gut microbiome is essential to health.