Past studies have claimed that vitamin D may reduce the risk of heart disease, bone fractures and even depression. Now, new research suggests that breast cancer patients with high levels of the vitamin in their blood are more likely to survive the disease than patients with low levels. Vitamin D - a fat-soluble vitamin - is important for regulating the absorption of calcium and phosphorus in our bones.

This research recently published in the journal Anticancer Research, suggest that women who had high levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in their blood had around a 50% lower fatality rate, compared with women who had low levels of 25-hydroxyvitamin D in their blood.