Vitamin D supplements may see a significant dip in sales when, according to a study published online October 30 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, no relationship was found between vitamin D levels and the overall risk of dying from cancer.

But don’t throw your vitamins in the trash just yet.

It was determined that higher vitamin D levels were associated with a decreased risk of colorectal cancer death.

In the past, several studies supported the hypothesis that vitamin D, whose major sources are linked to diet and exposure to sunlight, can reduce cancer mortality by decreasing cancer incidence or improving survival.

Dr. D. Michal Freedman of the National Cancer Institute analyzed data from the third national Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the relationship between levels of circulating vitamin D in the blood and cancer mortality.

After about a decade of follow-up, more than 500 participants had died of cancer.

Cancer mortality was not related to the level of circulating vitamin D for the overall group, nor was it related when the researchers looked at the data by sex, race, or age.

But higher levels of vitamin D were associated with a 72 percent reduced risk of colorectal cancer mortality, compared with lower levels.