Vitamin D and Bone Health

The benefits of vitamin D shouldn’t be underestimated: This hormone-like nutrient is essential to how our bodies function, including helping maintain bone health and strength. And with few reliable food sources and the impending grey season, many people choose to take a daily supplement to help assure they are getting enough. But the benefits are in question if your levels are already in the safe zone.

A recent study conducted by a team at Harvard Medical School found that people over the age of 50 likely won’t reap the bone-strengthening benefits from supplementing with vitamin D if they aren’t already deficient in it.

Published in The New England Journal of Medicine, over 25,000 volunteers above the age of 50 participated in the study. The aim was to determine if 2,000 IU of vitamin D3 supplementation daily alone would limit risks of bone fractures in comparison to supplementing with a placebo. The scientists observed the participants over 5 years  and found that the vitamin D supplements did not result in a significantly lower risk of total fractures or hip fractures than the placebo among those older adults who were not deficient in the nutrient or who did not have low bone mass.

These findings suggest that healthy adults who are not deficient in vitamin D or who don’t have a weak skeleton likely won’t benefit from popping a pill for an extra dose when it comes to bone health and strength. But the outcome of this study doesn’t necessarily apply to people who have risks for osteoporosis, who have low bone mass or who have poor vitamin D status.

Also, there are other functions of vitamin D in the body including immune regulation and this study did not address whether supplementation aids in those even if not deficient.

See also: Having the Bone Health Talk With Clients