The Essential Vitamin D Osteoporosis Link

Let’s look at the vitamin D osteoporosis link. Increasing calcium alone will not help increase bone density, but adding vitamin D will. Vitamin D is essential to bone health. There are very few foods high in vitamin D and recent studies estimate 1 billion people are deficient in vitamin D. Furthermore, we are learning that the vitamin D RDA (recommended daily allowance) is set way too low.

Vitamin D Facts

• Vitamin D3 is the most active form of D.
• Mainly produced in the skin by exposure to sunlight.
• Helps the body utilize calcium and phosphorus
• Can help prevent and reverse bone loss
• Increases blood concentration of calcium
• Facilitates the absorption of calcium from the small intestine
• In concert with the parathyroid hormone, it helps build and dissolve bone
• Also helps the immune system

Sources of vitamin D?

Our main source is Sunlight. We manufacture vitamin D upon exposure to sunshine.

If you live in Florida you may still get some vitamin D in the winter, but for many of us living in the northern hemisphere we can not make vitamin D in the winter. The sun's rays are at a different angle so a supplement is necessary. If you wear sunscreen in the summer you are not getting vitamin D - and of course we need to wear sunscreen when the suns rays are brightest to protect against skin cancer.

Another vitamin D osteoporosis link is that after age 50 we don't absorb and assimilate vitamin D as well. If a 35-year-old women and a 65-year-old women walk in the sun for ten minutes the 35-year-old will manufacture 3 times as much vitamin D.

Most women eating a healthy diet may get from 100 to 200 IUs per day which is not enough. Because vitamin D is so important, milk has been fortified with it since 1957 and it is added to many cereals. Find foods rich in vitamin D.

Vitamin D RDA - Recommended Daily Amounts

The recommended RDA is increasing. It was: 
from birth up to age 50 only 400 IU. 

The new osteoporosis treatment guidelines from Osteoporosis Canada 2023:
Healthy adults between 19-50 years of age, including pregnant or breast feeding women, require 400 – 1,000 IU daily. Those over 50 or those younger adults at high risk (with osteoporosis, multiple fractures, or conditions affecting vitamin D absorption) should receive 800 – 2,000 IU daily.

For people who need added supplementation to reach optimal vitamin D levels, doses up to the current "tolerable upper intake level" (2000 IU) are safely taken without medical supervision. However, many scientists doing Vitamin D research are far exceeding those levels.

Are you getting enough vitamin D?

A simple vitamin D blood test can tell you if you are getting enough.
You can discuss with your doctor whether you should have this vitamin D test done. It measures vitamin D 25 hydroxy, which is also written as 25(OH)D. To protect your bone health, most experts agree you need one of the following levels of vitamin D 25 hydroxy:
75 mol/L or higher
30 ng/mL or higher

Cholesterol acts as a precursor to vitamin D. Inhibiting the synthesis of cholesterol will also inhibit the synthesis of D3. Low cholesterol diets are deficient in D3 and those taking Statins (cholesterol lowering drugs) are deficient.

The vitamin D osteoporosis link shows us that we can all benefit from taking a vitamin D supplement, not only to decrease our risk of osteoporosis, but also to decrease our risk of other ailments.

A recent study done at Oxford University, published in Genome Research, shows increasing evidence that vitamin D deficiency also increases an individual's susceptibility to autoimmune conditions such as multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes, as well as certain cancers and even dementia.

If you have osteoporosis or are at risk, book an online consultation with me and get a complete personalized plan to strengthen your bones naturally.

How much calcium for osteopenia?

by Barbara
(Huntingtin, WV, USA)

I have osteopania and choose not to take the doctor prescribed meds. How much and what kind of calcium, vitamin d supplements should I take. I also have indigestion problems and reflux after 2 recent bouts with h pylori.

Sue-Anne's Relpy:

The main thing to note is that calcium may not be the answer to your osteopenia. The first thing is to ensure you are eating a healthy diet, managing stress well, maintaining a healthy weight and exercising.

Second, as long as your digestive system is not functionning as it should, your osteopenia will not get better. If your body is overly acidic, calcium is being leeched from the bones in order to balance pH and no amount of calcium will help this. Lowering your acidity will.

Aloe vera juice may help your acid reflux and acidity, but a complete evaluation is necessary to determine the cause and help you cure your digestive issues completely.

I would highly recommend a pH test to check your acidity levels. Once your pH is balanced then you can add in calcium supplements if you believe that you are not getting enough from your diet. Note that other minerals are also key. I have a lot of great information on helping osteoporosis or osteopenia on my site.

The body can only absorb around 200 mgs of calcium at a time, so ensure you take a small amount of calcium twice a day. Again, the page on my site talks about how calcium carbonate is to be avoided and which calcium supplements I recommend.

The amount of vitamin D we need is still being determined, but is increasing all the time. I recommend at least 1000 IUs per day.