The body requires adequate calcium intake as well as an adequate intake of vitamin D in order to maintain strong, dense and healthy bones.
Vitamin D alone is not sufficient for the treatment of osteoporosis. Nor are vitamin D and calcium alone and adequate treatment choice.
But vitamin D is an important component in the treatment of osteoporosis for many reasons. It helps with the absorption of calcium from the intestines.
Without adequate absorption of calcium, the calcium is unable to be metabolized as the body needs and so it sits there in the gut and is completely ineffective. When you have an insufficient amount of vitamin D in your body, bones that are already weakened become even more so.
Vitamin D comes from both your diet and from exposure to the sunlight. People living in sunny areas of the country don't seem to have any problem producing the majority of the vitamin D that they need from the sunlight.
But if you look at the folks that live in the less sunny regions, then they seem to struggle with an adequate production of vitamin D. This is particularly true among the elderly who live in these less sunny regions. It puts them at even higher risk for osteoporotic fractures.
The Institute of Medicine has recommendations as to an adequate vitamin intake D regardless of whether you are battling osteoporosis or not.
Men and women aged 19 to 50 should take 200 IU per day. Men and women from the ages of 51 to 70 years old should take a 400 IU of vitamin D per day.
While men and women 71 years of age and older should ingest 600 IU per day. But the catch is, if you already have osteoporosis then you should take 400 IU two times per day.
Vitamin D and osteoporosis are important to manage appropriately since chronic overuse of vitamin D, especially above 2000 units per day, can cause toxic levels of vitamin D, excessively high calcium levels in the urine and blood, and even the development of kidney stones.
It's like you are trading one problem for another one, not necessarily the smartest thing to do. It is important to talk with your physician prior to the initiation of vitamin D into your daily routine.
