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Vitamin D And Bone Health

Vitamin D and bone health are well-known to be linked, with it having been widely accepted for years that the skeletal system requires vitamin D for a variety of different reasons. It comes as a surprise, then, to learn that clinical studies show around 50% of people have vitamin D levels well below the optimal range, and 20% suffer from a vitamin D deficiency.

The only logical explanation for this is that, while most people know vitamin D plays a role in bone health, they do not know how important it actually is or what their daily intake should be. That is why we decided to produce the following article. In it, we will explain exactly what vitamin D does for the bones and how much you should be consuming, to ensure everyone has all the information they need to avoid bone health issues linked to vitamin D.

Table of Contents

What Is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is an essential, fat-soluble vitamin that is also known as cholecalciferol or “the sunshine vitamin,” which is required in order for many vital functions in the human body to take place. Scientific evidence shows that the average person needs to consume at least 10 to 20 mcg of vitamin D a day to keep their body fully healthy and functioning at an optimal level (1).

You can easily increase your daily vitamin D intake by consuming various foods, drinks, and supplements, and doing so will offer a wide range of health benefits for the body.

These health benefits include reducing inflammation and the risk of you getting sick or injured, improving bone, brain, heart, and immune system health and functions, boosting testosterone and energy levels and production, enhancing male sexual health, increasing muscle strength and bone density, lowering blood sugar levels, and helping to combat depression and many other mental and physical health issues.

In this article, we will exclusively be focusing on how vitamin D improves bone health. However, if you are interested in learning more about any of the other health benefits that it can offer, we have also written two other articles that cover all of them in great depth, which you can read here and here.

Vitamin D And Bone Health: How Does Vitamin D Support The Bones?

Enhances Calcium & Phosphorus Absorption

Vitamin D increases the efficiency of calcium and phosphorus absorption from the gut, intestines, and the rest of the digestive tract. Without enough vitamin D, even if you consume enough calcium and phosphorus, your body doesn’t have the ability to absorb them effectively.

As two of the main minerals required for bone growth and maintenance, sufficient calcium and phosphate levels are essential to maintain optimal bone health. Having enough of each freely available in the blood will also support bone mineralization by ensuring they are both incorporated into the bone matrix (2)(3).

Vitamin D and Testosterone

Regulates Blood Calcium Levels

Vitamin D doesn’t just improve the absorption of calcium; it also helps keep blood calcium levels stable. It achieves this by working with the parathyroid hormone to control how much calcium is taken from the bones or excreted by the kidneys.

This is important, as despite being incredibly important for bone health, having too much calcium in your system can actually harm the bones. When calcium levels get too high, your body will go into overdrive, leading to bone breakdown, an increased risk of fractures, and the development of conditions like osteoporosis, as well as issues that affect the rest of the body, such as kidney stones, heart disease, and digestive problems

Supports Bone Growth and Remodelling

Vitamin D also directly promotes bone health. In children, vitamin D is essential for proper bone growth and development, and in adults it helps with the constant remodeling and repair of bones that is required to keep them healthy.

This occurs as vitamin D stimulates osteoblast activity, which is the process responsible for forming new bone tissue, promoting bone growth and repair, and reducing the activity of osteoclasts, which are cells that break down bone. This combination of effects is ideal for keeping the bones healthy in people of all ages and preserving them for as long as possible (4).

Did you know that Vitamin D can increase muscle mass?

Prevents Fractures & Bone Disorders

Vitamin D even plays a vital role in the structural integrity, maintenance, health, strength, and density of bones. Keeping your vitamin D levels up doesn’t just help bones grow; it also stops them from getting damaged and breaking down. This is incredibly important for people in at-risk groups, such as young children or the elderly.

It will protect children from a condition called rickets, which produces soft, weak bones, while helping the elderly avoid bone fractures, especially hip fractures, which become more common as people age and can be life-threatening in many older adults. It even protects the bones of regular adults too, as it makes them less likely to get damaged and reduces the risk of conditions like osteoporosis, which causes brittle, fragile bones with an increased fracture risk, and osteomalacia, which can lead to bone softening and pain (5).

Combats Inflammation

Vitamin D is known for its potent anti-inflammatory properties that combat free radicals and prevent them from causing oxidative stress and damage or inflammation. This is mainly due to vitamin D’s immunomodulatory properties, which help reduce the production of inflammatory molecules and cytokines, including TNF-alpha, IL-1, and IL-6, while improving the production of macrophages and anti-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1RA.

By modulating the production of these signaling proteins, vitamin D keeps inflammation levels in the joints to a minimum. This will prevent pain in the joints, damage to the bones, and many inflammatory conditions, including all forms of arthritis and other autoimmune diseases (6). Not only that, but the pain caused by inflammation can also lead to people living more sedentary lives, which is proven to be detrimental to bone health, strength, and density.

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