Vitamin D and Seniors’ Bone Health

Has anyone told you your bones could be weak and you might be more likely to break a bone?

Are you worried that you may get osteoporosis, a disease where the bones become fragile or porous leading to fractures?

We all can develop weak bones for many reasons including inadequate consumption of dairy foods and postmenopausal changes.

Most of us have focused on calcium supplements and more dairy in our diet to make our bones strong, but we are learning more about the importance of Vitamin D in our lives to maintain our bone strength.

We can become deficient in Vitamin D from lack of sun exposure as we hide in the shade to avoid skin cancer (rightfully so!) and use SPF to avoid harmful rays, insufficient dietary intake of vitamin D sources and malabsorption of the vitamin D we do eat especially in irritable bowel syndrome and Crohn’s disease.  Vitamin D deficiency can cause osteoporosis, muscle weakness and pain, cancer, infection and falls in adults.  The risk of falls can increase when you are deficient in vitamin D often because you may experience more pain and muscle weakness leading to poor balance.

Low vitamin D levels have been reported in elders. Many people are beginning to add vitamin D supplementation to their medication regimens.  Vitamin D has been shown to help improve the absorption of your calcium supplement to further aid bone strengthening.

There are two types of vitamin D in the supplements that you may see on your store shelves: D2 ergocalciferol and D3 cholecalciferol.  Vitamin D3 may be the more active form. A vitamin D supplement of 700-1000 IU each day shown to reduce falls in older adults by 19%.  The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Institutes of Medicine has determined that an intake at 600 IU per day is adequate.

Vitamin D can also be found in foods such as fortified milk, fatty fish, whole eggs and cod liver oil. As little as 10 minutes of unprotected skin exposure to the sun can result in your body’s own production of vitamin D.

Whichever method you choose to increase your level of vitamin D, it will help you maintain strong bones in the future and should not be overlooked in your healthy diet.

Source: http://seniorcarecorner.com