Does Vitamin D Reverse Bone Loss?

Nothing can restore lost bone mass, but good nutrition that includes vitamin D and calcium can change the rate at which you lose the primary bone mineral reserves built in childhood. Adequate vitamin D helps children achieve healthy peak bone mass and adults replace existing older bone with new growth. Awareness about the need for vitamin D in preserving bone health may reverse the upward trend in the incidence of osteoporosis, which affects 55 percent of Americans over age 49 as of 2011, according to the National Osteoporosis Foundation.

The Role of Vitamin D

Vitamin D is both derived from your diet and created by your body when sunlight on exposed skin triggers its production by the kidneys and liver. This vitamin facilitates the digestive absorption of calcium and the processes of new cell development and bone remodeling. Vitamin D's role in maintaining skeletal health and strength may reduce your risk for accidental falls, which may cause fractures, especially in people with low bone density.

How Bone Is Lost

Your skeleton is continually being refurbished in the process of bone remodeling, in which new cells form to replace older ones. Calcium and vitamin D are intrinsic to this task. Calcium deficiency due to low dietary intake, low vitamin D levels, age or underlying medical conditions causes your body to appropriate calcium minerals from compact bone to use in the generation of new bone. Vitamin D blood tests and bone density tests can reveal your status.

Vitamin D Effects

If you increase your intake of vitamin D or your access to the sun's ultraviolet rays following a negative health test or a bone fracture, you won't reverse the course of bone loss. You may, however, slow or halt any further loss of mass. Your individual condition may require additional medications to do so. Sufficient calcium intake also has to be maintained to reap the vitamin's benefits.

Sources

If you get daily skin exposure to the ultraviolet B rays in sunlight, your body may make the majority of vitamin D to fulfill your metabolic requirements. To prevent bone loss, foods such as ocean fish and fortified milk or vitamin supplements must make up for shortfalls. If you rely on sunlight, 5 to 30 minutes of outdoor exposure twice a week should be sufficient. Cloud cover, time of day and use of sunscreen can alter how much vitamin D your body will make.