Vitamin D for Healthy Bones
Vitamin D has been making headlines lately for a variety of reasons.
Well-known for its role in bone health, this vitamin may provide more benefits
than originally thought. A recent Journal of the American Medical Association
study reports that a person's D status may be even more important than
supplementing with calcium to protect against osteoporosis.
Researchers divided participants into groups according to calcium intake
(less than 800 mg per day, 800 to 1200 mg per day, and greater than 1,200 mg per
day, and greater than 1,200 mg per day) and vitamin D levels (below normal,
marginal, and normal). Higher vitamin D status was associated with more
efficient calcium metabolism, whereas the association between calcium intake and
efficiency of calcium metabolism was not significant.
Additional research on this vitamin shows that D is also important for
healthy babies. A recent Lancet study reports that maternal vitamin D
status during pregnancy influences the bone growth of children and their risk of
osteoporosis later in life. The study of nearly 200 mothers shows that the
children of mothers who lacked sufficient D during pregnancy had weaker bones at
age nine. Mothers who took supplements or were exposed to more sunlight during
pregnancy had children wit greater bone densities. Professor James Walker of the
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the study demonstrated
that women with adequate D levels were fine, and it "only when levels were
deficient that there was a problem."
...and Lungs?
Vitamin D may also play a role in keeping our lungs healthy. A
recent study in Chest shows that patients with higher concentrations of D
had significantly better lung function compared to those with lower levels.
While it's unclear whether supplemental or dietary D will improve lung function
in patients with chronic respiratory diseases, "vitamin D would be a
relatively simple, low-cost intervention" that would be easy to follow in
order to prevent or slow down loss of lung function in susceptible people, says
Rosalind Wright, MD, MPH, author of the study's corresponding editorial.
Remedies Magazine ~ March 2006
Natural Health Hut
