The US Preventive Services Task Force has done it again. This panel of medical experts has issued a new guideline that is likely to confuse or annoy many health professionals and consumers. In this case, the topic is how to strengthen bones.
Will Supplements Strengthen Bones?
For years, women have been told to take high doses of calcium along with some vitamin D to strengthen bones. Now, however, postmenopausal women are advised that taking calcium and vitamin D won’t prevent broken bones after all. This pronouncement from the US Preventive Services Task Force comes on the heels of proclamations that routine PSA testing is not worthwhile against prostate cancer and that hormone replacement therapy does not prevent serious diseases in postmenopausal women.
The new guidelines suggest that 400 IUs of vitamin D and 1000 mg of calcium daily do not prevent fractures associated with osteoporosis. Such supplements might increase the risk of kidney stones.
Getting calcium from the diet and vitamin D from moderate sun exposure should provide adequate nutrition. Whether higher doses of vitamin D may help prevent cancer or heart disease has not been determined because high-quality studies are lacking.
https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org
Preventing Bone Loss:
You can learn more about preventing bone loss in our Guide to Osteoporosis, while our Guide to Vitamin D Deficiency tells more about sources and doses of this very important vitamin.
Although the US Preventive Services Task Force report might be interpreted as promoting drugs rather than supplements, in fact the two are not compared. When possible, preventing bone loss with weight-bearing exercise, a diet rich in calcium from a variety of sources including green leafy vegetables (which also supply vitamin K, magnesium and other vital nutrients) and vitamin D from the sun or from fatty fish may be the best approach. Our interview (Show 752) with Michael Castleman, co-author of Building Bone Vitality: A Revolutionary Diet Plan to Prevent Bone Loss and Reverse Osteoporosis, and Walter Willett, MD, DrPH, Chairman of Nutrition at Harvard School of Public Health, may also be of interest.
10/14/18 redirected to: https://www.peoplespharmacy.com/articles/should-you-take-vitamin-d-supplements-for-stronger-bones/
