bone health

"Vitiamin D Trumps Calcium for Bone Health

According to researchers in Iceland, consuming more then 800 mg of Calicium per day may be unnecessart for bone health if the body has enough vitamin D.

Using food consumption records from more than 900 adults, researchers at Landspitali-University Hostpitals in Reykjavik determined that sufficient vit D levels can ensure an ideal level of parathyroid hormone (PTH)- a measure of calcium metabolism- even when calcium intake is less than 800 mg/day. But they also found that consuming more than 1200 mg of calcium daily is not enough to ma intain ideal PTH if the vit D status is insufficeient.

In light of recent research, and predicting future health problems, some researchers have called for recommended intake of vit D to be raised but the adeguate amounts needed in the diet are still not known. And the new study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association last fall, underlines the need to do further work on the RDA for this vitamin."

OK- so we know that you needs lots of Vit D for good bones, but did you know that the only naturally occuring source of vit D is your skin's exposure to sunlight?