Vitamin D And Calcium Benefits For Your Bones
While we have always been taught that we need calcium for strong bones, what we may not know is that in order to absorb calcium efficiently we need sufficient amounts of Vitamin D. It is obtained from exposure to the sun, some foods and from supplements.
Unfortunately, most people don’t get sufficient amounts of Vitamin D from either the foods we eat or from the sun so supplementation is probably necessary. In fact, for several decades, milk has been fortified with Vitamin D. This is probably to help the body more efficiently absorb calcium from the milk.
Very simplistically, Vitamin D helps calcium flow through the bloodstream by absorbing it from foods in the intestines. Then, once the calcium is in the bloodstream it is reabsorbed into the kidneys where it can be sent to mineralize bones. You can see that Vitamin D plays an integral role in building and maintaining strong bones. We were never told that calcium needs assistance in building those bones.
Vitamin D also has other beneficial properties that are also relatively unknown to most people. It has strong anti-inflammatory properties and has been clinically proven to boost the immune system.
You “could” get sufficient Vitamin D from sufficient exposure to the UV rays in direct sunlight. Unfortunately, because those very same UV rays are known to cause skin cancer, most of us don’t get sufficient sunlight. Note that sunscreens also block those beneficial UV rays so that in most cases the only way to get enough is by taking supplements.
