Getting enough calcium and vitamin D is essential to building strong, dense bones when you’re young and to keeping them strong and healthy as you age. The information included here will help you learn all about calcium and vitamin D – the two most important nutrients for bone health. Calcium is a mineral that is necessary for life. In addition to building bones and keeping them healthy, calcium helps our blood clot, nerves send messages and muscles contract. About 99 percent of the calcium in our bodies is in our bones and teeth. Each day, we lose calcium through our skin, nails, hair, sweat, urine and feces, but our bodies cannot produce new calcium. That’s why it’s important to try to get calcium from the food we eat. When we don’t get enough calcium for our body’s needs, it is taken from our bones. Too many Americans fall short of getting the amount of calcium they need every day and that can lead to bone loss, low bone density and even broken bones. The amount of calcium you need every day depends on your age and sex.
*This includes the total amount of calcium you get from food and supplements. Use the International Osteoporosis Foundation’s Calcium Calculator to find out. Food is the best source of calcium. Dairy products, such as low-fat and non-fat milk, yogurt and cheese are high in calcium. Certain green vegetables and other foods contain calcium in smaller amounts. Some juices, breakfast foods, soymilk, cereals, snacks, breads and bottled water have calcium that has been added. If you drink soymilk or another liquid that is fortified with calcium, be sure to shake the container well as calcium can settle to the bottom. A simple way to add calcium to many foods is to add a single tablespoon of nonfat powdered milk, which contains about 50 mg of calcium. About two-to-four tablespoons can be added to most recipes. To determine how much calcium is in a particular food, check the nutrition facts panel of the food label for the daily value (DV) of calcium. Food labels list calcium as a percentage of the DV.
This amount is based on 1,000 mg of calcium per day. The amount of calcium you need from a supplement depends on the amount of calcium you get from food. Aim to get the recommended daily amount of calcium you need from food first and supplement only if needed to make up for any shortfall. If you get enough calcium from the foods you eat, then you don’t need to take a supplement. In fact, there is no added benefit to taking more calcium than you need in supplements and doing so may even have some risks. In general, you shouldn’t take supplements that you don’t need. Calcium supplements are available without a prescription in a wide range of preparations (including chewable and liquid) and in different amounts. The best supplement is the one that meets your needs based on convenience, cost and availability. When choosing the best supplement to meet your needs, keep the following in mind: Vitamin D plays an important role in protecting your bones and your body requires it to absorb calcium.
Children need vitamin D to build strong bones, and adults need it to keep their bones strong and healthy. If you don’t get enough vitamin D, you may lose bone, have lower bone density, and you’re more likely to break bones as you age. **Some people need more vitamin D. According to the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the safe upper limit of vitamin D is 4,000 IU per day for most adults. There are three ways to get vitamin D: Your skin makes vitamin D from the ultra-violet light (UVB rays) in sunlight. Your body is able to store the vitamin and use it later. The amount of vitamin D your skin makes depends on time of day, season, latitude, skin pigmentation and other factors. Depending on where you live, vitamin D production may decrease or be completely absent during the winter. Because of concerns about skin cancer, many people stay out of the sun, cover up with clothing and use either sunscreen or sunblock to protect their skin. The use of sunscreen or sunblock is probably the most important factor that limits the ability of the skin to make vitamin D.
Even an SPF (sun protection factor) of 8 reduces the production of vitamin D by 95 percent. Because of the cancer risk from the sun, most people need to get vitamin D from other sources, including eating foods rich in vitamin D and taking vitamin D supplements. Vitamin D is naturally available in only a few foods, including fatty fish like wild-caught mackerel, salmon and tuna. Vitamin D is also added to milk and to some brands of other dairy products, orange juice, soymilk and cereals. Check the food label to see if vitamin D has been added to a particular product. One eight ounce serving of milk usually has 25% of the daily value (DV) of vitamin D. The DV is based on a total daily intake of 400 IU of vitamin D. So, a serving of milk with 25% of the DV of vitamin D contains 100 IU of the vitamin. It is very difficult to get all the vitamin D you need from food alone. Most people need to take vitamin D supplements to get enough of the nutrient needed for bone health. If you aren’t getting enough vitamin D from sunlight and food, consider taking a supplement.
But, before adding a vitamin D supplement, check to see if any of the other supplements, multivitamins or medications you take contain vitamin D. Many calcium supplements also contain vitamin D. There are two types of vitamin D supplements. They are vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol) and vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol). Both types are good for bone health. Vitamin D supplements can be taken with or without food. While your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium, you do not need to take vitamin D at the same time as a calcium supplement. If you need help choosing a vitamin D supplement, ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist to recommend one. To figure out how much vitamin D you need from a supplement, subtract the total amount of vitamin D you get each day from the recommended total daily amount for your age. For example, a 55 year old woman who gets 400 IU of vitamin D from her calcium supplement should take between 400 and 600 additional IU of vitamin D to meet the 800 – 1,000 IU recommended for her age.