It’s drilled into you from an early age that calcium is important to maintain strong and healthy bones, but vitamin D helps your body to absorb the calcium. Available in two forms, vitamin D2 is the more potent version of the vitamin, whilst vitamin D3 is present in very few foods but can be produced by your body if you expose your skin to sunlight. However, as this is an unlikely option in many countries, including the UK, the US Preventive Services Task Force examined previous studies that tested vitamin D3 and calcium supplements in preventing bone fractures in over 36,000 healthy postmenopausal women.
Consisting of volunteer prevention and primary care experts in the private sector, the task force is an independent review panel that assesses preventative screenings, medications and counselling services across the US. They stated that, based on the evidence, or lack thereof, they could not recommend increases in vitamin D3 and calcium consumption through daily supplements to prevent bone fractures. This applies to everyone, including men, though this is a particular knock for postmenopausal women, half of whom will have a fracture related to osteoporosis at some point during their lifetime.
In a press release, task force member and chair Virginia Moyer, MD, MPH, said, ‘Vitamin D and calcium are known to play an important role in maintaining health, including bone health. However, despite the large number of studies done, there are few conclusive answers about the ability of vitamin D and calcium supplements to prevent fractures.’ Task force member Jessica Herzstein, MD, MPH, added, ‘Vitamin D plays a role in a wide range of general health functions, and there appears to be minimal harms in taking vitamin D supplements. Clinicians and patients may take this into consideration when determining whether to recommend or take vitamin D for general health.’