Adults have been taking vitamin D supplements for a long time to support bone health and to help prevent osteoporosis. However, according to the University of Auckland researchers, vitamin D does nothing to help with healthier bones; Still, they claim many factors could be at play, thus meaning one should not stop taking vitamin D supplements.
The UK Department of Health believes children, adults over 65, darker skin people and folks with low exposure to the sun should continue taking vitamin D supplements as they are at risk of not having enough vitamin D running through their blood stream.
The University of Auckland researchers analyzed 23 studies concerning over 4,000 healthy people. The supplement was taken for an average of 2 years by all the people under the study, which helped the university researchers have an idea what vitamin D really does from what it does not do, for a healthy individual.
Bone mineral thickness is a measure of bone power and measures the amount of bone mineral existing at various sections in the body. It is usually seen as an indicator for potential dangers of having osteoporosis, which can lead to greater risk of experiencing a fractured bone in the future.
The study took place in a number of different countries around the world, including the US, the UK, Holland, Finland, Australia and Norway.
Although the researchers did not find any benefits for folks who take vitamin D, they did locate a small but statistically important upsurge in bone mass at the neck of the femur near the hip joint. The authors of the research believe this effect is unlikely to be clinically necessary.
"Our data suggest that the targeting of low-dose vitamin D supplements only to individuals who are likely to be deficient could free up substantial resources that could be better used elsewhere in health care," says Prof. Ian Reid, lead study author, from the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
If this study finds its way to the majority of people who consume vitamin D supplements in large doses on a daily basis, they might or might not change their supplement habits. Still, we're glad to know more of what it does, and hopefully researchers will learn more of other supplements and share their findings with the public at large.
