Vitamin D Helps Manage Osteoporosis in Menopause

Your menopause could bring you different kinds of symptoms and diseases. These things could affect your entire living if they are not managed early and properly. In case of the possibility of  bone diseases like osteoporosis in menopause, it is good to know that essential bodily needs like vitamin D is actually a good helper when it comes to managing common problems in menopause.

What is Vitamin D?

Vitamin D is an essential vitamin that is normally produced in the body. It needs the help of the sunlight for the body to produce its own vitamin D. The sun does not provide vitamin D as you may usually hear that it does, but you only need to be exposed to sunlight to stimulate the body to produce its own vitamin D naturally. This is the most important way for an individual to get vitamin D for the body. You can also get some vitamin D from several food items. If there is still vitamin D deficiency despite sun exposures and improvement in the diet, you can resort to proper supplementation. However, it is best to try all the most natural options first as they are primarily safer to do.

According to the National Institutes of Health, the RDA for vitamin D is 600 IU (15 mcg). this number is required in children and adults. However, when adults reach at least 70 years old, they need 800 IU (20 mcg) of vitamin D every day. This is to help improve the calcium absorption in the body, which in turn help with the problems with osteoporosis.

To check some food sources for vitamin D, you can look at the table below. The size or amount of each food product below is equivalent to a 200-calorie serving.

You can refer to this website for more information on food sources and their vitamin D values: Nutritiondata

How Vitamin D Works

The most important role played by vitamin D in the body is in the absorption of calcium. When calcium is introduced to the body, it needs vitamin D so that the body can absorb 30% to 40% of it. However, if there is vitamin D deficiency, the body will only be able to absorb 10% to 15% of it.

This vitamin does not only work for absorption, but also with the regulation of the calcium and phosphorus levels in the body.

Vitamin D in Menopause

The common use of vitamin D in menopause is focused on the prevention and management of osteoporosis. Since osteoporosis is common during menopause, especially in post-menopause stage, the vitamin D’s capacity to promote calcium absorption can help women in this case.

Other Uses of Vitamin D

Studies have shown connection with the efficiency of vitamin D to the management of prostate cancer. It is also known that this vitamin play a role in the growth of bodily cells. The prostate has a good  amount of vitamin D as it is one of the important storage areas of the vitamin. When there is good vitamin reserve in the prostate, it can help in the limitation of cell growth, especially in cancer patients.

The Harvard Health Publications have a good insight about the functions of vitamin D in the body. Read more about it here.

Side Effects of Vitamin D

Although vitamin D can be naturally generated in the body, it can cause problems when it exists in excessive amounts. If you look t it, the recommended amount of vitamin D does not go past 1,000 IU in a day. If you take too much of this vitamin, you may have problems with toxicity. In some cases, excessive amounts of the D vitamins in the body could cause nausea and vomiting. Some people may experience constipation and poor appetite.

Know more about the possible side effects of this vitamins through this website by the National Institutes of Health.

Buying Vitamin D Supplements

When buying supplements for Vitamin D, make sure that you choose the ones that give you Vitamin D3 and NOT D2. Vitamin D3 is the form that is closest to the vitamin D that the body naturally produces. Look into the labels of the products you buy and check for Vitamin D3 or Cholecalciferol.

You may notice that most of the suggested food sources are animal products. This is because the vitamin D (vitamin D3) they produce are more potent compared to the kind of vitamin D (vitamin D2) found in plants. According to professional studies, the vitamin D3 is more effective by 87% than the D2 form. It also acts faster by 500% and binds better with the proteins in the body.
This means that if you are looking for good sources of vitamin D, choose the animal-based sources.

Do you want to know more about the difference between Vitamin D2 and vitamin D3?
Read through this very informative article.

There are times when you don’t usually follow a strict approach on food consumption. In that case, you may miss some nutrients including vitamin D. You should be aware that they are also incorporated in multivitamins which could be in form of a tablet, capsule, soft gel or syrup. Or, you can take them as a separate supplement, solely for vitamin D.