Menopause brings with it a wide array of physical and psychological changes that can substantially affect a woman’s daily life. One of the most concerning occurrences attributed with this shift is bone loss. This, the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) notes, can leave menopausal women at a greater risk for osteoporosis.
Recently, data has been released from the Women’s Health Initiative (WHI) – an NIH program launched in 1991 to monitor health concerns among post-menopausal women – indicating that taking vitamin D and calcium supplements could help offset osteoporosis risk by slowing bone loss.
According to a press release from the North American Menopause Society, a clinical trial involving more than 30,000 women has revealed that study participants who took daily vitamin D and calcium supplements in conjunction with hormone-based treatments saw greater benefits for bone health, as indicated by lower instances of hip fractures.
Post-menopausal women are considered at risk for calcium inadequacy, the NIH states, “because decreases in estrogen production both increase bone resorption and decrease calcium absorption.” The end result of these shifts is accelerated bone loss. As we’ve stated in past posts, vitamin D facilitates this intake, so taking in the two nutrients in conjunctions may reap the most benefits for bone health.
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