Got Osteoporosis? - This Vitamin is Your Answer

Six million people suffer from Osteoporosis, most of them are post menopausal women. Osteoporosis is not part of the natural aging process, it is a result of a lot of factors, primarily diet and lack of one vitamin, vitamin D.

Our bones are living tissue constantly taking up and releasing nutrients, bone is continually being formed and reabsorbed throughout our lifetime. The human skeleton is completely replaced every 10-12 years. We do have more skeletons in our closet than we thought!

The signs of Osteoporosis are noticeable long before a diagnosis is made-hip and back pain, weakness, muscle tenderness and cramping, decreased height and the beginning of a dowager's hump.

A lifetime of extreme dieting and/or poor dietary habits are the contributing factors causing osteoporosis to effect mainly women.

We eliminate the very foods from our diets that are needed to help keep our bones strong and healthy. Taking a calcium supplement alone is not enough to prevent or reverse the effects of osteoporosis. Vitamin D is necessary for the calcium to be absorbed and put to use by our bodies.

If you think that have your calcium and vitamin D covered by drinking milk fortified with vitamin D, think again. Vitamin D found in milk is synthetic and can actually contribute to aging by depositing calcium in the soft tissue at the skin's surface.

The best source for vitamin D is sunlight. A few minutes of exposure to sunlight daily will provide your body with all the vitamin D it needs. If this is not an option for you, eating foods rich in vitamin D and/ or taking a quality vitamin D supplement will enable your body to absorb the calcium and help keep your bones strong.

While some cases of osteoporosis can be reversed, or at least made better, by diet and exercise, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Something as simple as adding vitamin D to your diet today can prevent you having osteoporosis in later years.