Lacking This Vitamin May Increase Your Fracture Risk By Up To 48%

October 28, 2023

Supporting bone health has to be vitamin D’s claim to fame—thanks to its role in aiding calcium absorption. What’s less known is how vitamin D status impacts one’s likelihood of experiencing a break (or fracture) in a bone. 

Bone fractures are unfortunately a common concern as people get older. With age, bone density and quality weaken and the bones become more fragile and prone to breaking. In fact, up to 50% of women and 22% of men are expected to experience a fracture in their lives. 

So if vitamin D is good for bone health, then taking a vitamin D supplement must be a given to prevent fractures, right? Well, considering that most people are deficient or insufficient in this vitamin, and getting adequate quantities from the sun or food alone is unlikely, mindbodygreen does believe that pretty much everyone would benefit from a vitamin D supplement. 

But we’d be remiss not to mention that research specifically on vitamin D supplements and bone fractures hasn’t been super straightforward. So we’re going to do our best to break it down for you. 

Now, most of the data show that low levels of vitamin D in the blood increase your risk of bone fractures. For reference, vitamin D deficiency is when blood levels are at or below 20 mg/mL, and 30 mg/mL is considered the upper end of insufficiency (or low vitamin D levels). 

A large study from 2017 found a low vitamin D level was linked to a 25% increased risk of total bone fracture and a 48% greater risk of hip fracture. 

And researchers of a 2020 meta-analysis of 20 studies including almost 42,000 people over 60 years of age found that people with a more favorable vitamin D status were 11% less likely to have a hip fracture. (The same level of protection wasn’t seen for total fracture risk though.) 

So while poor vitamin levels may be especially connected to hip fractures, it’s standard practice for healthcare professionals to consider low vitamin D status or low vitamin intake as a red flag for risk of bone breaks in general.

However, studying vitamin D supplementation as it directly relates to bone fractures has been challenging, and there’s debate within the scientific community on the role it plays. That’s because some studies show supplementation is beneficial while others don’t. 

This is at least partially due to discrepancies in how studies are set up from the start including how much vitamin D study participants take (800, 1,000, or 4,000 IU?), how often, and for how long.  

Studies that do show benefits of vitamin D supplementation have a few things in common. 

1. Daily vitamin D intake is superior to intermittent intake (like a large dose once a month)
2. The minimum dose to see a benefit appears to fall between 800 IU to 1,000 IU
3. The people who benefit the most are deficient in vitamin D

For example, a 2022 meta-analysis pooled data from 32 studies and found a 13% lower risk of fractures (related to bone loss) and falls with 800 IU of daily vitamin D supplementation, and a 22% lower risk when 1,000 IU was taken daily. And supplementation was the most beneficial for those who had a known deficiency before supplementation began.  

A review published in 2020 found a similar (minimum) vitamin D dose to be beneficial but emphasized the importance of pairing it with a calcium supplement. 

This raises the question… 

Given the ubiquity of vitamin D inadequacy and the key role vitamin D plays in the body, we think almost everyone would benefit from a high-quality supplement. 

But preventing bone fractures requires a more holistic approach than just supplementing with vitamin D. You also have to optimize your protein intake, build lean muscle mass, and work on your balance. Maintaining sufficient vitamin D levels in addition to these other lifestyle habits will help you hold onto your bone mass as you age.