There’s been ongoing controversy about just how much vitamin D women need, along with calcium, to prevent bone loss as they age.Now a new study adds another twist to the debate with this finding: Black women may not need as much vitamin D as white women do.Calcium supplements are important for reducing bone loss in older women, and vitamin D -- which the body makes naturally through exposure to sunlight -- plays a vital role in helping the body absorb that calcium. Supplements can also be used to raise vitamin D levels.However, differences between black and white women in their ability to absorb vitamin D and metabolize calcium may mean black women don’t need to have their levels of the vitamin raised as much as white women do, researchers say.Black women synthesize less vitamin D through skin exposure to sun, meaning that “African-American women have lower vitamin D levels than white women,” explained lead researcher Dr. John F. Aloia, from Winthrop University Hospital in Mineola, N.Y.Interestingly, the study also found that simply taking vitamin D as a supplement did nothing to improve bone health in black women.The report appears in the July 25 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
