Vitamin D supplements and dairy foods (together) improve bone density and prevent bone loss in older people

Taking vitamin D supplements and consuming specific dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt is associated with higher bone density in the spine and is protective of bone loss in the hip among older adults, experts report in The Journal of Nutrition.

About three million people in the UK have osteoporosis and every year, people in the UK suffer more than 300,000 fragility fractures.

Experts looked at the intake of dairy foods and bone mineral density and bone loss in older men and women (average age 75 years) and if any associations were altered by additional vitamin D intake through supplements.

There was no association between dairy food intake and bone mineral density. But greater bone mineral density in the spine was associated with higher intake of milk, fluid dairy and a combination of milk, yogurt and cheese if people took vitamin D supplements.

And greater intake of the combination of milk, yogurt and cheese was associated with lower bone mineral density loss in the hip in people who took vitamin D supplements.

“This study is significant because in addition to milk intake, it also examined the association of other dairy foods such as yogurt, cheese and cream with bone mineral density and bone loss over time,” explains Dr Shivani Sahni, who is involved in the work. “Furthermore, this study clarified that the association of dairy foods with bone density is dependent on adequate vitamin intake.”

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