Does getting some morning sun work better than taking a vitamin D supplement if you want to strengthen bones?

Question

Thank you very much! All your answers were very helpful!

Answer 1

Calcium citrate and magnesium, vitamin d, strontium

silica, green leafy vegetables, carrot juice(organic of course), and weightbearing exercise.

Get some sun, but of course wear sunscreen. Protein is good, but too much excretes calcium from your bones.

Answer 2

not really

my dad is a doctor, and he's having us take 2000 units of vitamin d a day

every patient he has seen has been vitamin d deficient by the way

Answer 3

It depends on how much you can expose your skin to the sun.

South Asian Muslim Women in the UK have high incidence of vitamin D deficieny and are developing rickets because they do not have decent exposure to the sun (less so than in their countries of origin) and their diet isn't especially rich in vitamin D.

Darker skined people tend to need more sunlight to synthesis vitamin D than lighter skined people.

I suggest either eating food rich in vitamin D, or supplementation from a decent source that the body can readily absorb.

Answer 4

Getting sunlight is the most natural source of vitamin D and does not hurt to have moderate exposure to the sun. Along with a diet rich in vitamin d which include eggs, dairy products, fish liver oils(such as cod liver oil),mackerel and other fatty saltwater fish,liver, tuna and many other things. But unfortunately in this day and time a lot of people don't get enough vit d due to a lot of factors such as environmental,physical(such as dark skin compare to lighter skin), and economical(such as rising food prices. I do suggest taking a supplement to be your best bet, while again its nothing wrong wit doing it naturally. But supplementing is much easier and inexpensive and I also suggest you take vitamin d with calcium to improve bone density and bone growth. Taking vit d with a calcium supplement can also help avoid toxicity, which results from excessive amounts of vit D. 1000 IU a day is good. Also a word of advice a  multivitamin is a great way to get all your needed vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. Be careful with supplements though some are man-made vitamins and some are extracted from real fruits and veggies. Try GNC brand vitamins.