Juice Fortification Helps Address Low Vitamin D Intakes

Weak bones and fractures were once considered an unavoidable part of the aging process -- but not today. We now know that people at any age can do much to keep their bones strong and prevent fractures.1

Consumers have been hearing for some time that regular exercise and a healthy diet with enough calcium helps teen and young adult white and Asian women maintain good bone health and may reduce their high risk of osteoporosis later in life. In fact, the FDA has even approved a health claim to this effect.

That's good news.

More recently bone experts have also begun to urge people at risk for osteoporosis to take stock of their vitamin D intake, another nutrient critical important in bone health. Vitamin D is needed by the body to help absorb calcium. Recent research shows that many consumers are not getting the vitamin D they need.

While clinical cases of vitamin D deficiency, called rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults, are relatively rare in the U.S., inadequate intakes have recently been found to be much more common than previously thought. An analysis of U.S. CSFII and NHANES dietary intake data conducted by Dr. Carolyn Moore, a principal scientist with The Beverage Institute, found that only 10% of adults between the ages of 51 and 70, and just 2% of those over the age of 70, met their daily vitamin D requirement with food alone. The study, which appeared in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association in 2004, also found inadequate intakes among female teens.

The primary sources of vitamin D in the U.S. diet are fortified milk and ready-to-eat cereals. However, milk consumption has dropped significantly over the past few decades - a situation that Moore believes may be limiting the intake of this essential nutrient by some individuals. She also believes that the number of foods and beverages fortified with vitamin D should be increased to help alleviate the problem.

Research initiated by Moore, and conducted in conjunction with Dr. Michael Holick of the Vitamin D and Bone Health Research Laboratory at Boston University Medical School, demonstrated that vitamin D is readily absorbed by the body when added to skim milk and orange juice.2 As a result of these findings, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the addition of vitamin D to calcium-fortified juices and juice drinks in 2003.


Sources
  1. 2004 Surgeon General's Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis.
  2. Moore C, Murphy MM, Keast DR, Holick MF.Vitamin D intake in the United States. J Am Diet Assoc. 2004 Jun;104(6):980-3