Can Vitamin C Improve BMD, Reduce Osteoporosis Risk?

Vitamin C supplementation may not prevent osteoporosis or fractures related to reduced bone mineral density, according to results of a new literature review.

It is well known that supplementation can increase overall health and that certain vitamins can improve bone mineral density among patients at high risk for fractures. However, little research has investigated the role of high daily intake of vitamin C in the development, prevention, and treatment of osteoporosis.

To better understand this connection, the researchers conducted a literature review of 66 observational studies, interventional studies, and in-vitro and animal models that were published on PubMed and Medline between January 2000 and May 2020.

After pooling the results, the researchers concluded that vitamin C supplementation in animal models “seem[s] promising” and that results from epidemiological studies show a “positive effect” of vitamin C on bone mineral density.

However, observational (n=29) and interventional (n=8) studies were scarce, and therefore did not allow for “unequivocal determination” of vitamin C supplementation on long-term outcomes.

“The data available so far do not allow an unequivocal assessment of the usefulness of vitamin C supplementation in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis,” the researchers concluded. “However, it seems that a proper content of [vitamin C] in the diet has a beneficial effect on bone metabolism, so it is worth paying attention to the advantageous impact of a proper diet rich in products containing vitamin C.”

—Amanda Balbi

Reference:

Brzezińska O, Łukasik Z, Makowska J, Walczak K. Role of vitamin C in osteoporosis development and treatment—a literature review. Nutrients. 2020;12(8):2394. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu12082394