Are There Other Vitamins And Minerals That Contribute To Bone Development?

In addition to vitamin D, the following vitamins play a role in bone health:

  • Vitamin A plays an essential role in developing healthy bones by helping to regulate osteoclast and osteoblast activities in bone modeling and remodeling, but too much of it can actually damage your bones by disrupting these processes.
  • Vitamin B6 indirectly helps with bone development by lowering levels of homocysteine, a body substance associated with fractures due to osteoporosis. High homocysteine levels may also increase your risk of heart disease.
  • Vitamin C is important for bone development because of its role in making collagen, which is one of the substances secreted by the osteoblasts to fill in the holes or cavities in bone.
  • Although you might associate  vitamin K with blood clotting, it also plays a role in bone growth because it aids in the production of  osteocalcin, another protein that is part of the process of bone remodeling. Vitamin K can also help prevent bone from being broken down and calcium from being excreted in urine. Research is currently under way studying the long-term effects of vitamin K on bones. Getting insufficient amounts of vitamin K may lead to an increase in the risk of hip fracture.
  • Folate, or folic acid, is a vitamin known to prevent spinal defects in developing fetuses, and like vitamin B6 is also important in reducing homocysteine levels; high homocysteine levels have been associated with an increase in osteoporosis-related fractures.

Calcium is probably the most well known mineral associated with bone health. However, magnesium and phosphorus play important roles as well. Magne-sium and phosphorus contribute to the hardening of the bone in the process of remodeling. If your blood becomes too acidic, calcium can be taken from your bones. It is speculated that magnesium works with potassium to make blood less acidic and therefore less likely to take calcium from bones. Fluoride, boron, copper, manganese, and sodium are all minerals that contribute to forming healthy bones as well.