You Can Overcome Osteoporosis - But You Need More Than Calcium

by: MichaelSellar
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Thinning and brittle bones give rise to fractures. This affects a third of women and one out of every twelve men. It is a major cause of death.

Bone mass peaks at around age 35. From then it's downhill all the way, especially for women whose bone mass is 10% - 15% less than men's at skeletal maturity and then suffer with accelerated bone loss for 8 - 10 years around the menopause when hormone levels decline. Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is not the answer. It increases the risk of blood clotting, stroke, heart attack and cancer.

The Problem With Calcium

Calcium is known to be important. However osteoporosis is not a calcium deficiency disease. Taking a calcium supplement alone is not recommended. It won't necessarily be absorbed into the bone. Instead it may remain in the blood and end up in the tissues causing its own health problems. While absorption is improved with vitamin D, it also has close relationships with other minerals.

Magnesium Is Also Important

Two-thirds of the body's magnesium is found in the bones. It plays a crucial role in calcium and bone metabolism. Deficiency causes decreased bone strength and volume and poor development. A positive association with Bone Mineral Density (BMD) has been demonstrated in many population studies.

Strontium Can Stimulate Bone Formation

In the early part of the 20th century studies showed strontium to be effective in stimulating rapid formation of bone and that strontium and calcium were superior to calcium alone in mineralizing bone.

Boron Helps Bones To Heal

Boron is important in retaining calcium. According to Dr Rex Newnham, a world authority on the mineral, boron "will help broken bones mend in about half the normal time."

Manganese Is Required For Bone Growth

Manganese is required to mineralise the bone. Blood manganese levels in osteoporotic women were found to be only 25% of those without osteoporosis. Deficiencies lead to abnormal bone and cartilage growth and degeneration of vertebral discs.

You Need Copper, Zinc & Silicon

Silicon is very rigid and is used by the body at calcification sites of bones. Zinc is necessary if bones are to form normally. Copper works in conjunction with zinc. Depletion leads to bone defects and calcium loss. Iron may also play an important role in bone formation.

Let's Not Forget Those Vitamins

Active calcium absorption in the intestines is facilitated by vitamin D, which is also involved with bone turnover. The status of vitamin D declines as we age and so deficiencies with ageing are common.

Vitamin K is also important in the metabolism of bone. It is required for bone formation, remodelling and repair. Epidemiological studies have shown that those people who lack vitamin K in the diet or in the circulation have a lower BMD or an increase in fractures.

Bone health can certainly be added to the long list of conditions that vitamin C can treat. It is required for the collageneous structure of the bone. Vitamin C may also protect the skeleton from oxidative stress especially for cigarette smokers. Smoking greatly increases the risk of hip fracture.

The bone remodelling process also requires vitamin A. Bone health is impaired with deficiencies.

Studies suggest menopause is associated with an increased requirement for folic acid because of decreased efficiency at converting homocysteine - a toxic byproduct of protein metabolism - to less toxic compounds. For this reason other nutrients that offer protection from homocysteine such as vitamin B6 and B12 may also be important.

And Finally

In conclusion, bone health depends on a wide range of nutrients that goes well beyond just supplementing with calcium. This approach is likely to achieve more success than current orthodox treatments for osteoporosis.

About the Author

Michael Sellar is a UK health author and editor of Enzyme Digest, a newsletter for alternative health professionals. He was formally a nutrition consultant. A fuller version of this article can be found at complementary health or at nutrition articles  

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