Maintaining Healthy Bones with BoneBuilder
Although the mineral portion of bone is a non-living
material, it is still a dynamic part of the human body and is constantly undergoing
degradation by cells called osteoclasts and rebuilding by osteoblasts. Healthy
bones can only be maintained when the Normal bone (left) and osteoporotic bone
(right). From National Institutes of Health activities of the two cells are
balanced. Over 60 years ago Fuller Albright
described osteoporosis as a disease in which there is "too little bone in
the bone, but what bone is there is normal"1. Essentially, osteoporosis is an imbalance
between normal bone resorption and formation, which should ideally balance each
other precisely in adults who have finished growing. It is unclear if most osteoporosis is a result
of overly aggressive bone resorption or insufficient bone formation. Either
way, replacing de-graded bone more rapidly will help prevent bone loss.
Unfortunately, there is no single simple intervention that
can assure healthy bones, but it is possible to establish a bone-healthy
lifestyle that will maximize a person's chances of maintaining healthy bones
for a lifetime. Such a lifestyle would include adequate rest, exercise, prudent
exposure to sunlight, and optimal nutrition. Although all of the nutrients
required for healthy bones may be obtained from foods and sun exposure, few
people have diets that provide optimal amounts of most nutrients and few people
spend adequate time outdoors to maintain optimal vitamin D status. Daily BoneBuilder is
formulated to provide the basic nutritional factors required for building
healthy bones. The nutrients provided are: calcium, magnesium, vitamin D,
vitamin K, vitamin C, silicon, boron, and betaine HCI. Daily BoneBuilder
supplies generous amounts of each nut1ient in 4 tablets per day. BoneBuilder is
most effective when combined with an exercise program, outdoor activities in
the sun and diet that includes natural phytoestrogens.
Calcium
is the nutrient most people think of for bones, and it is the most important.
Bones are largely made of tri-calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite). Bone mass
rapidly increases during the first 20 years of life, the time period when
calcium intake is the most important for bone health. 2 From age
20-40 bone mass remains relatively stable given a reasonably good nutritional
status, and after 40 bone mass begins to decline, and the loss accelerates
rapidly after age 50. The human body contains I000-1500g of calcium (99% of
which is in bone), and the goal should be to maintain that amount. Therefore
new bone calcium must equal calcium loss from bone. A threshold of calcium
intake must be attained to assure that homeostasis is maintained. Too little
calcium and the losses exceed the calcium retained; with excessive calcium
intake, calcium is lost in the urine. Matkovic and Heaney estimated calcium
thresholds from 34 calcium balance studies and found it to be approximately
1500 mg/day for adolescents and 1100 mg/day for adults.3 Of course,
all of the calcium requirement does not need to come from supplements since a
typical diet contains about 700 mg of calcium; even a low calcium diet usually
contains 400-500 mg of calcium. Since no one type of calcium is ideal for
everyone, Daily BoneBuilder contains a balance of acidic, neutral, and alkaline
calcium’s to have an overall neutral effect.
Magnesium The
human body contains approximately 25 grams of magnesium, about 2/3 of which is
associated with bone. Magnesium is located more on the bone surface not a part
of the hydroxyapatite crystal, and is not structurally important as are calcium
and phosphorus2. Magnesium
does not appear to be important for calcium absorption either, but studies have
shown that magnesium deficiency is clearly associated with low bone mineral
density. Although the relationship of magnesium with bone is poorly understood,
it should not be taken lightly. Magnesium deficiency is common with poor
quality diets, since its best sources are whole grains, vegetables, seeds, and
nuts.
Vitamin K has
only recently been recognized to be important for bone health. Vitamin K is an
important cofactor for the biosynthesis of a category of proteins, including osteocalcin
that are important for attracting calcium ions to the bones. These proteins are
not properly synthesized in people with vitamin K deficiency. It appears that
most people get adequate vitamin K, but deficiency does occur and the extra
vitamin K in BoneBuilder
helps assure an adequate supply.
Vitamin C is
not important for bone formation, but is extremely critical for the formation
and maintenance of cartilage that supports bone. Furthermore, it helps to
solubilize the calcium and magnesium in BoneBuilder,
making them more absorbable.
Silicon
is a minor component of bone but impaired formation of bone in silicon deprived
experimental animals is well documented. It appears that silicon is important
for the early stages of bone growth and is a major determinant of bone mineral
density in humans4. Only small amounts of dietary silica are needed,
probably in the range of 20-50 mg/day, although the data is currently
insufficient to establish any reliable guidelines.
Boron
deficiency has also been shown to result in bone loss5 6. The
mechanism of boron action is not known, there is some evidence that boron may
mimic the effects of estrogen in stimulating bone growth. Boron requirements
are quite small, probably less than 5 mg/day.
Betaine HCL Calcium
and magnesium must be dissolved to an ionic state for optimal absorption.
Betaine HCl is an excellent acidulant and is included to help with the mineral
absorption. Betaine is also an excellent source of carbon to be used in the
biosynthesis of many substances in the body, including the support tissue
around bone.
References
l. Albright
F, etal. (1941) Postmenopausal osteoporosis; its clinical features. JAMA 116:
2465.
2. Illich JZ
and Kerstetter JE. (2000) Nutrition in bone health revisited: A story beyond
calcium. J. Am. Col. Nutr. 19:7150737.
3. Matkovic V
and Heaney RP. (1995) Calcium balance during human growth: evidence for
threshold behavior. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 55: 992-996.
4.
Jugdaohsingh Ret a!. (2003) Silicone intake is a major determinant of bone
mineral density in men and premenopausal women of the Framingham offspring
cohmt. Bone 32: S 192.
5.
www.PDRhealth.com/boron 6. Nielsen FH, Gallagher SK, Jolmson LK, Nielsen EJ.
Boron enhances and mimics some effects of estrogen therapy in postmenopausal
women. J Trace Elem Exp Med. 1992; 5: 237-246.
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BoneBuilder by visiting www.EQPDI.com
