Food for Your Bones
by Ken Babal C.N.
– Healthy Living Article
 Bone
is not a hard and lifeless substance. It is living tissue that is
continuously renewed throughout life, reaching peak mass around age
30. Later in life, bone tissue begins to break down faster than new
bone can be formed due to an imbalance in bone remodeling. Remodeling
is accomplished by osteoclasts, which absorb aging bone tissue, and
osteoblasts, responsible for building new bone. If the process is
unbalanced and the bone loss severe, a person will develop
osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a common, but not inevitable disease
that occurs around age 50, most often in postmenopausal women but also
in significant numbers of men. Features of the disease are bone
thinning and brittleness, causing fractures, gum and jaw loss,
dowager’s humps, back pain and loss of height. It is unfortunate that,
for many individuals, the first sign of osteoporosis is a fracture.
Each year, nearly 1.5 million Americans over 50 suffer fractures
caused by osteoporosis, often leading to complications and death.
THE BONE HEALTH TRINITY
Achieving optimal peak bone mass is important for
reducing the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Irrespective of age,
three critical factors must be addressed to protect skeletal health
throughout life. The bone-building trinity consists of:
- proper diet and supplementation
- weight-bearing exercise
- hormone balance
Estrogen replacement therapy has been a conventional
treatment for postmenopausal osteoporosis. Since estrogen replacement
therapy is known to increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer, heart
disease and stroke, many alternative practitioners now recommend
bio-identical hormones, including
natural progesterone body cream. According to the late John R.
Lee, M.D., a pioneer and expert in hormone therapy and co-author of
“What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause” book;
natural progesterone has a positive effect on bone health and is
protective against many risk factors associated with estrogen.
Just as a muscle gets bigger and stronger the more
you use it, a bone gets stronger and denser when worked. Bone loss
caused by inactivity is evident in people who are bedridden as well as
in astronauts experiencing zero gravity.
Sodium intake is one of the most often ignored
dietary factors related to calcium metabolism and bone health. Most
people think of its relationship to high blood pressure. However,
there is overwhelming evidence that a dietary excess of sodium from
fast foods coupled with a lack of potassium (fruits and vegetables) is
possibly the single largest contributor to osteoporosis plus a host of
other diseases.
A WHOLE FOOD BONE BUILDER
It’s rare to find a whole food that exceeds dairy
products in calcium and bone-building trace minerals. But that is what
scientists discovered upon analysis of a unique marine alga known as
Algas calcareas (AlgaeCal). AlgaeCal is a proprietary multimineral
plant source of calcium and magnesium plus 71 trace minerals,
including silica and strontium. It is available in a product
called Bone
Strength Take Care from
New Chapter.
AlgaeCal is harvested from the pristine shores of a
protected national reserve in South America. Much like the vegetables
from an organic garden, the alga is harvested live and then
cold-processed to retain its nutritional value. Compared to inorganic
calcium carbonate found in common calcium supplements, this
plant-based biologic calcium is porous, which dramatically increases
its surface area. Stomach acid can then come into greater contact with
the calcium, making it easy to dissolve.
Tests show that the calcium in AlgaeCal is highly
absorbable and a better source than other foods, including dairy
products. In a test simulating the human digestive tract, AlgaeCal
demonstrated higher calcium absorption (75 percent) compared to pear
(67 percent), yogurt (43 percent), orange (39 percent), cauliflower
(34 percent) and spirulina (8 percent).
THE ALGAECAL BONE HEALTH PLAN
Recently, AlgaeCal was part of a clinical trial
conducted in response to the U.S. Surgeon General’s call to develop
bone health programs that incorporate nutrition, physical activity and
health literacy. Participants were 216 adults who completed a DEXA
scan at outset to assess bone mineral density (BMD). All were provided
with a pedometer-based physical activity program, a health literacy
notebook, a strontium supplement, and one of two formulas containing
AlgaeCal plus vitamins D and K. (During the study, it was decided that
some of the participants would be tested with a higher-potency formula
that included additional nutrients boron and vitamin C.)
After six months, 176 subjects had completed the
trial. Results provided evidence that following the AlgaeCal protocol
(either study formula) can facilitate positive increases in BMD. Both
groups experienced greater mean increases than expected based on
age-adjusted national norms. Moreover, those who were highly compliant
with the plan significantly out-performed those who were not.
I have read many case studies and testimonials
provided by users of AlgaeCal. One was of a 61- year-old male who lost
8 percent of his bone mass due to cancer. So far, he is on an overall
annualized bone growth rate of approximately 8 percent. Most calcium
supplements are only able to slow bone loss. Other users report
improvements in joint pain, blood pressure, diabetes, asthma,
fibromyalgia, menopausal symptoms and insomnia.
BONES NEED MORE THAN CALCIUM
Most people know that calcium is important for
strong bones. While it is true that calcium is required in larger
amounts than other minerals, many nutrients are essential for
directing the calcium into bone tissue. What is often overlooked, even
by many doctors, is that calcium cannot be utilized properly if the
body is lacking key vitamins and minerals. If they are in short
supply, healthy bone building will not occur, and calcium may deposit
inappropriately in soft tissues such as skin, arteries, muscles and
kidneys.
Magnesium is a major mineral involved in more than
300 chemical reactions in the body. Like calcium, most of it is stored
in bone. Surveys indicate that many people do not get enough
magnesium.
Calcium and magnesium both depend on vitamin D for absorption in the
small intestine. New research suggests that our requirement for
vitamin D is a lot higher than previously thought. Most vitamins are
found in a variety of foods. Not so with D. Initially, we didn’t
require food sources because humans developed an ability to produce it
in the skin from sunlight. Today, people spend less time outdoors and
wear sunblock.
Research on vitamin K is equally exciting. It
demonstrates that K is a critical factor for bone and cardiovascular
health. Without sufficient vitamin K, calcium regulation is disrupted,
causing calcification of arteries and less calcium being deposited in
bone.
Silica is a trace mineral that plays an important
role in new bone growth. It contributes to a connective tissue lattice
that is later filled in with calcium by the osteoblasts. Silica
nourishes all connective tissue, including skin, hair, nails and
joints.
Strontium is a common element found in bone. Bone
growth stimulation with strontium has been found to be much better
than calcium supplementation alone. Large clinical trials in France
have found that it has an exciting double benefit of inhibiting bone
resorption while stimulating bone growth, something that drugs cannot
do.
Most remarkable about AlgaeCal is that since it
is a whole food source of calcium, it also supplies these and other
critical major and trace minerals necessary to proper utilization.
The
Bone Strength Take Care formula also contains whole food
probiotic nutrients for improved assimilation. For example, the
formula’s vitamin D3 and vitamin K are cultured in organic media
consisting of friendly beneficial bacteria. This fermentation process
makes nutrients body-ready for great bone health.
PERFECT MATCH
AlgaeCal is a perfect match with
New Chapter, an industry pioneer leading the way in whole food
nutrients. Plant-sourced, whole food calcium from a pristine source
appears to be a breakthrough in bone health. With
Bone Strength Take Care, strengthening bones is possible at
any stage of life.
For more information on the Bone Strength Take Care, click here.
Also see the articles:
“Bone Health – Beyond Calcium” by Dr. Taryn Forrelli, ND and
“A Whole-Food Approach to Calcium Supplementation by Dr. Taryn
Forrelli, N.D.”
Bio:
Ken Babal has a nutrition counseling practice in Los
Angeles and is author of numerous books including Seafood Sense: The
Truth About Seafood Nutrition and Safety.
The statements contained in this article have not
been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The information
contained here is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent
any disease. Suggestions and ideas presented in this article are for
information only and should not be interpreted as medical advice,
meant for diagnosing illness, or for prescriptive purposes. The
information in this document is not to be used to replace the services
or instructions of a physician or qualified health care practitioner. |
