How To Be Proactive About Bone Health – InVite Health Podcast, Episode 232
The older we get, the weaker our bones can become. Here’s what you need to be proactive about bone health as you get older.
Tag: bone health
Is Soda Consumption Impacting Women’s Bone Health?
Consuming more than two servings of soda per day on average showed potential associations with higher risk of hip fracture among postmenopausal women. Here’s what you need to know.
Inactive Teens Have Weaker Bones than Active Teens
It’s common knowledge that inactive individuals can have a higher risk of becoming obese and developing numerous conditions, including type 2 diabetes. But did you know that inactive individuals, especially teenagers, have weaker bones than those who are physically active?
Bones: Inactive Teens vs. Active Teens
According to the study performed at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute by researchers from the University of British Columbia (UBC) and the Centre for Hip Health and Mobility, as much as 36% of the human skeleton is formed in girls between the ages of 10 and 14 and boys between 12 and 16 years old. Leigh Gabel, lead author and PhD candidate in orthopedics at UBC used high-resolution 3D x-ray images to compare the differences between youth who met the daily recommendation of 60 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity per day and those who got less than 30 minutes a day. Bone strength is classified by a combination of the bone size, density, and microarchitecture.
Researchers and authors of the study report that both schools and communities need to take steps towards helping children to lead a more active lifestyle. While any and all exercise is great for kids, weight-baring activities like walking, running, basketball and hiking may be best for their bones.
Bone Health Information
Bone is living tissue that is consistently changing, with new bone replacing old bone constantly. During childhood and adolescence, much more bone is being deposited than withdrawn as the skeleton grows. The amount of bone tissue in the skeleton peaks in our late twenties. Though Osteoporosis commonly occurs in older individuals, according to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, it can occur in both young and middle-aged adults. “Optimizing peak bone mass and developing lifelong healthy bone behaviors during youth are important ways to help prevent or minimize Osteoporosis risk as an adult.”
Natural Bone Health Alternatives
According to Nicole Crane, BS, NTP, of all bone nutrients, Calcium, Magnesium, Vitamin K2, Strontium, and Collagen are required in the largest amounts to keep your bones healthy and strong.
Approximately 99% of the calcium in our body is found in the bones, with the remaining 1% in blood to maintain essential life supporting functions like the beating of the heart, relaxation and constriction of blood vessels, nerve signaling, muscle contraction and other essential life supporting functions. Calcium plays numerous important roles in the body, including muscle contraction and hormone secretion, blood clotting and pH balance. An acidic pH will always lead to bone loss, as calcium is used as an alkaline buffer for blood. Many people either do not consume enough calcium, or consume poorly absorbed forms. You must be replenishing your body with calcium!
Magnesium influences calcium and other mineral metabolism in bone, reducing bone turnover and promoting new bone formation. Magnesium is required to transport calcium into the bones and for the formation of normal calcium crystals in bone tissue.
By far, the most underappreciated and most necessary nutrient for rebuilding bones is Vitamin K2. It has long been known that vitamin D helps the body absorb calcium; however, it wasn’t until more recently that researchers discovered that vitamin K2 is necessary to direct calcium into the bones where it belongs and away from soft tissues, including the arteries.
Strontium is one of the newest players in bone health. This mineral is more dense than calcium and shares a number of its bone functions. Most strontium, about 90%, is found in bone. This mineral gives strength to bone and draws calcium to the bone and encourages minerals to be deposited in bone. The more bone building activity that takes place, the greater the uptake of strontium into the bones. Strontium enhances the activity of the osteoblasts, the bone builder cells, while reducing the activity of the osteoclasts, which break down bone.
Ninety percent of the organic mass of your bone is made out of collagen. Think of the relationship collagen has with our bones as a relationship that a foundation has to a house. collagen is the compound that provides the framework healthy bones to occur.
What do you think about this study on bones? Leave us a comment below!
Bone Tips for Stronger Hips by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph.
About 325,000 Americans over the age of 65 will break their hip this year. A minimum of 25% of those with hip fractures will need assistance walking after the fracture, 25% will end up in a nursing home and 25% or more will die within …
Bone Balance Index to Determine Risk of Bone Loss for Women
According to Jun Wang, MS, Nutritional Consultant at InVite Health’s Forest Hills and Bronx store locations, “Osteoporosis is a health condition where your bones are weak and brittle. Health risks of osteoporosis may include an increase of fractures of the hip, wrist and spine. Generally …
Expert Discussion: Collagen by Jerry Hickey, R.Ph
Jerry Hickey is a pharmacist and radio personality and fills the esteemed role of Scientific Director and President of Invite Health. He has spent his professional life analyzing nutritional information and medical studies with the aim of creating the highest quality and most natural nutraceuticals for user’s maximum health benefits. Here, Jerry speaks about the benefits of Collagen –
Collagen production in human body decreases with age. This is an important point. By the time you’re 25, your body starts to produce less collagen. Collagen production decreases at a rate of 1.5% per year. By the time you’re 45, that translates to a 30% loss of collagen. By the time you’re 60, you’ve lost more than half of your collagen. That affects your bones, your skin, your hair, your nails, your muscles and your waste. I mean everything; especially your joints. Ninety percent of the organic mass of your bone is made out of collagen. Your bone is mostly collagen and calcium. Doctors learn in medical school how important collagen is for the bones, but they do not learn about collagen supplementation for the bones. So, it’s important that these studies get around. Seventy percent of your skin is made out of collagen and most of the rest is made out of an ingredient in collagen called Hyaluronic Acid, which is a chain of thousands of sugars. In fact, wrinkles are damaged sugars; they’re called Hyaluronic Acid. They’ve shown that, when individuals with wrinkles take collagen, it helps to smooth out the skin.
Skin Health
Approximately two-thirds of the cartilage in your joints is made out of collagen. They did a couple of studies now with the InVite® Collagen; These are studies out of France and Japan on women in their 20s, women in their 50s, and women in their 60s. They gave them a spoon of hydrolyzed collagen daily for six weeks and found that their skin became smoother, more flexible and more elastic. Dark spots that occur with age, such as liver spots, were going away. It causes less sagginess of the skin. For the participants, their skin wasn’t as dull, it had a sheen to it and the dryness was reversing itself and becoming more hydrated. Now, this is very important for women who have sun-damaged skin. That’s what a wrinkle is – whether it’s from cigarette smoke or just a lot of cold weather, hot weather, dryness or the sun, the collagen and the sugars on the skin called Hyaluronic Acid are getting damaged. They’ve shown that when women take collagen, their wrinkles start to fill in, the skin becomes more elastic and thicker, and you improve the skin’s overall tone and the texture.
Bone Health
Let’s talk about bones; 90% of the organic mass of your bone is made out of collagen. This is important because studies have shown that when individuals supplement with hydrolyzed collagen, even within four of the studied 24 weeks, their bone health improved. What they’ve shown is a couple interesting things – Your bone matrix, the organic part of your bone that looks almost like a spider web, is filled with calcium. That “spider web” is made out of collagen. So, when you take it, you’re laying the groundwork and you’re making the super structure. In other words, if you’re going to build a house, you can’t just put up a roof and a floor. You have to frame out the house. This supplement builds the frame for your bones incorporating calcium and Vitamin D among others to strengthen and solidify.
Cells that Build Bone
As you get older, your bone-building cells, which are called osteoblasts, don’t last long; they die at a really young age. Osteoclasts, the cells that destroy bone, go on living, though. In older individuals, the bone-building cells don’t survive and the cells that dismantle and destroy bone, thrive, creating a net loss of bone. In younger individuals, there’s a balance; They’re removing old bone while they’re building new bone. In older individuals, that doesn’t function properly any more. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Instead of building bone, they’re just removing bone. Studies have found that when they give older individuals collagen, it preferentially stimulates the osteoblasts (the cells that build your bone), triggering healthy bone building.
Glucosamine and Chondroitin
Here’s a study from multiple orthopedic centers, a clinical trial on 250 patients. The patient’s knees were not healthy, so they supplemented them with hydrolyzed collagen for six months. This provided a good improvement in knee comfort and increased flexibility. In a different study, when researchers compared hydrolyzed collagen to Glucosamine and Chondroitin, it worked three times better. Glucosamine and Chondroitin did have a beneficial effect on the knees and hips, but collagen worked 300% better. It was much more effective in helping people with their joints.
Read more about Glucosamine and Chondroitin by clicking here!
Hyaluronic Acid
Hydrolyzed collagen breaks down bonds. It is a very big molecule, like Hyaluronic Acid, so you have to break down the bonds. In one study, researchers used hydrolyzed collagen ( the Hyaluronic Acid is smaller), the keratan sulfate, the chondroitin sulfate, and the collagen peptides themselves. It is easier for us to absorb and they are body-ready ingredients. They’re biologic, meaning you don’t have to change or metabolize them in order for them to work.
Read more about Hyaluronic Acid by clicking here!
Joint Health
In your joint, cartilage is the hard rubbery substance on the end of the bone that prevents bones from rubbing together. Without cartilage, bones would not glide smoothly over one another and there would be a lot of friction that add to wearing down your bones. So, you have these cartilage end-caps on your bones, this hard rubbery substance, and that has to be maintained. It’s maintained by a thin layer of fluid in the joint called synovial fluid. Now, that synovial fluid has many activities. One, it’s a shock absorber. So, when you take a step, that absorbs the shock from the body weight, and this way, it helps protect your knee health and your joint health, your hip health. New joint cells are also born in that fluid and then, when you bend your knee, they rush into the cartilage end-capped on your bones and they lubricate and hydrate it, but they also put the new baby cells in there. So, it’s a very important supplement for the maintenance and the health of your joint and your flexibility and making it easier to walk again, so you can get out there on the golf course or tennis court. So you can take walks and feel comfortable. So you can walk up and down stairs and get out of a chair or lift something. It’s great for your neck, shoulders, fingers, elbows, hips, and knees.