Bone Health

Apr 5, 2021 | Nutritional Information

Sometimes we can’t see the forest for the trees.  This is particularly true when it comes to our bones as they are often overlooked and underappreciated.  Most people would tell you it’s just a matter of getting adequate calcium and Vitamin D and your body will do the rest.

Not so fast.  There is a balancing act going on in our bodies especially when it comes to our bones.  Bones are made up of 4 main types of cells:  Osteoblast, osteoclasts, osteocytes and lining cells.  Simply stated, osteoblast build our bones up and osteoclasts break our bones down which is a delicate balancing act needed to maintain good bone health.

What do our bones do?

  • Structural support – connect our muscles, joints, tendons, ligaments together
  • Protect our organs
  • Red & white blood cell and platlet production dept
  • Support our immune system – osteoclasts are immune cells
  • Primary mineral storage system in our body

Bone health goes hand in hand with overall health

If you are having bone issues like osteoporosis, osteopenia, look to the bigger picture like digestion and reducing inflammation, because inflammation is a driving force in osteoclast (bone breakdown) activity.  Too much breakdown and not enough build-up is exactly the imblance that leads to poor bone health.

When the tight junctions of our gut lining have been compromised, offending foods are able to breach these junctions and enter our circulatory system, causing our immune system to unnecessarily react and ramp up inflammation.  This is also known as leaky gut.

Good digestive health is critical. I can’t stress enough that gut health is the epicentre of almost all things that contribute to disease.  The old saying “we are what we eat” was cut short and should have included, “we are what we eat, can digest, absorb and assimilate into our bodies”.  So, poor digestion inhibits nutrient absorption.  How can we store minerals in our bones that we can’t absorb?  Now you see how digestion plays an important role to our bone health.  For that I recommend addressing gut issues like H.Pylori (common symptom is heart burn), low or high stomach acid, regular bowel movements, removing offending foods that cause inflammation like gluten, dairy, etc and reducing the toxic burden we are all exposing ourselves to.

What can we do to help maintain good bone health?

First and foremost, I believe that a good diet is key to maintaining good bone health and good health in general.  Just as important though is weight bearing excercises, stress reduction and toxicity mitigation.  Alas, we live in a world where processed food is king and chemicals are prevalent in our water, soil, and food supply.  Some things are just unavoidable but others are within our control.  Let’s work on those.

Eating a well balanced diet, heavy on nutrient dense fruits and veggies.  If you’re not putting the nutrients in, your body is robbing them from your bones for other vital purposes.

Get chronic inflammation under control. Inflammation is necessary when required.  But, a constant forest fire in the body is a recipe for autoimmune disease and other chronic conditions.

Address and support gut health.

Supplement missing nutrients.

Address and support stressors in our daily lives.

Supplements to address bone health include:

Designs for Health GI Revive – heals the gut.

Genestra HMF Intensive – reinocculates the gut with beneficial bacteria.

NFH Osteo SAP – Osteominerals, vitamins and amino acids specifically formulated for Osteoporosis.

Cyto Matrix Curcummatrix – Natural anti-inflammatory

Cyto Matrix K2 D3  – for bone and immune support.  The added K2 assists in putting calcium into our bones and not elsewhere like depositing in arteries.

NFH Plant Enzymes SAP – Plant based digest enzyme to help maintain proper digestion of food.  As we age the speed and efficacy of digestion can changes.

Genestra Maxum Multi Vitamin – Always a good strategy to maintain optimal nutrient levels especially in trace vitamins and minerals that we may not get on a daily basis.

Vit’s A, D, K2, Calcium, Magnesium and Zinc – All critical to bone and immune health.

for more information or to order any of these products, click on the product links in this blog or contact us at info@nutritiondispensary.ca