Bone Health, Osteoporosis, and Precision Prevention

Bone health is not determined by calcium alone.

Bone density reflects the condition of the broader biological system - including required supportive nutrients, endocrine signaling, inflammation, metabolism, sleep, movement, and recovery capacity.

Here are the real key points that will help you produce healthy bone.

Keep in mind we are all built differently! Our genetics for bone density will be half of our outcome. The good news is that this leaves 50% of our outcome in our hands.

Testing nutrition and bone genetics is the only way to know FOR SURE what it is that you need.

General recommendations might get you better, but they might not. It is best to know for sure what it is you need to do to for your own body.

Before using food and supplements as medicine your gut must be healthy! If unsure test and/or treat.

Calcium is rarely the problem – though if your diet is low in calcium or you have severe bone loss I do suggest supplemental plant/algae/seaweed calcium up to 600mg/day, or eggshell calcium you can make yourself.

Vitamin D

This is a common deficiency. Vitamin D from sunlight is more effective than supplementation. D is made via UVB, in the late morning/early afternoon; full body skin exposure minimum 20 minutes. There is variance in the availability of UVB, MyCircadian app will show you when it occurs where you live. The sun will give you multiple pathway activations, triggering multiple healthy responses in the body; a supplement will give you far less. Red light therapy works as a substitute in a pinch. Krypton UV from EMR-TEK is the best (but it’s expensive), SPERTI D sunlamp will also work, less expensive. Use antioxidant body lotion after every sun exposure – I like sea buckthorn oil and lotion, and ensure your vitamin C levels are up to snuff.

If you are consistent with your exposure during spring/summer you may not need much supplementation in the winter, but testing will tell you. If you cannot rely on sun exposure or red light then supplement until your levels are in the range of 50- 80 nm/ol.

Nutrients

Trace minerals are needed to build a healthy collagen scaffold for your bone. I suggest Vial Earth Humic/Fulvic Acid, and/or Shilajit from Barlowe’s Herbal Elixers; this shilajit is powerful tasting paste so only for supplement warriors.

Collagen + protein, even if you are using bone broth; if you are exercising you will need more than you think. This will help your gut, skin, connective tissue and bones. I use a mix of marine collagen and plant protein, with a top up on leucine after a workout.

Vitamin K2, Mk7 and Mk4 subtypes, will help the calcium stay where it should, in the bones. If you eat a bowl of Natto a day this is enough, I use a minimum of 350 micrograms/day.

Protein. Animal protein triggers insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) and is therefore considered “anti-longevity”. Plant protein is better for longevity. Plant protein – in fact – has been shown to produce better bone than animal protein, but only when all amino acids are present and in the right ratios, and this can be a challenge, so learn the protein in your plant foods and make sure to combine properly to achieve complete protein (every amino acid in sufficient amounts).

How much protein?

Depends on your exercise/muscle building goals. If you are building muscle in mid-age you will likely need to approach your own body weight in grams, about 1.8g/kg. To get your kg divide your weight by 2.2. This is a lot of protein but will ensure muscle growth. To be safe with this much protein intake I strongly suggest most of this is from plants. Animal protein before and after workouts, with added leucine after workouts if needed.

If you are not building muscle and are maintaining health an average sized woman (140 lbs) would require about 50g of protein minimum; this is .8g/kg.

Higher glycine intake combined with lower methionine intake confers longevity. This indicates higher plant food intake and lower muscle meat intake for longevity. And as a note, 3g of glycine before bed can do wonders for sleep.

Hormones

Sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone) help everything. Ladies do not be afraid, there are safe ways for everyone, you just have to know your body/risk (via testing). The presence of these hormones increases overall health and longevity, brain health, skin health, relationship health, and very directly bone health.

Lowering stress allows your adrenals to make more DHEA which is the precursor to sex hormones even in mid-life. Herbs can help your body increase sex hormones safely. Topical plant-sourced creams can also add to your body’s production. DHEA, estrogen and testosterone will increase your body’s response to exercise and build better bone.

Your bone density responds to movement, so move, a lot. Impact exercise helps to keep bone strong. If you have been told you shouldn’t exercise or do sports because of low bone mass or even fracture, this is not correct. Create a movement plan along with the right nutrition; start gently and increase intensity over time. Professional help absolutely for this.

System

Muscle – keeping or developing muscle in mid-life is arguably the most important thing you can do. HIIT workouts rule for longevity.

Blood sugar regulation is a main key to longevity, and high blood sugar will negatively affect your bones as well as your healthy lifespan. Know your Hba1c and insulin resistance via testing, and use a glucose monitor for 2 weeks to know what impacts your blood sugar.

Sleep, especially deep sleep, is vital to repair of the body including bones. Know your sleep. Track it and learn how to get the right amounts in all sleep stages. I use the Oura ring.

Water – get an In Body scan to see what percentage of your body is water. Women should average 55%. Most people do not hit this. Make sure your water is clean, contains natural minerals/electrolytes, and is not stored in plastic.

Breathing – proper deep breathing will calm the nervous system, lower high cortisol, and increase energy for tasks including building bone and immune response.

You must have all nutrients functioning in your body for healthy longevity and to build bone. The only way to know is to test. Genetics for bone density also determine 50% of your outcome. Test this too. Ask me how.

Herbs

Herbs for Fracture - these have been used for thousands of years, since the Shaolin Monks developed trauma medicine for martial arts. They work. If you have had a fracture of any kind then the use of herbs will speed up healing (average about 50%) and lessen the likelihood of arthritis or issues later.

Herbs are used topically to directly target the break, and internally for systemic regulation.

Herbs for Osteoporosis – herbs are also used to assist bone density recovery in osteoporosis/bone density loss.

Herbs for Blood Sugar – insulin regulation, beta cell protection, blood sugar management can all be done with herbs if you are working preventively or are pre-diabetic. If you have become type 2 diabetic then changing your diet + herbs will be required.

Herbs for Hormones. Herbs that provide phytoestrogens have been shown to lower the risk of reproductive cancers. Ladies especially – know your risk for reproductive cancers, 1 in 8 women in the US will get breast cancer, not from genetics. Test and understand how best to optimize your hormones for your body. And ladies, test to learn how you detoxify estrogen before taking estrogen.

Guys too – and ladies since we also need testosterone (T) – there are natural protocols for building T without injecting T. Yes it takes work (such as implementing all of the above and then taking specific herbs (such as tribulis + fenugreek, and/or Tongkat ali) but you can produce a lot of what you need yourself if you are willing to do the work to make your system truly healthy. T will help us all build and keep muscle into older age.

T can turn into estrogen in all of us. For some women who are safe with estrogen this is fine. For the few who are not, and for guys, this is not good. The pathway is called “aromatase”, and you can and should block this pathway if you are regulating your hormones. This can be done with natural supplements extracted from cruciferous vegetables.