In my last newsletter I mentioned the idea I had that osteoporosis is really a collagen disease rather than what the mainstream medical community is telling us. I have been continuing to dig into this subject and I am finding more information. My initial hit that collagen formation was a critical aspect of osteoporosis appears to be correct based on several studies I dug up. If you haven’t read the last newsletter, the idea that came into my head was that the common story of osteoporosis being about the loss of calcium from the bones was missing something because babies also have little calcium in their bones, and their bones are rubbery, not brittle.
Bones are made out of collagen first. Collagen threads twist into triple braids of protein string which then line up and glue together into strong ropes of collagen called fibrils. As these fibrils arrange themselves into layers, minerals like calcium and phosphorus form crystals that pack in around the fibrils. This becomes the bone. This whole process is managed by special cells called osteoblasts. They form the collagen that makes our bones. But like every cell type in our body, they slow down with age as their mitochondria are damaged by free radicals. They also slow down when they do not have the necessary raw materials with which to make collagen. I discussed how we do not get these materials in our western diet as they come from the parts of animals we don’t eat – the gristle, tendons, skin, cartilage, and connective tissue. We tend to eat only the muscle parts of animals. We must therefore take collagen supplements to compensate for our deficient diets along with collagen formation co-factors like organic silicon, D3, C, K2, zinc, copper, boron, manganese, and magnesium.
In addition to the osteoblasts that create new bone collagen matrix, there are the opposite cell types called osteoclasts that constantly chew up and break down bone. They do this for several reasons. The most important is that other tissues, like our muscles, need a very constant level of calcium in the blood. Whenever that blood level drops even a tiny bit, the parathyroid gland releases a hormone to increase osteoclast activity causing the release of more calcium into the blood by breaking down bone.
There are actually a whole host of hormonal controls that affect bone density. One important one that is relevant to everyone these days is cortisol – the stress hormone. Cortisol inhibits bone formation and increases bone resorption. That’s right, stress causes osteoporosis. Taking steroid drugs for asthma or allergies does the same thing – causes osteoporosis. Steroids also block you from absorbing calcium from the gut and cause the kidneys to dump calcium out in the urine. Plus as a negative bonus, steroids block sex hormone production.
The opposite of cortisol action on the bones comes from the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone. Both help build bone strength. Estrogens have been used traditionally for post menopausal bone building, but that use has been abandoned largely because the medics were using a non-human estrogen in an unopposed form that was causing blood clots and issues with breast cancer. Modern bio-identical hormones that are properly opposed (estrogen by progesterone) work much better. Hormones are part of the reason weight lifting helps build bone. Part is the bone building effects of stressing the bones with weight bearing exercise, but part is also the increase in growth hormone and testosterone that weight lifting produces.
Just an update – light exercise, like walking, does not help build bones. Docs have been telling people for years that walking was enough, but the actual lab studies show otherwise. You need to stress the bones beyond their normal levels. That either means weight lifting or some sort of high impact activity. Since high impact activities are just asking for injuries in the older population, I recommend super slow weight lifting. It is much safer and actually easier to do. Another alternative is wearing a weighted vest for a few hours each day while you do your normal chores. For women these seem to be the best. Go Here
So what is vitamin D all about? We have all heard how important it is, but why? Basically vitamin D is necessary for calcium to be absorbed through the gut lining. Plus vitamin D is used in the mineralization process at the bone building site. This is not the vitamin D we take in supplements or that is produced in the skin – those are precursors of the active form that is made by the kidneys when told to by the parathyroid glands whenever calcium levels drop in the blood. So low blood levels of calcium trigger both increased bone breakdown and increased intestinal calcium absorption. High blood levels of calcium do the opposite by stimulating a hormone called calcitonin from the thyroid gland. This is the main reason for taking a highly absorbable form of calcium. By keeping the blood levels of calcium up, this turns down the cells that break down the bone matrix to release calcium.
In my research I discovered several new studies identifying natural substances that also slow down the bone destroyer cells and increase the bone builder cells. Three readily available examples are CoQ 10, blessed milk thistle, and PPQ. All three of these are good for you for heart health, liver health, and energy, so their ability to fight osteoporosis is just an added benefit.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21898547
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21898547
Another whole area to consider as a cause of osteoporosis is systemic acidosis. Your body uses bone minerals to neutralize excess acid levels in your body. Excess acid in the body is a very modern issue caused by our modern diet. The three main culprits are soda pop, salt, and muscle meat. Soda pop usually contains phosphoric acid which acid loads our system. Excess table salt drives the body into an acid state, even though it is not an acid – possibly because of the excess sodium levels not being balanced by potassium and the chloride levels not being balanced by bicarbonates. And excess muscle meat causes acidosis because of the high levels of sulfur containing amino acids (methionine, cysteine, & taurine). Interestingly, collagen does not have these amino acids and is not acid forming. Soda, high salt, and lots of muscle meat are very American diet standards. Culturally those that eat this way are the folks that have high levels of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis has nothing to do with calcium levels as the cultures that have the least calcium in their diets are also the cultures with the least osteoporosis. It is other dietary factors that are to blame. Individual biochemical factors in how we each metabolize proteins also play a role in acid production.
Something to understand about acid levels is that we are talking about the acid in the fluid between the cells, not the blood or urine. The easiest way to get a ball park idea of your acid level is to hold your breath for as long as you can. If you can not hold for at least 40 seconds then you are too acid. If you can hold for more than 60 seconds, then you are too alkaline, which is another whole can of worms and symptoms.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4566456/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5513456/
As you can see, the more I dive into this whole subject, the more complex it gets. So what useful information can I pull out for you?
Collagen is important. Take collagen and collagen co-factors. Here is one type Here is another type.
Weight bearing exercise is important. Do super slow weight training. Use weight vests.
Excess cortisol is bad. Stop the stress and cortisol boosting drugs.
Hormone balance is essential. Address this.
Certain calcium supplements help, but most don’t. Try these. AdvaCal EZorb
CoQ10, milk thistle, and PPQ help.
Stop the acid. Eliminate soda and high muscle meat consumption.
Stop the salt. Balance salt consumption with potassium bicarbonate. – Use my Double Balanced Salt.
The traditional eliminate smoking and excess alcohol is still true.
There is still much more to the story, but these are the highlights I have found so far that you as patients can start addressing today. Bone is living tissue that constantly changes to adapt to the body’s needs. We need our bones to be working well just as much as we need any other organ. Using drugs to replace living bone with cement is not the answer, it is a last ditch emergency move to prevent collapse of the structure of the body.
I know this was a lot of information, but many of you are facing osteoporosis as an immediate concern. Hopefully this will help.