Do You Really Need Calcium to Build Strong Bones?

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Do You Really Need Calcium to Build Strong Bones?

 

Do You Really Need Calcium to Build Strong Bones? www. mercola. com

 

Calcium has been the focus of nutritional research for the prevention of

postmenopausal osteoporosis as many clinical trials of calcium

supplementation have found that it can indeed reduce bone loss and lower the

risk of bone fractures. However, the trials often include a simultaneous

treatment with vitamin D, which makes it difficult to attribute the benefits

to calcium alone. Also, the bone density increase found during the first

year or two of calcium supplementation may not substantially increase in the

long term.

 

In contrast to most clinical data, most observational studies did not find a

significant association between calcium intake and fracture risk or bone

loss. Despite this, and based largely on the clinical evidence, the Food and

Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences raised the recommended

daily dose of calcium for women over 50 years of age to 1200 mg.

 

Milk is often thought to decrease osteoporotic bone loss and fracture risk

since it is a primary source of calcium and vitamin D. However, while milk,

and other dairy food, intake has been found beneficial in women under the

age of 30 years, there has been no clear benefit documented for women over

the age of 50 years.

 

It is known that calcium, at low or moderate doses, is largely dependent on

the action of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D for active transport. Sufficient

amounts of vitamin D are important in the prevention of postmenopausal bone

loss.

 

For instance, one 18-year study, which examined calcium and vitamin D

intakes, milk consumption, and use of calcium supplements among

postmenopausal women, found that those with higher vitamin D intakes, either

from food alone or from food plus supplements, had a significantly lower

risk of hip fracture. However, calcium intake did not appear to be

associated with fracture risk.

 

Insufficient vitamin D leads to less calcium absorption, elevated blood

concentrations of parathyroid hormone, and increased rates of bone

resorption, which may eventually lead to bone fracture. In line with this

are several studies that have found that older people who experience a hip

fracture have lower serum concentrations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D than do

those without a fracture.

 

Some 25 percent to 50 percent of the elderly have vitamin D deficiency,

which can lead to loss of muscle strength and an increased likelihood of

falling that, in turn, increases the risk of hip fracture.

 

Sunlight exposure is a major source of vitamin D, however older adults may

not spend enough time in the sun to get adequate amounts of vitamin D. Also,

sunscreens, of which usage has increased, significantly reduce skin

production of vitamin D.

 

Another problem with obtaining vitamin D from sunlight is that synthesis of

vitamin D is absent during the winter months in higher latitudes where

nearly all of the United States is located.

 

As we age, vitamin D status may be further affected by a decreased capacity

of the skin to manufacture vitamin D, a reduced ability of the liver or

kidney to hydroxylate vitamin D to its metabolically active form, or a lower

consumption of dairy foods or diminished intestinal absorption of vitamin D.

 

American Journal Clinical Nutrition February, 2003;77:495-503

 

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---- DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: This is an important study concerning the use of

calcium for preventing osteoporosis.

 

The study provides a powerful contradiction to the accepted wisdom regarding

the nearly universal recommendation of calcium for women, children and the

elderly to build strong bones. However, it provides no framework to help

interpret the findings.

 

But, that is why you to this newsletter--to help understand what

these clinical researchers come up with. My goal is to empower you to be

able to use the information here to your personal benefit - in this case, to

maximize the strength of your, and your loved ones', bones.

 

This study presents a number of startling observations. Perhaps the most

shocking is that long-term observational studies have not shown a decrease

in bone fracture with calcium intake.

 

Does this mean that calcium is not good for osteoporosis? Absolutely not. I

suspect that the clue to understanding this finding is found in Metabolic

Typing. If you haven't read the article Calcium May Help Curb Weight Gain,

please do so as my comment on that study is helpful to review.

 

Metabolic Typing can be profoundly complex when working with complicated

disease states, but I will break it down to the basics for illustration

purposes.

 

Most people can be divided into three broad Metabolic Types: protein,

carbohydrate (carb), and mixed (a combination of protein and carb). Protein

and carb types are at the opposite ends of the spectrum biochemically and

respond quite differently to supplementation.

 

Generally, protein types (fast oxidizers and autonomic parasympathetic)

require large amounts of calcium to normalize their pH or acid base balance.

However, carb types (slow oxidizers and autonomic sympathetics) respond in

the exact opposite way.

 

Typically, when carb types receive calcium their pH actually worsens

considerably. This basic biochemical difference is likely one of the factors

that helps explain the observation that calcium does not seem to be

associated with reduced bone fractures.

 

Another likely factor is the form in which the calcium is taken. There are

two primary forms of calcium intake in this country--milk and supplements.

 

Traditionally consumed milk is likely not helpful in improving bone density

as it is pasteurized. The pasteurization process causes severe distortion of

essential nutrients, nutrients that are likely useful at optimizing bone

density. It would have been interesting to have the study break down the

differences between intakes of pasteurized and raw (unpasteurized) milk,

though that would be very difficult since few people have access to this

amazing health food.

 

It is clear that vitamin D is associated with stronger bones. So, you might

wonder why milk intake was not associated with stronger bones since milk has

vitamin D in it. The reason is that the vitamin D in milk is actually

synthetic vitamin D called ergocalciferol. It is not the real deal.

 

The major source of vitamin D is sunlight, when UV-B shines on your healthy

skin and your body converts that to vitamin D. If you live in the United

States, however, there is a high likelihood that you will be vitamin D

deficient in the winter. Most people do not get sufficient sun exposure

during the winter months and actually lose bone density during this time.

 

This is where cod liver oil, which contains vitamin D, comes in. However,

you need to be careful with cod liver oil, as you can easily overdose on it.

Too much vitamin D is harmful and will actually worsen your bone density.

 

This is why I strongly recommend vitamin D testing. I have been doing the

testing in my office for over one year now, and I am amazed at the

differences in the vitamin D levels of new patients coming in. Last year

virtually no one was on cod liver oil, and they were all quite deficient in

vitamin D. This year most new patients have been taking cod liver oil and

have really good vitamin D values.

 

However, about ten to 15 percent of these new patients have levels that are

actually too high. I didn't see this last year, which illustrates the

extreme importance of monitoring your vitamin D level. I am working with a

company to validate the current accuracy of a saliva test for vitamin D in

order to make this test more widely available for people.

 

There are additional factors aside from calcium and vitamin D that help to

build bone density. Research has shown a very significant correlation

between the consumption of vitamin K and stronger bones.

 

Vitamin K is commonly found in dark green leafy vegetables like collard

greens and spinach - foods that people do not consume nearly enough of,

meaning most Americans are not receiving adequate intake of Vitamin K.

 

While many Americans are not even getting the Recommend Dietary Allowance

(RDA) of vitamin K, there is significant evidence that the RDA is too low.

What's more, vitamin K is not easily absorbed by the body, and so the levels

found in foods are not all being taken in by the body in the first place.

 

That's why Vitamin K is one of the supplements I do recommend everyone

consider, and why I am offering a five-month supply of high-quality Vitamin

K supplement to you at an outstanding price. Read more about the Vitamin K

link to bone strength, and the supplement I offer, in " Discover Why Vitamin

K is One Supplement You May Need -- and Why I Now Offer It. "

 

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Additional Comment by William Wolcott:

 

Founder, The Healthexcel System of Metabolic Typing Author, The Metabolic

Typing Diet (Doubleday)

 

This research highlights yet another nutritional myth that has been

shattered by metabolic typing. Through metabolic typing it is understand

that there is no one diet that is right for everyone, and that there are no

" good foods " or " bad foods " except those relative to each person's

biochemical individuality.

 

Similarly, although everyone needs to obtain all available nutrients in his

or her daily diet, taking therapeutic doses of a nutrient such as calcium,

for example, is another matter altogether.

 

While supplementing the diet with calcium can help some problems in certain

metabolic types, in other metabolic types it can actually worsen the same

problems. The reason for this is that any problem related to calcium has to

do with its utilization or metabolism in the body. When there is a

disruption to calcium metabolism or a loss of calcium metabolism efficiency,

it often involves a calcium deficiency. But, there are two kinds of calcium

deficiency: an actual quantitative deficiency and a relative deficiency of

utilization due to biounavailability.

 

In order for calcium to be utilized, two factors are necessary:

 

Calcium, and Calcium's synergistic nutrients (calcium requires other

specific nutrients in order to be utilized) Certain metabolic types

naturally require higher amounts of calcium in their diet in order to

function optimally, and tend to have sufficient synergistic nutrients but

lack sufficient calcium. But other metabolic types have the opposite

biochemical balance: these metabolic types tend to already have high calcium

but are low in the synergistic nutrients, thereby doing well on diets lower

in calcium and higher in the synergistic nutrients.

 

Thus, only the metabolic types (parasympathetics, fast oxidizers or anabolic

dominants) that are actually deficient in calcium benefit from calcium

supplementation.

 

The other metabolic types (sympathetics, slow oxidizers or catabolic

dominants) who already have enough, or excess, calcium in the body but lack

the synergistic nutrients will worsen their condition by calcium

supplementation by creating an even greater biounavailability through

further depleting synergistic nutrient stores.

 

The above-mentioned studies are flawed in many ways, including:

 

No homogenous metabolic type subject populations Potential HCL deficiencies,

which would prevent calcium digestion Proper/improper forms of calcium No

consideration of heavy metal toxicity and mineral displacement No

consideration of diet (phytate intake for example) Essentially, what is

missing in these studies is a true understanding of the fundamental

homeostatic control systems (FHC), such as autonomic, endocrine and seven

others, and their relationship to minerals, particularly calcium, potassium

and magnesium, and the FHC connection to such problems as causal as well as

remedial.

 

 

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