How to Strengthen Your Bones Naturally

How to Strengthen Your Bones Naturally

The Food and Drug Administration recently approved a new osteoarthritis treatment called Evenity – even though the agency knew the drug provided only a modest improvement in reducing bone fractures.

But here’s what even more disturbing… The FDA knew that clinical trials proved the drug resulted in increased risks of heart attack, stroke, and cardiovascular death.

In fact, two years before approving Evenity, the FDA rejected it because of this increased risk.

So why the sudden turn-around and approval?

It turns out the Big Pharma manufacturer of the new drug was set to lose its patent on their existing osteoporosis medication along with billions in profits when the drug went generic.

They needed a new osteoporosis drug to increase profits before that happened… and with a $22,000 cost per treatment, the company found their new money-maker.

For years, I’ve warned my patients to stay away from these “bone-building” drugs.

Yet mainstream doctors continue to prescribe osteoporosis drugs that are dangerous… even when there are safer alternatives.

So why don’t these Big Pharma “solutions” work?

Your skeleton constantly changes. In a process called remodeling, old bone breaks down so new bone can take its place. This allows your bones to grow when you’re a child. In adults, it repairs damage and prevents bones from becoming brittle.

This process is a result of two bone-making cells.

  • Osteoclasts that break down the old bone, and…
  • Osteoblasts, which deposit new bone to your skeletal structure

Osteoporosis happens when these cells are out of balance. Either your osteoclasts are removing too much bone tissue, or your osteoblasts aren’t making new cells fast enough.

The result is that your bones become weak and brittle.

Bisphosphonates – the Big Pharma drugs developed to stop bone loss – were designed to kill

osteoclasts so they cannot remove more bone. In this regard, they do what they’re supposed to, and your bones do become denser. But this denseness is made up of old bone and old calcium.

And because osteoblasts won’t make new tissue if the old tissue is still there, your bones become brittle and more prone to fracture.

Your bones end up looking strong in a scan, but in reality, they’re weak and fragile. In an ironic twist, these drugs cause the exact thing they’re supposed to prevent: broken bones.

Researchers recently studied women taking bisphosphonates who had experienced some sort of fracture.

More than 65% had the same rare fracture in the same area at the middle of the thigh bone — a place most people never get a fracture.1

The “Big 3” Bone Strength Boosters

For complete bone protection, I recommend you take what I call the “Big 3” bone strength boosters:

  1. Build stronger bones with vitamin D3. This nutrient directs how much calcium you store in your bones. Too little vitamin D can lead to thin, brittle bones. By preventing bone loss, vitamin D:2• Reduces risk of breaking a bone in any part of the body by 33%
    • Reduces risk of breaking a hip by 69%
    • Reduces risk of having constant bone pain — a bone-softening condition
    called osteomalacia

       Just 15 minutes a day of sunshine will give you over 5,000 IU of D3. I also recommend a vitamin D3 supplement called cholecalciferol. It’s the same vitamin D3 your body produces. You may           need as much as 5,000 to 8,000 IU. I strongly suggest getting your levels checked by a doctor.

    2. Boost bone strength with boron. This mineral boosts your body’s absorption of calcium and helps it stick to your bones.3 Boron also is key to the absorption of magnesium, another             essential nutrient that helps your bones absorb calcium. Boron supplements can reduce your daily loss of calcium and magnesium by up to 50%.4 Get 3 to 6 mg a day.

    3. Supplement with this bone binder. I call vitamin K2 bone “glue.” Without enough, bones have a hard time holding onto their minerals. In a large study, Harvard researchers found that      those with the lowest intake of vitamin K2 had a 30% higher risk of hip fracture.5 And numerous studies show that high vitamin K2 intake leads to higher bone mineral density and less bone loss    with aging.6

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD, CNS

1. Lenart BA, et al. “Atypical fractures of the femoral diaphysis in postmenopausal women taking alendronate.” N Engl J Med. 2008;358(12):1304-1306.
2. Sunyecz JA. “The use of calcium and vitamin D in the management of osteoporosis.” Ther Clin Risk Manag. 2008;4(4):827-836.
3. Nielsen FH, et al. “Effect of dietary boron on mineral, estrogen, and testosterone metabolism in post-menopausal women.” FASEB J. 1:394-7, 1987.
4. Price CT, et al. “Essential nutrients for bone heath and a review of their availability in the average North American diet.” Open Orthop J. 2012;6:143-149.
5. Feskanich D, et al. “Vitamin K intake and hip fractures in women: A prospective study.” Am J Clin Nutr. 1999;69(1):74-79.
6. Maresz K. “Proper calcium use: Vitamin K2 as a promoter of bone and cardiovascular health.” Integr Med (Encinitas). 2015;14(1):34-39.