Article Summary:

• Women are particularly susceptible to osteoporosis as they age, more so than men.
• Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become porous and more fragile, increasing the risk of fractures. 
• Bone loss is often silent and progressive and only noticed when the first fracture occurs.
• Osteoporosis is no longer believed to be an inevitable part of the aging process.
• A combination of lifestyle changes and appropriate interventions can keep osteoporosis and its potentially debilitating fractures from becoming an issue.
• Both heavy metals and radioactive isotopes in the body can affect bones adversely, leading to osteoporosis.
• Toxic metals pose significant problems regarding bone health.
• Many metals are “bone-seekers,” meaning that they accumulate in the bone.
• Bone-seekers often substitute for minerals such as calcium in the bone, as they are chemically similar.
• According to a recently published article, osteoporosis medications such as bisphosphonates do not lower the mortality rates in osteoporosis patients. 
• Fortunately, you can help keep your bones from breaking with a healthy diet, plant-based minerals from foods or supplements, and detoxifying heavy and radioactive metals.

The Bad Breaks: How to Avoid Osteoporosis

Although osteoporosis is a concern for all aging adults, females are at a much higher risk of developing the condition, and consequently, fracturing and breaking bones. Here are some eye-opening facts:¹

• Roughly one in two women over 50 years of age will break a bone due to osteoporosis.
• Of the 10 million or so Americans with osteoporosis, about eight million (80%) are women.
• The risk of a woman breaking her hip is equal to her risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer combined.

Multiple factors contribute to why women are more prone to osteoporosis than men. These include:

• Women’s bones are smaller and thinner than men’s bones.
• Estrogen, the dominant hormone in women, protects bones. It dramatically decreases when women reach menopause, which can lead to bone loss. Consequently, the chance of women developing osteoporosis increases as they reach menopause.

The widely accepted school of thought used to be that osteoporosis was an inevitable part of the aging process. Today’s medical providers know a lot more about how to prevent, detect, and treat the bone-destroying disease. Plus, healthy lifestyle habits, which include getting adequate nutrition and ridding your body of chemical contaminants, can help to protect your bones and decrease the chance of developing osteoporosis. As far as bone health is concerned, you are never too young or old to take steps to care for your bones. 

Osteoporosis Facts

Osteoporosis is a disease in which the bones become porous as the density and quality of bone are reduced. As bones become more porous, they also become more fragile, and the risk of fractures is significantly increased. Bone loss is often silent and progressive and only noticed when the first fracture occurs.

Bones are living tissue, so they are dynamic and constantly changing. From birth until young adulthood, bones are continually developing and strengthening. Human bones are generally the densest, or at “peak bone mass,” in an individual’s early 20s.

During the aging process, bone cells begin dissolving bone matrix (called resorption), while new bone cells deposit the unmineralized, organic portion of the bone matrix (formation). This is a process known as remodeling. Bone tissue undergoes remodeling continually throughout life. In osteoporosis, bone loss is greater than the growth of new bone. Consequently, bones become porous, brittle, are more susceptible to fractures.

Osteoporotic Fractures

Worldwide, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over fifty years of age are at risk of osteoporotic fractures.² Furthermore, as men and women age, the likelihood of these fractures increases. Most commonly, fractures occur at the hip, spine, and wrist. Hip and spine fractures are increasingly likely and problematic as aging progresses. 

These vertebral (spinal) and hip fractures are particularly concerning. Vertebral fractures can have consequences such as loss of height, intense back pain, and deformity (sometimes called Dowager’s Hump) as part of a hunched or stooped posture. Hip fractures often require surgery and aging adults who experience it may lose their independence or even their lives.

Fortunately, numerous actions can be taken, including bone density screening to diagnose and prevent damage from osteoporosis. A combination of lifestyle changes and appropriate interventions can keep osteoporosis and its potentially debilitating fractures from becoming a problem.

Osteoporosis weakens bones, making them more likely to fracture suddenly and unexpectedly. Osteopenia, on the other hand, is a condition where bones are weaker than normal but not so far gone that they fracture readily (the hallmark of osteoporosis). Osteoporosis often progresses without any symptoms or pain and is not found until bones fracture.

Most people with osteopenia or osteoporosis are not aware they have it until they break a bone. Bone loss is gradual and does not cause pain unless fractures occur or spinal vertebrae collapse. Most of these are fractures of the spine, hip, and wrist. Signs and symptoms may include:³

• Neck or back pain
• Height loss 
• Stooped or hunched posture
• Bones that break with little or no trauma
  

An individual with osteoporosis may find they are getting shorter or their spine is becoming curved abnormally. 

Osteoporosis From Toxic and Radioactive Metals

Both heavy metals and radioactive isotopes in the body can affect bones adversely, leading to osteoporosis. Metals pose two problems regarding bone health. For one, they are directly toxic to bone cells. Their direct toxicity mainly affects osteoblasts. Osteoblasts are bone cells that come from the bone marrow and function to synthesize bone. These cells create bone by producing a matrix that then becomes mineralized.⁴ Metal toxicity can inhibit osteoblast synthesis activity, differentiation, and mineralization of the extracellular bone matrix.

Osteoclasts are bone cells responsible for breaking down and reabsorbing bone. These large cells produce numerous enzymes that dissolve the calcium, phosphorus, and collagen of the bone.⁵ How metals in the body affect osteoclasts differs according to the metal. However, metals create an imbalance in the bone remodeling process, reducing bone formation, and contributing to bone diseases such as osteopenia and osteoporosis.⁶

Additionally, metals threaten bone health by accumulating in bone tissue. They build up in the extracellular bone matrix, which is particularly concerning when exposure levels are low, but exposure is constant over time. Consequently, over the long term, the harmful effects could be as bad or worse than short term exposure to high levels of metals.

Detoxify Toxic Metals for Better Bone Health

Metals in the environment can enter the body and harm human health. Metals can alter different systems depending on the type, concentration, and duration of metal exposure. Toxic metals can affect bone health and increase the risk of osteopenia and osteoporosis. 

Metals which are toxic to bone cells even in low concentrations include:⁷

• Aluminum
• Arsenic
• Cadmium
• Chromium
• Mercury

Many environmental metals have a direct and indirect association with bone health. Here are some specifics:

Aluminum

When absorbed by the body, aluminum is incorporated into the bone matrix and is taken up by osteoclasts during the resorption process. Aluminum substitutes for calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus, interfering with bone mineralization. This metal that is increasingly prevalent in the environment also inhibits osteoblast differentiation, curtails bone formation, and triggers a process leading to osteoblast self-destruction (apoptosis).⁸

Arsenic

Arsenic is not a metal but a metalloid. Arsenic poisoning is associated with an imbalance of bone remodeling, leading to pain, increased fracture rates, and bone deformities.⁹ This metalloid has other harmful effects on bone tissue and bone formation, as well.

Iron 

Iron toxicity can lead to an increase in osteoclast (bone dissolving) activity, and altered osteoblast function. It can also cause osteoblasts to self-destruct (apoptosis).¹⁰

Lead 

Lead is dangerous due to its cumulative effect in the body. The vast majority of lead accumulating in the body ends up in the bones. Lead enters the bone matrix due to its ability to substitute for calcium, magnesium, and iron. Accumulated lead has adverse effects on bone, decreasing bone density and the width of the outer layer (cortex), and increasing fracture risk.¹¹ Moreover, lead poisoning can delay the healing of fractures.¹² Lead poisoning also decreases bone mineral content as lead competes with calcium in the bone. It also generates an imbalance in bone remodeling.

Nickel 

An overload of nickel can inhibit enzymatic activity, resulting in a decrease in bone mineralization.¹³

Titanium 

Titanium inhibits osteoblastic differentiation and stimulates the production of osteoclasts (which break down bone tissue).

Mercury

It is suggested the mercury inhibits the activity of both osteoclasts and osteoblasts. It may also delay bone formation and decrease long bone length in developing fetuses.¹⁴

Zinc and Copper 

These elements serve as cofactors for enzymes needed for bone remodeling processes. However, both insufficient and excess levels of these two metals in the body can damage bone solidity.¹⁵

Bone Seekers

A bone seeker is an element, typically one that is radioactive, that tends to build up in the bones of humans and other animals once introduced into the body. Bones become the main depository for these elements. These elements can replace calcium in the bones, as they behave like calcium chemically. Bone seekers include strontium-90, uranium, lead, plutonium, samarium, and radium.¹⁶ 

There is a chemical similarity between calcium and radium, and radium tends to accumulate in the bones, substituting for calcium.¹⁷ Radium is naturally present in soil and rock, so it can enter groundwater and make its way into drinking water. The Environmental Working Group (EWG) collected data from public water systems around the nation and found radium in the drinking water in all 50 states. With 170M Americans affected by radium in their drinking water, radioactive metal toxicity could be a substantial, potentially epidemic, problem.

Additionally, oil and gas industry pollution from drilling and fracking releases substantial amounts of radium on land and in water. A comprehensive study done by the EPA concluded that fracking causes water contamination and poses a risk to drinking water resources. However, fracking regulations do not take radioactivity into account. ¹⁸

Building Bones with Nutrients

Building bone health with nutrients is helpful in keeping osteoporosis at bay. This includes nutrients such as:

Vitamin D3

The optimal source of vitamin D3 is from high-quality sunlight exposure (sunbathing) at least twice a week.  Food sources include pastured egg yolks, cod liver oil, and organ meats. You can also take a high-quality vitamin D3 supplement.

Vitamin K2  

Food sources of K2 include pastured egg yolks and bone marrow in bone broth. Fermented foods, such as sauerkraut, kimchi, natto, tempeh, and fermented grass-fed dairy sources such as yogurt or kefir, also offer significant levels of K2. You can also supplement with vitamin K2 or take a K2/D3 supplement.

Calcium

Calcium is a critical building block for bone tissue. As you have seen above, toxic radioactive and heavy metals that are chemically similar to calcium can displace it from the bone. Detoxing those metals is essential, as is taking in calcium from food sources. Best food sources include grass-fed dairy, green vegetables, and seeds. 

Magnesium 

Magnesium is a master mineral that participates in hundreds of enzymatic processes in the body. It is also essential for all vitamin D regulating pathways. Ideal food sources include grass-fed dairy, green vegetables, and seeds. Indeed, the more magnesium you consume, the more you can combat a range of health problems. Magnesium is crucial for the utilization of calcium in bone formation, making it an excellent osteoporosis fighter.

BioActive Carbon Minerals

BioActive Carbon minerals are naturally-occurring, highly refined, and naturally chelated extracts of fulvic acid that include over 70 plant-derived trace element minerals. These are nano-sized, negatively charged, ionic molecules that can penetrate human tissue and blood cells easily. Consequently, these minerals are highly bioavailable and bioactive, providing a wide range of biochemical and metabolic detoxification functions. Look for minerals that also contain twelve amino acids in an unaltered ionic solution. 

Osteoporosis Medications Do Not Reduce the Risk of Mortality from Osteoporosis

I want to close this article on a cautionary note. If you’re taking medications for osteoporosis, you may be alarmed to discover that treating osteoporosis with medications is not associated with increased longevity, according to an analysis of multiple studies published in JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) Internal Medicine.¹⁹ According to a recently published (August 2019) article, osteoporosis medications such as bisphosphonates do not lower the mortality rates in osteoporosis patients.

In this broad study of over 38 clinical trials that included well over a hundred thousand patients, no significant association was found between all drug treatments for osteoporosis and overall mortality rate. When compared with placebo, drug treatment was not associated with a reduced risk of death. These results did not significantly change with a more extended treatment period or when treatments were considered individually.

The authors of the study suggest that any previous observational studies that suggested a lower mortality risk with bisphosphonate use may not have considered the other possible contributing factors. They concluded that drug treatments for osteoporosis patients should only be recommended for reducing fracture risk and do not contribute to a longer lifespan.

Fortunately, you can help keep your bones for breaking bad with a healthy diet, plant-based minerals from foods or supplements, and detoxifying heavy and radioactive metals. If that seems like a challenge for you to accomplish given your current health status, you may want to consider engaging with my At-Home Program for healing chronic illness. 

Remember—thinning and broken bones are not an inevitable part of aging. With a little knowledge and effort, you CAN avoid the bad breaks!

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