Osteoporosis

“Thinning” and weakening of the matrix of the bones which become more fragile. While a little of this is expected as we age, collapse of vertebrae in the neck and back, fractures of the hip and other bones are becoming increasingly common in younger people, and osteoporosis is the underlying cause.

There are many causes, including changes in hormone level in women as they age, reduced weight-bearing exercise, low calcium in the diet, excess alcohol, poor nutrition, some drugs (especially steroids) and low vitamin D and magnesium levels.

Doctors can

• Give additional calcium in the hope this will enter the bones. Most people do not realize that without magnesium, vitamin D and a little boron, silicon and manganese, most supplemental calcium goes out in the urine.
• Hormone replacement therapy in women (HRT). This does improve bone density but as this has been now shown to increase the risks of heart, stroke and other disease, consider using bio-identical hormones like progesterone.
• Bisphosphonates such as Fosomax, pamidronate, etidronate. Bone is continually being reabsorbed and rebuilt. These drugs bind to the bone and stop the reabsorption, so the bones just keep building.

Lifestyle

• Walking. The most important stimulus to strengthening bone is weight-bearing exercise causing slight jarring on the bones. So walking is perhaps the best thing a person with, or at risk of, osteoporosis can do. But be careful not to jar too hard if you already have osteoporosis; this frequently occurs with jogging. Wear good shoes with well cushioned soles.
• A new weight reduction and muscle building system called “vibration training”, where people stand and hold positions on a very rapidly vibrating plate, should be very helpful for osteoporosis. This technique was, in fact, devised by the Russian Space Agency to stop osteoporosis developing in cosmonauts in the weightlessness of space. These vibration plate units are very effective in strengthening bones.
• Do not smoke or drink excess alcohol.
• Expose your body to a few minutes of sunlight daily to raise vitamin D levels, but avoid the midday sun.

Nutritional supplements

• A good multivitamin/multimineral ensures that bone has all the nutrients and minerals it requires to stay strong and repair itself.
• Calcium and magnesium, 800-1,000mg/day, help the bones retain their strength. Calcium is poorly absorbed without magnesium and a few trace elements such as boron, silicon and manganese.
• Vitamin D, if not already in the multivitamin; at least 400iu/day.
• Omega 3 fish oils, 1-2 grams daily, improve the elasticity and strength of the bone.

Calcium Supplements

Calcium supplements are an excellent alternative for people who fear their diet preferences are not giving them enough calcium. This is especially true for people who avoid dairy or who are lactose intolerant. The two main forms of calcium in supplements are carbonate and citrate. Calcium carbonate is more commonly available and is both inexpensive and convenient. The carbonate and citrate forms are similarly well absorbed, and both can be taken with or without food. One caveat, however, relates to people who don’t make much stomach acid, as is the case for those taking a proton-pump inhibitor or hydrogen blocker. In this scenario, taking the calcium supplement with a meal is best. Other calcium forms in supplements or fortified foods include gluconate, lactate, and phosphate. Calcium citrate malate is a well-absorbed form of calcium found in some fortified juices.

How well your body absorbs calcium from a supplement depends, in part, on how concentrated elemental calcium is in that supplement. Absorption is highest in doses equal to or less than 500 milligrams. So, for example, if you like to take 1,000 milligrams of calcium per day from supplement, it’s ideal to split the dose and take 500 milligrams at a time, two separate times during the day. Those who take a proton-pump inhibitor like Prilosec or Nexium to contral acid reflux and gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), or Tagamet or Zantac (which work a different way but have the same effect of inhibiting the production of acid in the stomach), need to be extra careful about getting enough calcium. Because stomach acid helps the body absorb calcium by dissolving the calcium pill, thus freeing the calcium so it can be absorbed by the small intestine, lowering stomach acid levels may stop its proper absorption. In 2006, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a study suggesting that long-term (more than a year) use of proton-pump inhibitors in high doses increased the risk of hip fracture by 245 percent. The subjects in the study were all over the age of fifty, and the researchers said the effects were particularly in people already at risk of osteoporosis.

However, if you take your calcium pill with a meal, as your meal is being ground up in the stomach so, too, is the calcium pill – without the need for stomach acid. This is why doctors tell their patients to take their calcium pill with their meals.

Some people who take calcium supplements experience gas, bloating, constipation, or a combination of these symptoms. These symptoms can often be resolved by spreading out the calcium dose throughout the day, taking the supplement with meals, or changing the brand of supplement used. The older you get, the harder it becomes to produce adequate stomach acid, as you did when you were younger (and able to down just about anything without gastrointestinal problems). For this reason, taking a calcium supplement with a meal is best.

Supplements that combine calcium and vitamin D are an even better option, as the vitamin, once it gets activated in the liver and kidneys, increases calcium absorption and provide other health benefits. Vitamin D is essential to the uptake of calcium from your diet, helping the calcium to become more easily absorbed in the bloodstream and bones.

Because of its ability to neutralize stomach acid, calcium carbonate is found in several over-the-counter antacid products, such as Turns and Rolaids. Thus these drugs serve two purposes – calming stomach acid and providing bioavailable calcium. The fact that you’re chewing the calcium makes it easily absorbed.

People at Risk for Calcium Deficiency and Why

Postmenopausal women: Low estrogen stores dampen proper calcium metabolism and regulation.

Vegetarians: Avoiding diary and consuming mostly vegetables, some of which have compounds known to inhibit calcium absorption, including phytates and oxalate, act as a double whammy.

People whose diets include lots of protein and sale: High intake of sodium and protein increases calcium excretion.

Lactose-intolerant people: Those who have trouble digesting dairy products, and thus avoid them, are frequently found to be calcium deficient and have lower bone density.

USANA Vitamins Body Rox™ Active Calcium™ Chewable - Features the benefits of USANA’s Active Calcium formula and formulated to support bone development during the teenage growth spurt.

Beating Down Heart Disease

The farther away from the equator you live, the higher your blood pressure get. What gives? Is it in the air? The water? The food? No, it’s in the sky – the sun, or lack thereof.

Because of vitamin D’s actions in the body, sun exposure has a dramatic effect on heart and circulatory disease. High blood pressure, also known as hypertension, is a very serious condition that is the main cause of stroke and heart attack. If you live in s sunny climate, you are less likely to have high blood pressure than if you live somewhere with less sunlight at certain times of the year. People tend to have healthier blood pressure during the summer than during the winter because there’s more sunlight available – and thus more vitamin D in the body. When exposed to the same amount of sunlight, people with fairer skin have levels of vitamin D (the darker your skin, the more melanin there is in it, and consequently the more difficult it is for you to produce vitamin D from the sun). There’s now specific evidence that people who live in sunnier climates have fewer heart attacks. Heart failure is also associated with vitamin D deficiency.

Hypertension: The Silent Killer

One in four adult Americans – fifty million in all – suffers from hypertension, the main sign of which is high blood pressure. More than half of Americans older than sixty have hypertension. It’s expected to affect 1.6 billion people worldwide by the year 2025. Despite its prevalence, high blood pressure is often ignored or undiagnosed because it has no symptoms. However, hypertension is a prime risk factor for heart disease and stroke, the first and third leading causes of death in this county. It’s a chief factor in our nation’s struggle with chronic disease, disability, and even death. Because it is an insidious and deadly disease, hypertension is sometimes called the silent killer.

We know that blood vessels have vitamin D receptors. The active form of vitamin D will enhance contraction of the heart muscle and improve vascular smooth-muscle function. We know that activated vitamin D alters inflammatory activity, which is a major factor in the development of atherosclerosis. And there is evidence that the active form of vitamin D regulates the major blood-pressure-regulating hormone rennin in your kidneys. The gathering evidence on vitamin D’s active role in regulating blood pressure has prompted numerous studies lately, as researchers continue to look for clues to conquering this silent killer.

Vitamin D Q & A

Should children who do not drink much milk and who wear sunscreen get their blood levels of 25-vitamin D checked?

It’s not unreasonable to have your children tested if you are concerned about their being vitamin D deficient because they don’t drink milk or wear sunscreen all the time. This will help convince you and the pediatrician that the child is vitamin D deficient and requires vitamin D treatment. However, because this test is rather costly, it is recommended that children simply take 1,000 IU of vitamin D a day along with a multivitamin containing 400 IU of vitamin D a day.

Does time of day matter for recommended sun exposure?

The time of day does matter, because the angle of the sun is different. It’s very difficult to make vitamin D in the early morning or late afternoon, even I the summer, and you will make more vitamin D between noon and 2:00 P.M. than you will either make at 10:00 A.M. or 3:00 P.M.

Are there any vitamin D-stimulating lightbulbs for humans?

Vitamin D will not be produced by exposure to incandescent lightbulbs. You need to be exposed to a vitamin D-producing lamp that emits UVB radiation. Tanning beds that have fluorescent lamps also emit UVB radiation.

Does it matter whether I wear sunglasses when I expose myself to the sun?

It is recommended some face protection and sunglasses or other eye protection to reduce the risk of cataracts.

Does boiling cow’s milk destroy vitamin D?

Boiling cow’s milk will not destroy vitamin D. Vitamin D is heat stable at least up to a temperature of about 300F.

Is vitamin D better absorbed from fortified dairy or from fortified juice?

Vitamin D is equally bioavailable from fortified juice, fortified milk, and vitamin D supplement capsules.

I’ve heard that vitamin D in skim or nonfat milk isn’t as bioavailable. Is this true?

Vitamin D is just as bioavailable from skim and nonfat milk as it is from whole milk. Fat is not needed to efficiently absorb vitamin D.

Isn’t Vitamin D fat soluble? Is there a water-soluble form of vitamin D that is used to fortify orange juice and skim milk?

The vitamin D that is used in orange juice is in a micronized form that makes it water soluble. The vitamin D in skim milk is the same vitamin D that is in whole milk and is perfectly bioavailable.

Will I wash off the vitamin D I produce in my skin if I take a bath or shower within thirty minutes of being exposed to sunlight?

No. Vitamin D is made in living cells in the skin. You cannot wash it off!

USANA’s Vitamin D supplement helps to prevent vitamins D deficiency

Vitamin E, Vitamin K, B Vitamins and Vitamin D

Vitamin E is an important antioxidant that should be supplied at levels well above the RDI of 30 IU (international units) per day. Many authorities recommend 200 to 1,000 IU per day to help prevent age-related degenerative diseases such as cancer and atherosclerosis. Experts recommend that elderly people with risk factors for heart disease and those suffering from Alzheimer’s-related dementia take extra vitamin E. Most natural health care providers prefer the natural d-alpha form of vitamin E over the chemically synthesized dl-alpha form.

Benefits of Vitamin E
• Acts as a powerful antioxidant
• Prevents deficiency in low-weight infants
• Acts as an anti-clotting agent
• Assists in the formation of red blood cells

Vitamin K

Vitamin K is included in multivitamin formula because it can help prevent bone loss. A daily dose of 80 to 300 micrograms conforms to current RDI standards. Vitamin K is especially important for patients with a history of intestinal malabsorption or chronic antibiotic therapy (antibiotics kill vitamin K-producing intestinal bacteria).

Benefits of Vitamin K

• Helps prevent abnormal bleeding
• Promotes normal growth and development
• Helps prevent bone loss

B-Complex Vitamins

The B vitamin family includes eight distinct vitamins:

• B1 – Thiamine
• B2 – Riboflavin
• B3 – Niacin
• B5 – Pantothenic Acid
• B6 – Pyridoxine
• B7 – Biotin
• B9 – Folic Acid
• B12 – Cyanocobalamin

Each B vitamin is a separately functioning coenzyme that affects a wide-range of processes and functions in the human body. If you have a specific condition for which a single B vitamin is known to be helpful, a separate supplement of this vitamin may be added to a multi, preferably after consultation with a knowledgeable health care provider.

Vitamin D

We get vitamin D from two sources; our food and the sun. Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to higher risks of colorectal and breast cancer, so it’s important to guarantee an adequate intake. In fact, vitamin D was recently shown to reduce the risk of polyp development in the colon, a precursor to colon cancer. For those who don’t get regular exposure to sunlight or eat vitamin D-fortified foods, 400 IU per day may be optimal. Because vitamin D plays a role in bone building, people with an increased risk for osteoporosis may benefit from 800 IU per day.

Benefits of Vitamin D

• Prevents rickets
• Treats low blood calcium in cases of kidney disease
• Helps promote bon formation
• Promotes normal development of children and infants

Vitamin D (3) (Cholecalciferol)

In 1992, Edward Mellanby discovered vitamin D while researching the bone disease rickets. Nicknamed the “sunshine vitamin” because it can be produced by the exposure of the skin to the sun, as well as to full-spectrum ultraviolet rays, vitamin D is needed by our bodies to absorb calcium and phosphorus. It is also vital to healthy bones and teeth. Research has revealed that a shocking 40 percent of the general population is lacking in adequate levels of vitamin D. However, there is only a small margin between safe and toxic levels of this vitamin, and excess can cause kidney damage.

Vitamin D is currently known as a pro-hormone involved in mineral metabolism and bone growth. Its most dramatic effect is to facilitate intestinal absorption of calcium, although it also stimulates absorption of phosphate and magnesium. In the absence of vitamin D, dietary calcium is not absorbed efficiently. Vitamin D stimulates the expression of a number of proteins involved in transporting calcium from the lumen of the intestine across the epithelial cells and into blood.

The term vitamin D (synthetic) actually refers to a group of steroid molecules. Naturally occurring vitamin D3, also known as cholecalciferol, is generated in the skin of humans and animals when light energy is absorbed by a precursor molecule 7-dehydrocholesterol. Those with adequate exposure to sunlight, who are generally healthy, do not normally require dietary supplementation of vitamin D.

Vitamin D is called the “sunshine vitamin” because the body will produce sufficient vitamin D when the skin is exposed to the sun two or three times weekly for as little as 15 minutes. Vitamin D is essential for the absorption and use of calcium in our bodies and for maintenance of strong bonds; it is also known as the most important nutrient in preventing osteoporosis and in reversing depression vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is stored in the body fat and released as required.

The yeast form of vitamin D, called vitamin D2 or ergosterol, is made by artificially irradiating fungus in an exposure process. Vitamin D from ergosterol is not a naturally occurring form of vitamin D. It is manmade for consumption as a vitamin D supplement. Ergosterol is often used as the vitamin D source in fortified foods and food supplements.

Naturally occurring vitamin D in foods is scarce. Fresh-water algae, sea vegetables, shitake mushrooms, and edible weeds are the vegetable sources highest in naturally occurring vitamin D. In years past it was common, although undesirable and unhealthy, for mothers to give their children cod liver oil daily to avert a concern over rickets. Vitamin D deficiency was such a problem among many children that governments mandated that all milk be fortified with synthetic vitamin D. The best naturally occurring source of vitamin D is still made by the body in response to sunshine and full-spectrum lighting.

Adequate vitamin D is necessary for health, our consuming large quantities of synthetic vitamin D is dangerous. The immediate effect of an overdose of vitamin D is abdominal cramps, nausea, and vomiting. Toxic doses of vitamin D taken with time may result in a buildup of irreversible deposits of calcium crystals in the soft tissues of the body that damage the heart, lungs, and kidneys.

Light, Food and Supplements

Where are you going to test your Vitamin D? You have three choices: 1. spend time in the direct sun, 2. eat lots of foods rich in this vitamin and 3. take a vitamin D supplement. The first option is near impossible. Either you live south of Los Angeles and Atlanta and have not heeded the warnings to use sunscreen to prevent skin cancer, or you are at risk for a vitamin D deficiency. The second option also is difficult, since so few foods naturally contain much vitamin D and fortified foods are limited to no more than 100 IU per serving. That means you must drink 10 glasses of milk a day to get the latest recommended intake of 1,000 IU a day. Not likely.

That leaves supplements. If you live in hot, sunny climates and drink some milk or soy milk, then aim for 400 IU from supplements to fill in the gaps. For everyone else, talk to your physician about taking a supplement of 1000 IU a day.

How Much Do You Need Vitamin D?

Up until recently, vitamin D was considered one of the vitamins that could be toxic, so safe intake limits were set very low, or about 200 IU to 600 IU a day, depending on age. But all the studies showing vitamin D lowers risk for everything from muscle pain to depression have used amounts fair in excess of what people typically consume and, in many cases, much more than the current daily recommendations. As a result, many experts are calling for a change in the recommendations, which were set back in 1997 and are considered outdated and too restrictive.

According to researchers at Harvard, a supplement containing 1,000 IU a day would be helpful the vast majority of Americans. The likelihood of toxicity at this dose is nonexistent. Hey, fair-skinned people’s bodies can manufacture 15,000 IU or more in as little as 30 minutes of unprotected sunbathing in the middle of July, so 1,000 IU is a pretty safe dose to consider! Of course, you should always consult your physician before taking any supplement, but for people living in the north or anyone over the age of 50, some type of vitamin D supplement is well worth pondering.

As with any nutrient, just because some is good doesn’t mean more is better. Vitamin D is a ft-soluble vitamin, which means the body doesn’t get rid of it when it is in excess, but rather stores it for future use. Build up too high a store and you could end up with kidney stones or even start stockpiling calcium in your heart or arteries, places that shouldn’t be hardened with bone minerals!

You can play on the safe side and have your level of this vitamin measured next time you are going in for a blood draw anyway. Ask to be tested for 25-hydroxy Vitamin D. A value below 20 nanograms is low, 20 to 30 nanograms is borderline and 30 to 50 nanograms is optimal. Have the test in November, because if you are low then, it is a sure thing you’ll be full-blown deficient by spring.

Gimme a D!

Vitamin D is no longer just for strong bones. In fact, it might be useful for a whole host of ills, from diabetes, multiple sclerosis, cancer and heart disease to boosting your immune system, curing chronic muscle pain and fibromyalgia and preventing depression, anxiety and even memory loss. There’s even suspicions that a deficiency increases the risk for obesity. What’s more, you possibly need a whole lot more than you think. Happy, fit people place this vitamin at the top of their to-do list.

Up until recently, vitamin D’s only know job was to help prevent bone loss associated with diseases like osteoporosis and rickets. That’s because vitamin D is critical for the absorption of calcium and also ensuring the mineral gets deposited into bones. If you’re low on vitamin D, it’s a given you’ll only absorb about 10% of the calcium you consume, which is a surefire way to end up with osteoporosis later in life, even if you take lots of calcium. Getting enough vitamin D and calcium can significantly improve a woman’s chances of avoiding osteoporosis.

While we used to think only bones were sensitive to vitamin D, experts are finding that almost every tissue in the body has receptors for vitamin D, suggesting that it works its magic everywhere in the body.

We now know that vitamin D aids in the prevention and/or treatment of gum disease, diabetes, insulin resistance, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, hypertension and certain cancers, including colon, breast, pancreas and prostate cancers. Vitamin D also reduces the incidence of falls by up to 60% in seniors. A few very recent studies even suggest that vitamin D is critical for brain function in general, helping to boost not just mood, but also memory, reaction times and thinking.

In addition, we know that a deficiency of this vitamin is typically found in people who have risk factors for obesity, such as heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. It also is clear that overweight people are prime candidates for a vitamin D deficiency.

Happy, fit people also might get their mood boost from this vitamin. People prone to the blues have low levels of vitamin D, while happy people’s vitamin D levels are much higher. Even healthy, relatively happy people report a mood boost when they add extra vitamin D to their diets. The research is strongest for people battling seasonal affective disorder, or SAD, whose mood worsens as the seasons progress from fall through winter. For years, the only known cause was thought to be lack of sunlight. But it might be vitamin D these people lack.

Vitamin D really isn’t a vitamin at all. It’s hormone. You don’t need to get it from your diet, since your body can make vitamin D if its’ exposed to sunlight long enough. When it comes to SAD, it might not be the lack of sunlight that causes the winter blues, but rather the lack of sunlight means the body can’t make enough vitamin D, which otherwise would have sparked a perkier mood through the winter months.

That’s what the research shows. Deficiencies of vitamin D escalate from 38% to 60% from fall to spring in people who battle SAD. Give them extra doses of vitamin D, and voila! Their mood improves and anxiety drops. Although not yet studied, winter depression typically goes hand in hand with weight gain. Sidestep the blues and you might have a better chance of fitting into a swimsuit by spring.

Consume Pantothenic Acid (Vitamin B5)

Pantothenic acid is utilized in the formation of coenzymes, which are equally important in about a hundred metabolic reactions. These processes include energy production, fatty acid catabolism, fatty acid synthesis, and cholesterol, phospholipids, and steroid hormone production, among many others. This vitamin helps the body absorb and properly use other vitamins in the body, such as B6, B12, and C. It also helps produce vitamin D. in addition, vitamin B5 is important to maintain a healthy digestive tract and to beak down carbohydrates, fats, lipids, and various amino acids. Pantothenic acid can be found in corn, eggs, cheese, meat, peanuts, liver, soy products, peas, broccoli, tomatoes, and whole grains.

Dine on Vitamin D

You may know that vitamin D is a major player in developing strong bones and teeth and that it can be produced when the sun comes into contact with the skin. What you probably don’t know is that endocrinologists recently linked weight loss with the vitamin. Though the scientist still aren’t sure why this was, the results of their study showed that for each milliliter increase in the hormonal form of the vitamin, the subjects lost nearly a quarter pound more, often in the abdominal area.