Our bones are our framework. They hold us up. They allow us to move. Their health dictates our overall well-being AND how we age.
Bone loss is silent until it’s not. It’s silent until we start experiencing small fractures, falls, or broken hips. And it often starts once a women moves into her menopausal years, around age 50.
Unfortunately, the test that determines bone density, the DXA scan, is usually first offered when a woman turns 65, which is about 15 years after the onset of menopause.
We know that the loss of estrogen plays a significant role in the development of osteopenia and osteoporosis. So by the age of 65, there can be significant loss. Something that does not have to happen and should not happen, in my opinion.
It’s important to understand there are a myriad of factors that contribute to bone loss, not just menopause.
The one thing I’m usually the least concerned about when we’re talking bone health, is supplementing with calcium. Now, this may surprise you, but your calcium intake is NOT why you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, even though that’s been the party line for a long time.
You’ve probably heard about the need for weight bearing exercise and having adequate levels of Vitamin D (blood levels at a minimum of 50) to keep calcium in the bones. These are both true and important BUT there are additional factors to consider, especially if you’re maintaining adequate vitamin D levels, working out and still experiencing bone loss.
It can be discouraging and even frightening when you’re doing all the ‘right’ things and still experiencing bone loss. Osteoporosis can be a serious condition. It’s estimated that the life span after a hip fracture is markedly diminished by 25% in the first year of occurrence.
Here’s the list of additional things to think about when it comes to osteoporosis:
- Inadequate Vitamin K2 levels
- Early onset menopause-menopause without estrogen replacement (HRT)
- Years of taking birth control pills.
- Inflammation running in the background (Rheumatoid arthritis, gut dysfunction, dental issues, autoimmune disease, STRESS)
- Medications such as steroids, statins and bisphosphates (given to prevent osteoporosis)
Let’s look at this list a little more closely.
1. Vitamin K2 is essential for keeping calcium in our bones and preventing it from roaming around and depositing into our soft tissue. Supplementing with K2 can be very helpful but we may have discovered something even better, called GG (read more about this further down).
2. HRT (hormone therapy) during early menopause and in the later-post menopausal years helps to retain bone, preventing osteopenia and osteoporosis in women. Up to 20 percent of bone loss occurs in women in their first five years of menopause. So during the first 5 years of menopause is when a woman might benefit the most from hormone therapy although therapy after the five year mark is still very beneficial.
According to Dr. Thacker of the prestigious Cleveland Clinic, “There is no limit to the length of time for HRT. Studies have shown that hormone replacement in women who’ve experienced menopause under the age of 45 due to hysterectomy, has played a significant role in preventing cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis and can improve a women’s quality of life. Hormone replacement can continue to play a role later in life as well.”
3. Birth Control Pills: Oral contraceptives basically stop the natural cycling of a woman’s hormones,
Estrogen levels are flat lined at a low level while taking the pill. So that means that long term use of the pill can contribute to bone loss because, again, it’s estrogen that keeps calcium in our bones.
4. Addressing underlying inflammation: Just calming the body down, reducing cortisol levels and inflammatory markers can have an effect on bone density. It’s an important, yet often overlooked contributing factor.
Do you have an autoimmune disease or a digestive issue that’s still acting up in the background? Both of these can contribute to bone loss. Are you taking steroids on a regular basis for your autoimmune disease or pain or asthma? Steroids can compromise bone health. STRESS-cortisol just leeches calcium from our bones! Let’s get a handle on this and see how it changes your bone health.
Both Statins and Bisphosphonates decrease an amazing substance that our liver produces, called GG (short for geranylgeraniol) which is essential for making adequate amounts of Vitamin K2 and keeping calcium in our bones and out of our tissues.
Calcium that wanders into our tissues can cause kidney stones, gallstones, HBP, atherosclerosis, osteopenia and eventually osteoporosis. We naturally produce less GG as we age.
Statins and, ironically, the drug that’s prescribed to prevent osteoporosis (Bisphosphonates), both lower GG production even more.
So if you’re on a statin, I highly recommend supplementing with GG. It has the potential of preventing some of our aging processes and bone loss and it’s a powerful antioxidant! And research has shown it to be superior to CoQ10. (If you’d like to read up on GG, click here to go to that blog post as it goes a bit deeper into this incredible little seed)
You can order your own GG from my online dispensary, Fullscript for 15% off. I recommend taking 150 mg to 300 mg/day. Probably trending towards the upper range if taking a statin or have osteopenia or osteoporosis. The actual name of the supplement is Annatto GG by Designs For Health.
Preventing and turning around osteopenia and osteoporosis is multifaceted. And it’s a condition that’s not to be ignored as it can cause significant injuries and shorten lives. That’s where a Functional Medicine approach and practitioner comes in handy.
If you’d like to explore this further with me, please schedule a call.
If you are new to me, schedule a discovery call HERE.
If you’re already one of my wonderful clients and would like a little more help in this area or a tune up on something else, schedule a 30 minute tune up call HERE.
I hope this was helpful to you and/or family members. Please pass it along to your mums, aunts, sisters, wives, and cousins! Especially if osteoporosis runs in your family. This is nothing to ignore AND it can be prevented!