Is Vitamin C Good For Bones

Bone Supplements For Osteopenia Support

Your bones are living tissue and like other living tissues, they function best when nourished and supported. If you have been told you have osteopenia, all thats being relayed to you is that your bones are less dense than that of the average person in their twenties. Thats not really too much of a surprise, is it? Osteopenia is not a true diagnosis or a reason on its own to prescribe a bone medication.

However, osteopenia can be your wake up call to start making sure your bones have everything you need. A good place to start is with my Better Bones Basics: a daily vitamin and mineral supplement for bone health. You want to be getting enough of prime bone-building vitamins and minerals to make sure your reserves are topped off and your bones are nourished.

Phosphorus And Bone Health

Phosphorus is another mineral that is largely found in bone. About 85% of the total phosphorus in the body is found in the bones, and the ratio of calcium to phosphorus consumption is crucial to maintaining bone health.

For optimal bone health, dietary calcium and dietary phosphorous should remain at a 1:1 ratio, and this ratio is especially important for infants and children who are in bone development stages.

Excess dietary phosphorous intake has been associated with increased parathyroid secretion, as increased parathyroid secretion promotes increased bone reabsorption and decreases bone formation .

However, most people meet or exceed dietary phosphorous recommendations and have lower calcium intakes since dietary phosphorous is found in a wide range of commonly consumed foods such as meats, nuts, seeds, dairy, and grains, as well as phosphate additives that are widely used in food processing.

A focus should be placed on consuming calcium-rich foods to maintain a healthy calcium to phosphorous balance for optimal bone health. Calcium-rich mineral water is a highly bioavailable calcium source that does not contain phosphorous and is a good source of calcium to help maintain the ratio of calcium to phosphorous for optimal bone health .

Additionally, supplements for bone health can affect this ratio by providing extra calcium without any additional phosphorus.

Juveriente Bone Strength Complex

After researching the best supplements for bone health, my first choice is Juveriente Bone Strength Complex. I believe this is the best supplement for bone health because it contains a highly bioavailable form of calcium, along with a high amount of vitamin D and additional nutrients to improve absorption.

This supplement also contains a 2:1 ratio of calcium to phosphorus which is good because it will be beneficial for stabilizing a calcium to phosphorus imbalance you may have.

The ingredient special ingredient – cryptoxanthin that this supplement contains also has been scientifically studied to improve bone health.

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Fracture Healing And Prevention

The effects of vitamin C deficiency on bone healing have been studied with animal models as early as the 1940s.26,27 Early experiments using guinea pigs demonstrated failure of bone graft incorporation, delayed collagen maturation, and decreased collagen and callus formation in scorbutic animals compared with controls that received vitamin C supplementation.26,27 Based on his work with guinea pigs, Bourne26 reported in 1942 that vitamin C deficiency significantly inhibited the reparative process in damaged bone and that patients with fractures should receive vitamin C supplementation. Building on this early research, Yilmaz and colleagues28 found faster histologic healing for tibia fractures in a rat model for animals that received a single injection of vitamin C 0.5 mg/kg compared with a nonscorbutic control group, and Sarisözen and colleagues29 showed significantly accelerated histologic bone formation and mineralization at the fracture site for rats that received vitamin C supplementation. Moreover, Kipp and colleagues30 found that scorbutic guinea pigs had lower bone mineral density , decreased bone mineral content, and impaired collagen synthesis of articular cartilage and tendons compared with nondeficient controls.

Micronutrients Important To Bone Health

Micronutrient supply plays a prominent role in bone health. Several minerals have direct roles in hydroxyapatite crystal formation and structure other nutrients have indirect roles as cofactors or as regulators of cellular activity .

Table 1 lists the dietary reference intakes for micronutrients important to bone health. The average dietary intake of Americans is also provided for comparative purposes .

Minerals

Calcium

Phosphorus

Fluoride

Magnesium

Sodium

Potassium

Fat-soluble vitamins

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Osteoporosis And Scurvy: The Role Vitamins And Nutrients Play In Bone Health

The word on the street is that osteoporosis is due to a lack of calcium or need for vitamin K2. But this is simply not true. Maintaining healthy bones as we get older is a community effort that depends on a number of factors including vitamin status, hormone production, and mineral availability. Its also a pretty safe bet that a Fosamax deficiency isnt at play either. To say that any single condition or dysfunction is due to one missing nutrient is crazy. Lets take a look at whats really going on.

When calcium is given as a single supplement to reverse osteoporosis, especially calcium ascorbate, it ends up in the muscles of the heart, the heart valves, and the blood vessels, leading to cardiovascular disease. And thats never a good thing. A healthier option would be to consume a diet rich in green leafy vegetables containing vitamin K2 and plenty of magnesium. This provides your body with the nutrients it needs to transport calcium obtained from the food you eat to where it belongs inside of your body not in your heart and blood vessels.

Another nutrient deficiency that is rarely discussed when it comes to bone health is vitamin C. Dr. Suzanne Humphries refers to osteoporosis as scurvy of the bone. And scurvy is nothing more than a severe vitamin C deficiency.

Food And Your Bones Osteoporosis Nutrition Guidelines

The food that you eat can affect your bones. Learning about the foods that are rich in calcium, vitamin D and other nutrients that are important for your bone health and overall health will help you make healthier food choices every day. Use the chart below for examples of the different types of food you should be eating every day.

If you eat a well-balanced diet with plenty of dairy, fish, fruits and vegetables, you should get enough of the nutrients you need every day, but if youre not getting the recommended amount from food alone, you may need to complement your diet by taking multivitamins or supplements.

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Other Sources Of Calcium

Green leafy vegetables, such as broccoli, collards, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, and bok choy , are good sources of calcium.

Other good food sources of calcium are:

• Salmon and sardines that are canned with their bones
• Almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, tahini , and dried beans
• Blackstrap molasses

Other tips to make sure your body can use the calcium in your diet:

• Cook high-calcium vegetables in a small amount of water for the shortest possible time. They will retain more calcium this way.
• Be careful about what you eat with calcium-rich foods. Certain fibers, such as wheat bran and foods with oxalic acid , can prevent your body from absorbing calcium.

Your doctor may recommend a calcium or vitamin D supplement for the calcium and vitamin D you need. However, the balance between benefits and harms of these supplements is unclear.

Findings From A Systematic Review

In total, 1462 articles were found in our initial search. After screening titles and abstracts, 1423 articles were excluded. After these exclusions, thirty-eight articles remained for systematic review and twelve studies were included in the meta-analysis. The details of the study selection process are shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 1 Flow chart of article searching. BMD, bone mineral density RR, relative risk HR, hazard ratio.

Table 1 Characteristics of studies that reported the relationship between vitamin C intake in relation to bone mineral density

DXA, dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry F, female M, male HRT, hormone replacement therapy QUS, qualitative ultrasound.

Table 2 Characteristics of studies that reported the relationship between vitamin C intake and risk of fracture and 95 % confidence intervals mean values and standard deviations)

F, female M, male Q, quantiles T, tertiles HRT, hormone replacement therapy.

Table 3 Characteristics of studies that reported the relationship between vitamin C intake and risk of osteoporosis and 95 % confidence intervals -coefficients with their standard errors)

F, female M, male LS, lumber spine FN, femur neck FT, femoral total Q, quantiles HRT, hormone replacement therapy TH, total hip CAL, calcaneus FA, forearm.

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Epidemiology And Human Studies In Vitamin C

The current recommended dietary allowance for vitamin C for healthy individuals is 90mg/day for adult males, and 75mg/day for adult females, 15â65mg/day for children depending on age and gender, and 40â50mg/day for infants. In adults, intakes above RDA are recommended during pregnancy, if lactating, and in smokers . Based on data from the most recent National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2003â2006, the Center for Disease Control reported the overall prevalence of vitamin C deficiency in the U.S. to be 6%. Defined as serum AA levels < 11.4 µmol/L, deficiency was significantly more prevalent in males than females , Mexican Americans and Non-Hispanic Blacks compared to Non-Hispanic White . Deficiency was less commonly observed in children and older adults compared to young adults .

For purposes of this review, we present only a broad overview of the work. For an in-depth discussion of the field, we refer the reader to the recently published review by Finck, et. al.. Human studies examining vitamin C effects on bone are relatively sparse and the findings are somewhat inconsistent. This inconsistency is likely the result of differences in study design, and the methodologies used.

Based on the wide variety of methodologies used to study the clinical effects of vitamin C effects on bone, it is not surprising that there are inconsistencies in the reported results.

Molecular Pathways For Vitamin C Action On Bone Cells

AA is known as an antioxidant and important co-factor for catalyzing many biochemical reactions. Studies performed on smoking and its reductive effect on BMD as a result of increased free radicals have suggested that antioxidant vitamins such as vitamin C and vitamin E play a role in minimalizing such deleterious effects. Furthermore, overiectomized rats reduce thiol antioxidants such as glutathione and thioredoxin reductases due to a lack of estrogen. This in turn increases the concentration of reactive oxygen species ,which results in increased osteoclastic differentiation and bone resorption. This osteoclastic effect can be reversed by treating rats with AA, which increases glutathione concentrations. There are many studies showing that antioxidants can minimize bone loss by preventing osteoclastic differentiation however, antioxidizing functions are not enough to promote osteoblast differentiation. There have been no studies suggesting that antioxidants such as vitamin E can promote de novo bone regeneration. This suggests that when vitamin C functions as an antioxidant, it is to prevent osteoclastic differentiation but not osteoblastic activity.

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Vitamin C And Bone Health

Bone health is complicated. We dont just form bone mass and then, hopefully, maintain it in the same quality. We go through a complicated process of bone formation, modeling or consolidation, and remodelingthe latter of which happens when were adults. Remodeling refers to the process that happens when bone is broken down and formed again, not always at the same quality. These internal supports also go through mineralization, a process in which mineral crystals are deposited in a structure. The strength of our bones is determined by two factors: bone mineral density, how many of those mineral crystals there are in an area of bone, and bone matrix quality, which is basically everything about the bones structure and composition that doesnt involve minerals.

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Vitamin C Effects On Bone And Cartilage Cells

AA has effects on various types of bone cells in vitro as well as in vivo. A number of in vitro studies have shown that vitamin C plays an important role in promoting expression of genes involved in differentiation of chondrocytes. In terms of mechanisms by which AA induces chondrocyte differentiation, studies using ATDC5 chondrogenic cells have shown evidence for involvement of ERK signaling. AA treatment induced ERK activation, while ERK inhibition attenuated vitamin C-induced chondrocyte differentiation. These data, taken together with the in vivo data, imply that AA is an important regulator of chondrocyte fate determination.

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Potential Concerns With Calcium Supplements

There are some concerns about taking large doses of calcium via supplements.

For example, calcium supplements have been associated with symptoms like constipation, kidney stones, and other digestive issues. There are also some concerns that they may be bad for heart health .

One review found an increased risk of heart attacks in those taking calcium supplements. That said, other studies have not shown a link between calcium supplements and negative outcomes for heart health .

As dietary intake of calcium has not been linked to these side effects, its best to focus on meeting your calcium needs through your diet and discussing the potential need for supplements with your healthcare provider.

Summary

While there are certain situations in which calcium supplements may be indicated, the current research doesnt support the use of calcium supplements to prevent or manage osteoporosis.

Foods For Bone Health

Yogurt, Cheeses, and Buttermilk

Milk and dairy are easily absorbed sources of calcium, which your body needs to support healthy bones.

Dark Green Vegetables

Vegetables like broccoli, collard greens, kale, and turnip greens are great sources of calcium.

Oily Fish

Eat salmon, swordfish, tuna, and mackerel for vitamin D, which your body needs to help absorb calcium.

Nuts

Nuts, specifically almonds and Brazil nuts, are rich in calcium and help support healthy bones.

Beans

Incorporating more beans into your diet has many health benefits. Choose chickpeas and white beans as they have higher calcium amounts than others.

Fortified tofu, cereal, or orange juice

Some breakfast cereals, orange juice and tofu are fortified with calcium to help support bone health.

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Vitamins For Bone Health

Our bones are some of the most integral parts of our bodies. The skeletal system plays a role in helping us perform normal actions like walking and talking. There are several vitamins the body needs to keep bones dense and strong, including calcium and vitamin D.i

Centrum has multivitamins that contain essential vitamins and nutrients to help support bone health to keep your body functioning at its best,* every day of the week.

Foods That Support Bone Healing

Heather Dessinger This post contains affiliate links.

I have a cabinet full of herbs that support everything from sleep to immune function. I also keep Dermabond in my purse. But this week my son hurt his wrist while playing kickball, and after pressing his fingernails on both hands to see how quickly the color returned , checking his range of motion and asking some questions about his pain, I knew he needed more than me. So we got an x-ray. Its broken.

Im beyond thankful for the doctors who have cared for my family when Im outside of my wheelhouse, and for the herbalists and nutritionists who have published research-backed recommendations for supporting bone healing naturally. With that in mind, several of you asked on my Instagram post while Im using to support my sons recovery, so I thought Id write it up for you.

As always, I want to mention that none of these statements have been evaluated by the FDA, this article is not medical advice, and it is not meant to diagnose or treat any condition. As always, please talk with your healthcare provider about any supplements you are considering. Now that weve got that out of the way, lets dive in.

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Probiotics For Bone Health

You cant benefit from nutrients in your food or nutrients in your supplements if you cant absorb them. If you have experienced digestive issues in the past, this is a red flag that your digestive tract needs an infusion of good gut flora to assist with digestion and absorption. Evolving studies on probiotics and bone health have shown that probiotics can be helpful for stemming bone loss in menopause. Taking a daily probiotic is a good way to make sure youre regularly replenishing healthy gut bacteria.

The sign of a quality probiotic is one that includes several strains of beneficial bacteria like our Super Biotic Probiotic.