How To Rebuild Bone Density?

Photo by Chris Jarvis on Unsplash

Words Will Not Break Your Bones, But Falls Might

 By Dr Khong Lamvichit on April 17, 2019 5 mins

Friend, you are apart of an aged population.  The last time I checked, you're getting older and we all do.  The day I see someone​ pull a "Benjamin Button" I'll begin questioning the science of our evolution.

Many of us are aware our muscles begin to degrade though our 30s; however determining whether bone tissue or muscle tissue begin to lose mass first is destined for another article.  Since I have an image of a very colorful bone, labeled with a rad name, let's get going on bone tissue.  

To save you from boredom of the anatomy of bone tissue I'll take you on an imagery ride of your youthful days as compared to your aging days.  When you were young you played, you laughed, and you fell down.  You then washed, rinsed, and repeated this cycle over and over time with no hesitancy of what may occur; you enjoyed life at this time.  Here comes your 30's and you played, you laughed, and you fell down.  You then look at life questioning your weekend warrior spirit of what follows next.  Buzzwords ensue like CR-RACK, KA-POW, or honey I did it again!  This is us.

When you were young, bone is repeatedly broken down then repaired faster.  This is a constant state of renewal for bone growth.  When you reach your late 20s this cycle reverses.  How fast you lose bone mass depends on what you were able to attain during your youthful "KA-POW" days.  How much bone you have stored away will help prevent future bone related injuries like osteoporosis or osteopenia.

Risk Factors
The likelihood of you developing osteoporosis depends on your age, race, lifestyle choices, and medical conditions and treatments."  Other risk factors out of our control would be your sex, age, race, family history, and body size frame.  Hormone levels could play a role such as lowered sex hormones could weaken the body, too much thyroid could cause bone loss, and other associated overactive parathyroid or adrenal glands.  Dietary factors that accumulate low calcium intake with eating disorders or gastrointestinal surgeries like gastric bands.  Steroids and other medical prescriptions would sometimes interfere with bone rebuilding as well; as an added bonus, if your lifestyle choices were sedentary included with a complimentary sandwich of excessive alcohol and tobacco than I have some news for you.

Complications
Fractures are the path to possibilities if pursuing this path to destruction.  Here are a few examples:
1. Back pain (obvious)
2. Lost height (too short)
3. Hunchback (too short and no dating)

Prevention
Good news for you there are ways to keep your bones healthy for the remainder of your life.  Let's start with:

Protein:
These are the building blocks of bone formation.  A great source of protein is from animal meat.  Vegetarians and vegans are able to get enough protein from combination sources such as soy, nuts, legumes, and dairy and eggs.

Body weight:
Maintaining significant muscle mass for body weight will decrease bone loss.  The Mayo Clinic recommends weight-bearing exercise and activities that promote balance and good posture which are beneficial for your bones, but walking, running, jumping, dancing and weightlifting are also beneficial (3).

Calcium:
The RDA for calcium is 1,000 mg of calcium per day.  Good sources of calcium include:

1. Low-fat dairy products
2. Dark green leafy vegetables
3. Canned salmon or sardines with bones
4. Tofu
5. Calcium-fortified cereals and orange juice

If difficult to obtain these in whole foods, I recommend taking calcium supplementation.  The institute of Medicine recommends the total of calcium from supplements and diet combined should be no more than 2,000 mg daily for people over 50.

Vitamin D:
A 2013 Research Study from Lebanon (4) compared teenage girls and boys who took vitamin D supplements with others who took a placebo. The main result was:

• The girls who took vitamin D developed denser bones and gained more bone mass compared to girls who took the placebo. Taking vitamin D had no effect on the bone density of the boys in the study.

The Vitamin D council also found a 2012 research study from the United States (5) looked at whether or not giving vitamin D supplements to people would make their bones denser and stronger to prevent them from breaking a bone. Many of the people already had osteoporosis but some did not. The main results were:

• People older than 65 who took vitamin D supplements were less likely to break a bone than those who didn’t.
• Vitamin D supplements helped prevent people from breaking a bone whether they lived in an institution or not.

Keep in mind Vitamin D and Calcium supplements should not replace your current medication.

The end of the day, the best way to prevent osteoporosis is to build your strong bones and slow down bone loss.  Weight-bearing exercises benefits your bones at any age group, but you'll have the most benefits if you exercises regularly from when you're young and throughout the rest of your life.  As we age, let's create an savory plate of movements to balance and strengthen our lifestyles.  Let's face it, the older we get the sweeter we become.

References:

1. Osteoporosis. (2017, June 17). Retrieved from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/osteoporosis
2. Vitamins and Minerals. (2017, June 17). Retrieved February 1, 2019, from https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/vitamins-and-minerals
3. Osteoporosis. (2016, June 7). Retrieved Feb 1, 2019, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/osteoporosis/symptoms-causes/syc-20351968
4. ​Al-Shaar L, Nabulsi M, Maalouf J, El-Rassi R, Vieth R, Beck TJ, El-Hajj Fuleihan G. Effect of vitamin D replacement on hip structural geometry in adolescents: A randomized controlled trial. Bone, 2013 Oct;56(2):296-303. doi: 10.1016/j.bone.2013.06.020.
5. Bischoff-ferrari HA, Willett WC, Orav EJ, et al. A pooled analysis of vitamin D dose requirements for fracture prevention. N Engl J Med. 2012;367(1):40-9.

Dr Khong Lamvichit

For a number of years, Dr. Khong Lamvichit has been establishing himself as a leading movement doctor in physical therapy, writer, presenter, sports injury doctor and Chiropractic sports physician in Chicago, IL. Currently owner and president of Midwest Sport and Spine Inc.  at River North in Chicago, IL.  See his bio...