Nutrients are important way of improving bone density

It’s a pretty common understanding that our bones are made of calcium. This is not the whole story though. Bones are actually mostly made of collagen. Calcium is what gives bones strength.

Yes, bones are not entirely rigid. If they were we would not stand many of the stresses that we apply to them during winter activities, like skiing and slipping on ice. Bones break when they are too brittle.

When we lose strength and hardness in our bones, we are typically not getting enough calcium. It is the combination of calcium and collagen that make bones both strong and flexible.

Bone remodeling is the process by which bones are renewed. This is a constant two-part process that happens throughout our entire life. The first part involves breaking down and removing old bone, this is referred to as resportion.

The second part, called formation, is when new bone tissue is made that replaces the old stuff. Special cells combine nutrients into a matrix that is then filled with minerals, including calcium.

There needs to be an optimal balance between both sides of this remodeling process. Calcification, where the calcium gets deposited into the bone matrix, is normal and necessary.

When calcification happens in soft tissue, this is not a good thing. Arteries, cartilage, and heart valves are places you do not want a buildup of calcium. Usually this happens because something is out of balance, not just because we have too much calcium.

Vitamin K is an important nutrient in this process. Sometimes K is thought of as potassium. This is because in the periodic table of elements potassium is reference by the letter K. But no, I’m talking about something different.

Vitamin K is a group of fat-soluble vitamins that influence the coagulation of our blood. That is actually how it became referred to as K. In Danish the word for coagulation is “Koagulation.” This vitamin modifies proteins and allows them to bind to calcium, which they would be unable to otherwise.

A deficiency of vitamin K also has been shown to result in weaker bones. You can get K in green leafy vegetables, like kale and spinach. Some people have to be careful getting too much K when they are taking blood thinners to avoid blood clots.

Vitamin D is also essential for bone mineralization. But too much of it without enough vitamin K can cause calcium to build up in the wrong places. It’s always about balance. You want enough calcium for bones to be made strong but not so much floating around in your blood stream that it ends up in the wrong places. Vitamin K helps balance this out.

Bone remodeling has to be tightly controlled and managed by the body. As we age, the process of breaking down old bone exceeds the process of building new bone. Estrogen deficiency can be one reason this happens, so can an increase in the parathyroid hormone.

Lack of stress to our bones, which happens during exercise, is a major component to weakening bones. Malabsorption of nutrients can be another cause. Either because the foods we are eating do not have adequate amounts of minerals, or because the gut is no longer breaking foods down adequately.

Magnesium is an important mineral in bone reformation, even just as important as calcium. And this is definitely one mineral most of us tend to lack. If you get muscle cramps or spasms, the likelihood that you are deficient in magnesium is pretty high.

Magnesium directs calcium into the bones and keeps it out of the soft tissues. Taking the right form is important though. Both strontium and boron, along with other trace minerals, influence bone density and strengthen the matrix.

There are other specialized compounds that support effective bone mineralization. Come on down if you’d like to hear more.

Scott Porter, a functional medicine pharmacist, is the director of the Center for Functional Nutrition at Sandpoint Super Drug.