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Vitamin K2 is More Important in the Fight Against Osteoporosis than Calcium
Other important nutrients for bone health
Clearly, vitamin K2 and vitamin D3 are two of the missing puzzle pieces when it comes to battling osteoporosis and osteopenia. Adequate calcium intake is also important, but the myth that increasing one’s calcium intake will protect you from bone disease is finally starting to unravel. In fact, the way the body utilizes the calcium available is much more important than the amount of calcium ingested.
And there are a number of other trace minerals which are known to interact with calcium and play a role in healthy bone development. For example:
Boron is important in preventing calcium loss, as it improves calcium absorption and reduces the amount of calcium excreted in the urine.
Magnesium is essential for proper calcium absorption and is an important mineral in the bone matrix. It has specific effects on the parathyroid hormone, which helps regulate proper calcium metabolism.
Silica is used to keep bones, cartilage, tendons, and artery walls healthy. It is also required by the nails and hair to stay in good condition. Silica deficiency may result in problems with teeth and bones as well as hardening of the arteries.
Protecting and utilizing all the bone minerals with daidzein
The shortsighted focus on just one bone mineral—calcium—instead of on the full range of bone minerals and bone nutrients has led us to this osteoporosis epidemic. The last piece of the puzzle now is to ensure that the body has adequate amounts of everything it needs for bone health and helping the body utilize what is available. This is where daidzein comes in.
Daidzein is an isoflavone found mostly in soybeans, legumes, and peas. Soy isoflavones are free radical scavengers (potent antioxidants) and are antiangiogenic (they interfere with unwanted blood vessel growth in disease states). They have been shown to have a beneficial effect on some types of cancer and bone health.
Daidzein stimulates bone formation and mineralization The loss of bone minerals continues throughout one’s life. That’s why there is a lot of excitement about research into daidzein’s ability to help stimulate bone formation and mineralization, in the same way that hormones do.30
Animal experiments, as well as bone tissue and bone cell culture investigations, have demonstrated daidzein’s effect on bone metabolism and its ability to utilize all the necessary bone minerals to stimulate bone building osteoblasts. Other studies have confirmed daidzein’s ability to enhance bone formation, and help prevent and treat osteoporosis in elderly women.31
Don’t succumb to the calcium conspiracy
It may be difficult to believe, but it is entirely true. More calcium is not the answer to your bone health problems. What you need are vitamins K2 and D3, and those are vitamins you are likely to be deficient in. In addition, it may help to get extra amounts of trace minerals and daidzein. Only then do you have the proper nutrients to support the natural bone building process of osteoclasts and osteoblasts.
Remember, thanks to the calcium conspiracy, by 2020 there is a 50/50 chance that you will have osteopenia or full blown osteoporosis. But you don’t have to succumb to the conspiracy. You are now armed with the information you need to ensure proper calcium recycling in your body and to protect yourself from osteoporosis.
See also Think Twice Before Taking Bisphosphonate Drugs
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