Boniva, Fosamax, Actonel, and those other drugs for thinning bones have become really big business for big pharma. Now it appears that whole system has provided more profit for the drug companies than benefit for the patients.
A German research team recently dug a little deeper with a disturbing discovery.
The first thing researchers saw when they looked at the samples of weak bone were tiny breaks all over the bone surfaces. Those are called microfractures, and you find them on older, weaker bone. So they’re nothing new.
But what shocked researchers was that these “older” bones also had high bone mineral density. They had all the characteristics of older bones, with overly mature collagen molecules and mineral crystals.1
This should be a signal to modern medicine that it remove its head from the sand and pay attention. Because this study is one more piece of evidence they have it all wrong on how to keep your bones young and strong.
The truth is that those bisphosphonate drugs disrupt natural bone remodeling and give people these same “older” bone characteristics. The bone that’s deep inside never gets shed and replaced. Bones get denser with their drugs, but with old bone cells. So if you take these drugs, your bones get more brittle and more prone to fracture,2 not stronger.
If the researchers had been paying attention, they would have noticed that their research showed that the people with the most vitamin D had the youngest-looking bones.
By preventing bone loss, vitamin D:
- Reduces risk of breaking a bone in any part of the body by 33%
- Reduces risk of a breaking a hip by 69%
- Reduces risk of osteomalacia
You don’t have weak bones because of a deficiency of bone drugs. Your body needs
vitamin D.
Vitamin D is both a hormone and a vitamin, and it’s your bone strength director. It tells your body how much calcium to store in your bones for example. Too little vitamin D can lead to thin, brittle bones and osteoporosis.
So here are my recommendations for building strong bones that will last you your entire life. Just follow these three easy steps and you never have to worry about the threat of weak, soft bones again.
Step 1) Sun power: The best source of vitamin D is sunshine. You don’t need more than 20 minutes out in the sun to get all your vitamin D for the day.
But since we spend most of our time inside in the modern world, and the seasons and weather can affect how much you make from sunshine, you might need vitamin D from other sources.
Step 2) Real food: Animal products are the best natural sources of vitamin D. Salmon, mackerel, tuna fish, sardines, eggs, beef and cheese. Mushrooms are the only vegetable with vitamin D.
Cod liver oil is also an abundant natural vitamin D source. The best kind is cold-pressed. Take up to one tablespoon a day and you’ll get over 1,200 IU of vitamin D.
Try to stay away from fake foods like white bread and cereal “fortified” with vitamin D. They have the nutrients processed out of them, and have the wrong form of vitamin D put back in.
Step 3) The right form: If you aren’t able to get enough through food or sunshine, you can also get vitamin D from supplements. I recommend 5,000 IU every day.
Make sure you look for the D3 form. This is the bioactive kind of vitamin D. Processed foods have the D2 form, which is usually synthetic. Plus, your body has to convert it to D3.
1. Busse B, et. al. “Vitamin D Deficiency Induces Early Signs of Aging in Human Bone, Increasing the Risk of Fracture.” Science Translational Medicine, 2013; 5 (193): 193ra88
2. Lenart, B., Lorich, D., Lane, J., et al, “Atypical Fractures of the Femoral Diaphysis in Postmenopausal Women Taking Alendronate,” New England Journal of Medicine 2008.