The health of your bones is critical to overall health. Bones give structure and allow for normal movement, they provide protection for vital organs and act as storage for calcium and other vital minerals needed for health.
Throughout life, your bones undergo continuous remodelling; old bone cells are reabsorbed into your body and new bone cells are created to replace them. When these two opposing processes are in balance, there is a healthy balance between the formation and resorption of bone tissue, and healthy bone density is achieved. However, a deficiency in any of the key bone supporting nutrients can disturb the balance and result in a loss of bone density.
Reduced bone density, once considered a problem for the older female, has now been shown to be a condition affecting both males and females and often occurring at a younger age than previously considered. As bone tissue is continuously being remodelled and replaced when damaged, supporting bone health should be a focus throughout life, and not just in older age. Osteoporosis, a condition where bone density is greatly reduced leading to an increased risk of fracture is thought to affect around 200 million people worldwide.
Here at Cytoplan, we provide a synergistic multivitamin and mineral formula with wholefood nutrients, specifically tailored to help maintain healthy bone mineral density, which contains the following key bone health vitamins and minerals:
Calcium is needed in the development and maintenance of bone structure and rigidity. Our calcium is derived from a wholefood, organic multimineral seaweed, which is both gentle and bioeffective and also contains a wide range of naturally occurring minerals, including magnesium.
Magnesium regulates the metabolism of calcium, supports bone growth and is important to the structure of the bone.
Vitamin D3 is well known for its role in the uptake and distribution of calcium and the maintenance of strong bones. We use a vegan friendly, wholefood source of vitamin D3 from lichen.
Vitamin K2 is provided as MK-7, the most bioeffective of this bone health vitamin. Vitamin K2 promotes bone mineralisation and contributes to the maintenance of normal bones.
Boron is a trace mineral that plays a role in calcium metabolism and the growth and maintenance of bone tissue
Several other nutrients can also support bone health so consideration should be given to overall nutritional status. For example, collagen gives strength, structure and flexibility to our connective tissue, including our bones and supplementing with collagen peptides can stimulate our natural collagen synthesis. Vitamin C is also important for collagen synthesis and we offer a number of high potency vitamin C supplements.
As well as focussing on a nutrient dense diet, there are also important lifestyle considerations to support bone health. Bone is a dynamic tissue that responds to changes in mechanical loads, and a combination of weight-bearing exercises such as jogging, brisk walking and aerobics, combined with muscle strengthening exercises such as lifting weights and using elastic resistance bands is recommended to support strong bones.
How can I support my bone health after menopause?
Oestrogen plays a critical role in regulating your bone production and turnover throughout life, so following a drop in oestrogen after menopause, women could be at a higher risk of developing conditions such as osteoporosis and need to be especially mindful of supporting healthy bone density.
Ensuring a great intake of vitamins and minerals that support bone health should be your priority after menopause:
- Calcium - found in dairy food, green leafy vegetables, tofu, nuts, seeds and wholegrains
- Magnesium - found in fresh, green vegetables as well as wholegrains, legumes, nuts and seeds
- Vitamin D3 - produced by the body from exposure to sunlight, but it is recommended to supplement during autumn/winter.
- Vitamin K2 - in fermented foods and manufactured by our gut bacteria
Cytoplan also produce a synergistic multivitamin and mineral formula with these key wholefood nutrients, specifically tailored to help maintain a healthy bone mineral density.
Isoflavones are phytonutrients abundant in soybeans, and are phyto-oestrogens, which means they elicit a gentle oestrogenic effect in the body and are thought to provide a protective influence against longer-term conditions associated with menopause, including reduced bone density. Our natural phytoestrogen supplement is made from whole soy germ, so provides not only isoflavones, but also 40 additional health supportive nutrients, in a wholefood, bioeffective form.
Is calcium the best bone health mineral?
While calcium is undoubtedly essential for bone health, with 99% of the body's calcium being contained within the skeleton, taking huge doses of supplemental calcium could actually be detrimental to health, and so as well as calcium from a wholefood source, it is important to achieve excellent levels of all the key nutrients to support healthy bone density, including magnesium, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2. Cytoplan provide a synergistic multivitamin and mineral formula with these key wholefood nutrients, specifically tailored to help maintain a healthy bone mineral density.
Several other nutrients can also support bone health so consideration should be given to overall nutritional status. For example, collagen gives strength, structure and flexibility to our connective tissue, including our bones and supplementing with collagen peptides can stimulate our natural collagen synthesis, with the antioxidant nutrients vitamin C and zinc also supporting collagen synthesis. Antioxidants as well as unsaturated fatty acids such as the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA can also protect against loss of bone mineral density.
