Bone Health

Bone Health and Probiotics

Bone Health and Probiotics

Most times we only start to think about our bone health or bone mass when we are getting on in age or, worse, we have a fracture and suddenly have to reassess the health of our bones. Our bones are made up of living tissue which is always being broken and remodelled into new bone. This process is at its best when we are young and then, around the age of 30, the body will stop increasing bone mass and it’s when we reach our 40’s and 50’s that more bone may be broken down than we are replacing and this is known as Osteoporosis. As you probably know, with age, our bones then become thinner which means even a small fall can lead to a fracture.

You may be aware of various medications on the market which are effective in the treatment of Osteoporosis.  However, we don’t often go to randomly check our bones mass until there is a break or a stress fracture of some kind. By then it’s too late for the preventative measures, which is why we should be trying everything we can to keep our bones mass as strong as possible!

There is increasing evidence suggesting that health-promoting bacteria (i.e. probiotics) can decrease age-related bone loss by quite a fair amount! This is due to the fact that probiotics encourage the growth of good gut bacteria that create a certain metabolite called Butyrate. Butyrate prompts the T cells in the bone marrow to create a protein, Wnt10b, which is absolutely vital for bone health.

We need to ensure that we are incorporating weight-bearing exercises into our regimes while also creating healthy life habits such as good diets, no smoking and less alcohol which all helps to improve bone mass but in order to have strong, flexible bones you also need to have a gastro-intestinal tract which is up to scratch!

The good bacteria which you give your gut through using natural probiotics can ameliorate the health of your bones by improving absorption of nutrients such as proteins, fats and carbohydrates which keeps the intestinal barrier intact and healthy. Since the insides of bones are made up of a protein matrix, proper protein digestion and absorption allows for enough protein to access the bones. Probiotics help to decrease inflammation in the body and lower the production of inflammatory chemicals which is great as inflammatory chemicals cause bone degradation! Adding to this, probiotics aid in producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFA’s) which help with the absorption of minerals or influence bacteria that do. This will be to help absorb minerals such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, boron and many others which help to form the hard outer surface of bones and teeth.

Good bacteria in the gut can also help to improve the production of vitamin K2 which helps to keep calcium in the bones and teeth without clogging the arteries. It also helps to improve or assist in the creation of/absorption of B vitamins, vitamin C and vitamin A which are all so good for your bone health! Interestingly enough, the good bacteria in the gut also helps to convert a portion of inactive thyroid hormones into the active form!

Lastly, by having a good gut microbiome of healthy and good bacteria, it can improve your vitamin D absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract and it can improve liver and kidney functioning so that they can convert vitamins to their active form.

Your gut health is inextricably linked to your bone health and in the fight against osteoporosis. There are many people starting younger and younger with fragile bones, osteopenia or frequent fractures. This may be due to dietary factors, genetics and the unhealthy balance of our gut microbiome. You can never be too young to begin to look after your gut and quite clearly, the rest of your body too. Prevent the loss of bone mass now so that they can carry you into your old age without the worry.

We have beautiful poroducts to help you in this regard – all natural and hugely popular, which proves the point!

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