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How can you improve your body by improving your bones? Part 5

This is the last in my series of “how can you improve your body by improving your bones.” As you’ve seen, the health of your bones is fundamental to your health as a person.

And there’s one more important part of your body to consider — your heart.

We are now seeing a clear link between bone health and heart health. In fact, because there is such a high correlation between the two,  those with osteoporosis may benefit from screening for cardiovascular disease.

In a natural Better Bones program, everything you do for bone will also help your heart. A Better Bones program will include a full complement of the vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and essential fats for building cardiac strength, as well as sufficient amounts of vitamin K — particularly K2 as  MK-7 — to reduce the risk of arterial calcification. 

You may remember that I feel the connection between vitamin K2 as MK-7 and your health is so important, I’ve written a more detailed article about its benefits.

Further, following a diet high in vegetables, fruits, nuts, and seeds, as well as whole grains is associated with lower markers of inflammation in the blood, such as homocysteine and C-reactive protein,  both of which are risk factors for heart disease as well as for osteoporosis.

In wrapping up this series, I will remind you of the children’s song “Them Bones”?
“The hip bone connected to the back bone
The back bone connected to the neck bone
The neck bone connected to the head bone…”

As children, singing our way through the skeletal system helped us understand how our bones were connected to each other to create a whole body. As adults, it might be time to update the song and remember that “the bones are connected to — everything!”

We created the Osteo Blast blog as our forum to express opinions and educate the public about natural means of supporting and improving bone health and overall wellness. As part of this forum, we sometimes discuss medical issues and medications, and their effects on bone health in general. However, we cannot advise readers about specific medical issues in this forum. If you wish to obtain advice from Susan E. Brown, PhD, about your specific bone health and nutritional concerns, please visit our Consultations page. Other specific medical questions should be referred to your healthcare provider.

April 12, 2011 12:57
Nutrition and Lifestyle  |  Comments (5)

Comments

April 15. 2011 22:51

Most computer systems will enlarge the print on the screen if you press "Control" + .  Each time you press it, the print will get bigger.
June

June Thaden

May 11. 2011 14:17

Does the inverse hold true then-- that what we do to benefit the heart also benefits the bones? If I do "Peak 8" exercise (interval training on an indoor bike that studies have shown clearly benefits the heart) does this also benefit my bones? I am talking about the heart health aspect, not the fact that exercise benefits the bones by providing impact.

Rachel Wolf

May 11. 2011 14:32

Yes. just as with the heart, bones respond best to exercise regimens that "mix it up" by putting different levels and types of strains on them rather than one steady strain. Also, whenever you move muscles and tendons, they tug upon the bone and signal to osteoblasts to start renewing bone -- and interval training accomplishes both of those simultaneously. But the kind of cardio training you describe, while it does offer benefits to bone, isn't by itself going to be the best bone-building regimen -- for that, you need to also include weight training and perhaps balance/flexibility training.

Managing Editor

May 13. 2011 11:31

This connection between the health of one's bones and heart is timely and oh so important.

Would you be so kind as to elaborate on what you mean by ". . . those with osteoporosis may benefit from screening for cardiovascular disease."  

I inquire because I believe this is a very astute observation and recommendation.  However, I don't place all that much faith in the prevailing, routine medical approach, and/or ways of reading and interpreting the results of such testing, when it comes to gleaning a truly helpful perception of one's current state of their CV system.  If you will, would you elaborate on your recommendation re our cardiovascular system?  Kind of like you've done for helping reorient our approach to deciphering and clarifying how to optimally go about assessing one's skeletal health amidst the dominant medical mindset, jargon and incomplete, if not less than helpful, findings.

coease scott, dc

May 13. 2011 15:02

Dear Dr. Scott,  Thanks for the question. The link between cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis is very interesting indeed.  It is as if calcium is coming out of the bone and depositing in the arteries.  Vitamin K, as you know, helps calcium bind to bone and stay out of the arteries.  Several specialty laboratories offer a more comprehensive type of cardiovascular risk assessment and these tests are useful. For an extensive rethinking of current medical approaches to cardiovascular health I would refer you to Dr. Sherry Rogers' excellent book, The Cholesterol Hoax (Prestige Press).  She also details the best medical testing to assess real CVD risk.  Hope this is helpful, Susan E. Brown

Susan E. Brown

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