When I wrote my book Better Bones, Better Body, I gave it that title because I wanted to make the clear, simple point that everything a person does to support bone health is going to help support their overall health. But every now and then, I like to get specific about how this works, because people just don’t seem to understand how true it is that bone health is fundamental to total health. So here’s one quick example of what caring for your bones can do for you.
Supporting bones helps improve metabolism and may prevent heart disease & diabetes. One important whole-body benefit of a bone health program is that it also offers a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Most people, when I mention these two diseases, assume that I can say this because exercise is such an important part of bone building, and that’s partly true, but it’s not the only reason.
As it turns out, our skeletons aren’t simply the support structure for movement — they’re also endocrine organs, and they produce at least two hormones. One of these bone hormones, osteocalcin, signals the body to enhance insulin production and sensitivity, and to reduce intra-abdominal fat. To make a long story short, healthy bones undergoing normal bone turnover produce osteocalcin, which helps keep blood sugar and insulin sensitivity at normal, healthy levels while simultaneously reducing fat stores — and that helps lower your risk of obesity and related diseases, including diabetes. Researchers have found, in fact, that many people with Type 2 diabetes also have low osteocalcin levels,4 and it’s been suggested that helping people with diabetes to produce more osteocalcin could become a way of improving their health.
On the other hand, it will likely come as no surprise to my regular readers that commonly used bone drug therapies generally suppress bone turnover and thereby limit the production of osteocalcin — which, of course, may have implications for the long-term cardiovascular and metabolic health of the people taking these drugs. Another reason why a life-supporting program of alkaline diet, exercise, and stress reduction should be the first step when addressing bone loss!
There’s a lot more I could say about the health benefits of focusing on bone health, but I’d need a full length article — and in fact, I hope to produce one soon. But for now, know that when I say “Better Bones = Better Body,” it’s not just “poetic license” at work — I really mean it!
References
[No author listed.] 2009. Research shows skeleton to be endocrine organ. Columbia News. URL: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/07/08/bones.html (accessed 05.07.2009).
Wolf, George. Energy regulation by the skeleton, Nutr. Rev., 66(4):229-233
Bouillon, R., & Decallone, B. 2010. The white adipose tissue connection with calcium and bone homeostasis. J. Bone Miner. Res., 25 (8), 1707–1710. URL (abstract): http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/jbmr.175/abstract (accessed 02.15.2011).
Lee, N., et al. 2007. Endocrine regulation of energy metabolism by the skeleton. Cell, 130 (3), 456-469. URL: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2013746/?tool=pubmed (accessed 05.07.2009).
Kanazawa, I., et al. 2009 Serum osteocalcin level is associated with glucose metabolism and atherosclerosis parameters in type 2 diabetes mellitus. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 94 (1), 45-49. URL: http://jcem.endojournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/94/1/45 (accessed 02.15.2011)
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.