Nutrition & bone health
Key minerals for bone health — silica
by Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD
Silica is the most abundant mineral on earth. We don’t fully understand its
full range of functions in the human body, but we do know that silica content is
high in the strongest tissues of the body, including the arteries, tendons, ligaments,
connective tissue, collagen, skin, nails, hair, and teeth.
Although no RDA has been
established yet for silica, this mineral clearly makes a direct contribution to
bone health. Bone collagen is reported to increase with silica supplementation,
and the mineral appears to strengthen the connective tissue matrix by cross-linking
collagen strands. Dietary silicon appears to increase the rate of mineralization,
particularly when calcium intake is low.
A concentration of silica is found in the areas of active bone mineralization, and silica combines with calcium in the bone-building
cell. Overall, silica plays an important role in initiating the calcification process,
thus helping us to maintain strong, flexible bones.
Populations with higher intakes of plant-based foods have higher silica intakes
than do Western populations; and not surprisingly, the incidence of hip fractures
in these communities is also lower. Silica is plentiful in many fibrous foods, but
as nutrition educator Betty Kamen reports, the fiber in foods (and its silica content)
is the first to go in the processing of foods. Since up to 80% of the food we consume
today is processed — compared with a mere 10% at the turn of the century — silica
consumption has dramatically declined in just a few generations. Of interest is
that the major source of silica in American men’s diets was found to be beer
and bananas, while in women it was bananas and string beans!
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Our Personal Program is a great place to start
At the Center for Better Bones we promote an all-natural approach to bone regeneration
and repair that includes nutrition, diet, exercise, and lifestyle guidance. Our
Personal Program is a convenient, at-home version of this approach.
- To assess your fracture risk and the health of your bones, take our free, on-line
Fracture Risk and Bone Health Profile.
- To learn more about the guided, at-home Program we have developed with America’s
premier women’s health clinic, Women to Women, go to
The Personal Program for Better Bones.
- For more information about the at-home program for Better Bones, please call The
Personal Program toll-free at 1-877-200-1269.
Original Publication Date: 04/11/2000
Last Modified: 04/14/2010
Principal Author: Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD