Thursday, December 1, 2016

Strontium for Bone health

 
STRONTIUM is a mineral which is closely related to calcium and metabolized in the body in similar ways.  For this reason, strontium and calcium should be supplemented at different times of the day because they compete for absorption.  Almost all of the 300-350mg of strontium found in your body is in your bones or teeth.  We usually get about 2mg daily in our food such as spices, seafood, whole grains, root and leafy vegetables, and legumes. 

 Strontium stimulates new bone growth by improving bone turnover rather than inhibiting it as do many of the osteoporosis medications. It does this by stimulating osteoblast formation (the bone building cells) and inhibiting osteoclast activity (the bone breakdown cells). There have been several clinical double-blind placebo-controlled trials evaluating the effectiveness of strontium in supporting bone growth. Strontium Ranelate, a particular salt form of strontium is available by prescription in Europe and the UK. The results of a larger clinical trial were published in 2004 in the New England Journal of Medicine. The study evaluated the progress of 1649 postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

 The treatment group received 2 grams daily of Strontium Ranelate plus calcium and vitamin D. After 3 years those taking the strontium had increases in bone density of 14.4% in the lumbar spine, 8.3% in the femoral neck of the hip, and 9.8% in the total hip. Also, those taking strontium had 41% fewer spine fractures over the 3 years than those in the control group. Other studies have reported benefits with a 1 gram daily dose. Some have concluded 1 gram daily as ideal for prevention and 2 grams daily for the treatment of osteoporosis.

 Many forms of dietary supplement strontium are now available such as carbonates, citrates, chlorides and so on. Though all act similarly regarding bone metabolism, no studies have been done comparing them
 
For more information, see my "BONE HEALTH" newsletter

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