The Top 6 Causes of Osteoporosis

Every day you make choices to either fuel your body with nutritious, healthful food or add to your toxin exposure through diet. We call these, food toxins. Food toxins consist of pro-inflammatory compounds such as refined sugars, refined grains (especially wheat, even unrefined), pro-inflammatory fats, and pesticide residues in conventionally grown produce.

Refined Sugars and Grains

Did you know 99.9% of our genetic profile is still the same as our ancestors from the Paleolithic era?¹⁹ (the Paleolithic era started around 2.6 million years ago and ended around 12,000 years ago.)

Yes, your genes have only changed about 0.01% since the Paleolithic era! Back then, the only sugar humans encountered was from fruit and a very occasional bit of honey. But fast forward to today, and refined sugars are a constant in our daily diets — even though we aren’t equipped to handle this sugar tsunami!

So what is a refined sugar?

You’ll probably know refined sugar as table sugar, but it pops up in far more places than that… Refined sugar comes from sugar cane or sugar beets. These are processed to extract the sugar- typically sucrose, which is the combination of glucose and fructose. Manufacturers add refined sugars, like sucrose and high fructose corn syrup (amongst others), to many processed food and drink products. And that includes products you’d never imagine contain sugar!

You can discover which products we’re referring to by reading our “Sneaky Foods High in Sugar” post.

Now, the American Heart Association recommends the following daily intake of added sugar: No more than six teaspoons (25 g) for women.²⁰ And no more than nine teaspoons (38 g) for men. (At AlgaeCal we recommend as little added sugar as possible). But get this… The average American consumes 76.7 g of added sugar every single day! That’s 19 teaspoons worth!²¹

Why are refined sugars a cause of osteoporosis?

Refined sugar doesn’t really offer any nutritional value for your body. So straight off the bat, a diet high in refined sugars is providing far less of the nutrients your bones crave.

What’s more, when you consume foods containing sugar, your pancreas reacts by secreting insulin. The Standard American Diet (SAD), which contains tons of processed foods high in sucrose and high fructose corn syrup, causes insulin secretion into the bloodstream in very large amounts at virtually every meal and snack. High blood levels of insulin are a key contributing factor to osteoporosis – and metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.²²

So how does chronically elevated insulin promote bone loss? By inhibiting your kidney’s ability to reabsorb calcium, so you lose more through your urine.²³ And because 99.9% of your calcium is in your bones, researchers believe this increased loss of calcium is being leached from your bones.²⁴ And if that weren’t already a damning resume for refined sugar, it causes inflammation, too.²⁵

Too much sugar increases the number of advanced glycation end products (AGEs). AGEs are harmful compounds that form when protein or fat combine with sugar in the bloodstream, and they promote inflammation.

Plus, sugar produces higher levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), which is also a marker of inflammation. And when there’s too much inflammation in your body, osteoclasts turn on, and you start to lose bone.

What are refined grains and why are they a cause of osteoporosis?

Like we saw with refined sugars, refined grains are the end product of heavily processed natural grains – think white bread, white rice, and white flour. Your body views the carbohydrates in refined grains as another form of sugar. That means the effects on your bones are the same.

Even in young, healthy people, an increase in the number of refined carbohydrates in the diet causes a significant increase in the amount of calcium lost through urine.²⁶

Let’s take a closer look at one example of a refined grain: Whole wheat is refined to white flour. Aside from the calcium loss it causes, and the residual bleach you consume (that’s partly what makes the flour white), there’s another reason it does your body and bones a disservice…

White flour is shortchanging you big time when it comes to nutritional value.

In fact, white flour provides less of all the following good stuff (and lots of them are bone-building heroes!):²⁷

• • 72% less vitamin B6
  • 67% less folic acid
  • 60% less calcium
  • 85% less magnesium
  • 86% less manganese
  • 68% less copper
  • 78% less zinc

Now, grains make up about 30% of the average diet. This means eating refined foods, which has become commonplace, is an example of nutritional ‘opportunity cost’ to the tune of 30% less minerals for the average person.

And combined, refined grains and sugars make up almost 50% of the SAD (Standard American Diet)! So we’re consuming far fewer micronutrients than previous generations.

Pro-inflammatory Fats

Fat used to have a bad reputation. After all, most people used to think of the ‘extra padding’ around the belly when they heard the term. But that’s changed recently…

You see, there are good fats as well as the bad ones. And it’s essential to recognize your bones – and the rest of your body – need these good fats! Fats do a lot more than provide calories for immediate use or energy stores. Without fat, you’d be unable to:

• • Absorb vitamin D – which you need to absorb calcium!
  • Absorb vitamin K1 – which has significant anti-inflammatory protective effects on bone
  • Absorb vitamin K2 – which activates the vitamin K-dependent proteins that act as traffic signals, directing calcium into your bone (osteocalcin) and keeping it out of your arteries, breasts, brain, and kidneys (matrix Gla protein)
  • Produce hormones – including thyroid hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and parathyroid hormone (and we’ve already seen how they’re important to bone health)
  • Create and maintain brain cells – did you know essential fatty acids make up nearly 60% of your brain?²⁸

If that weren’t enough, fat, in healthy amounts, cushions and protects your organs. And it’s essential for healthy, unwrinkled skin too. The simple fact is you can’t live without some fat! But the key to unlocking those benefits, and avoiding bone damage, is moderating your fat intake, and eating the right types of fat.

Healthy fats

Dietary guidelines from the World Health Organization and the Dietary Reference Intakes recommend a healthy diet contains approximately 20-35% of calories from fat.²⁹ This translates to somewhere between 40-70 grams of fat per day for women and 45-77 grams of fat per day for men (depending upon age and activity level).

To find out exactly how many grams of fat you need per day, use this handy calculator based on information from the American Dietetic Association: Fat Intake Calculator: http://www.healthcalculators.org/calculators/fat.asp

Why are certain fats a cause of osteoporosis?

Fats become a concern for your bones (as well as an increased risk of obesity, heart disease, cancer, and diabetes) if you’re consuming too much of the wrong types. Even consuming the recommended 20-35% of calories from fat can harm your bones if you eat too much of the following pro-inflammatory kinds of fat:

And here’s the kicker: The Standard American Diet delivers way too much of the pro-inflammatory, “bad fats” and way too little of the “healthy fats.”

The Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Institute of Medicine recommend trans-fat intake, in particular, should be as low as possible.³¹ Trans fats lurk in all kinds of processed foods, including chips, cookies, cakes, pies, pastries, donuts, fried foods, artificial creamers, whipped cream, and French fries. Some frozen pizza brands contain up to 5 grams of trans-fats per serving, and microwave popcorn up to 7 grams per serving.³² And you could be consuming even more than you thought…

FDA rules allow manufacturers to round up to 0.49 grams of trans fat per serving down to 0 on the Nutrition Facts label. Plus serving sizes are often much smaller than the amount people actually eat. So if you’re eating a lot of processed foods, you could be consuming a large amount of trans-fat every day without knowing it.

Pesticide Residues in Conventionally Grown Food

Conventional farming techniques use pesticides to keep pests away from crops and to maximize the yield. Most people are aware of pesticide use and don’t give it much thought. But they might if they knew how harmful pesticides can be. Especially to bone health…

Why are pesticide residues a cause of osteoporosis?

Dietary exposure to pesticide residues is now recognized as extremely damaging to human health. Even very low doses of pesticide mixtures can be detrimental. When pesticides were approved for use on our food crops, they were evaluated one at a time.

But we now know that when combined, their toxic effects are synergistic and multiplied. The results of recent studies aren’t pretty!

One study exposed pregnant, breastfeeding mice to pesticides. The results showed cell signaling was clearly disrupted in the bone marrow cells of their offspring.³³ The bone marrow is where red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body, and lymphocytes, which are essential for immune system function, are created. Unhealthy red blood cells result in anemia.³⁴ A condition where blood cells are unable to carry the oxygen your cells need to function. And insufficient oxygen (hypoxia) causes inflammation. And your lymphocytes help clear out pathogens, toxins, and cellular debris. So disrupting lymphocyte formation allows these damaging compounds to stick around and cause inflammation, too.

And as you already know, chronic inflammation causes excessive activation of osteoclasts and bone loss.

The pesticide researchers used in the study mentioned above was endosulfan.³⁵ It’s a widely used pesticide and is well-known to be a pro-oxidant. That means it causes the production of reactive oxygen species (free radicals) that greatly damage your cells.

And the worst part? Endosulfan triggers a cycle of inflammation within your body! This chronic inflammation is a slow-burning fire that doesn’t present any immediate symptoms like hives or trouble breathing. The damage that keeps accumulating is now recognized as a driving factor in metabolic syndrome. And metabolic syndrome is a driving factor in type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and osteoporosis!

In another study, rats were given a tiny dose of a mixture of four organochlorine pesticides (OCP) in their drinking water.³⁶ These OCPs (dichlorvos, dimethoate, acephate, and phorate) are insecticides used on many food crops. When combined (as these pesticides are in real life as residues in the non-organic foods we eat), each pesticide produced a toxic action. Even at levels that are supposedly safe for us.

The mixture of organochlorine pesticides produced the following effects:

• • Oxidative stress: Remember, oxidative stress causes chronic low-grade inflammation
  • Liver and kidney dysfunction: This means you can’t convert vitamin D into its active form– hormonal form (1,25-D)– or clear toxins from your body. And you’ll lose calcium and magnesium in your urine rather than reabsorb them, too.
  • Disturbed metabolism of fats and proteins: This can lead to cardiovascular disease and inflammation.
  • Disrupted production of thyroid hormones: This results in a lack of thyroid hormone, which promotes hypothyroidism and bone loss.

*Please note: At AlgaeCal we strive to present you with the latest, highest standard research and studies. And that wouldn’t usually include animal studies. But human intervention studies should never be carried out if the risks outweigh the potential benefits of the information they reveal.

The last two studies are a prime example of this. It wouldn’t be ethical to expose pregnant women to pesticides, or make people drink water contaminated with pesticides. If that weren’t a scary enough list, organochlorine pesticides are a recognized contributor to chronic kidney disease (CKD).³⁷

First OCP residues damage the kidneys, so they’re less able to excrete them. Then the OCPs and other toxins your kidneys are supposed to be able to eliminate in urine, build up in the body… and wreak havoc everywhere! And that spells more bad news for bone health…

You might not know it, but your kidneys play a key role in bone health. Remember, vitamin D helps you absorb calcium (the cornerstone of bone health). And your kidneys convert vitamin D into its active form – the form which helps us absorb calcium!

Plus, your kidneys excrete wastes (that would otherwise cause damage and inflammation), reabsorb vital nutrients (including calcium and magnesium), help you maintain a healthy pH and avoid metabolic acidosis, and regulate your blood pressure (both high and low blood pressure cause chronic inflammation). Yes, your kidneys are an unsung bone health hero! So, it pays to keep them healthy and in full working order.

One last study on pesticides…

With such a heavy reliance on technology and machinery these days, it’s easy to overlook the fact that it’s actually humans who often spray pesticides on SAD (Standard American Diet)) crops. These workers spend a lot of time in the presence of pesticides, so they offer an additional insight into the damage they can cause.

A study assessed 81 intensive agriculture workers (pesticide sprayers), twice during the course of a spraying season. Researchers found these individuals’ levels of key protective antioxidant enzymes were far lower compared to controls.³⁸ That means their ability to combat the inflammation caused by the pesticides was greatly impaired.

What’s worse, people obviously know about the health issues pesticides pose, but it’s still not common knowledge. Take the study we just discussed for example.

Instead of warning the general public, the researchers speculate, “Whether or not the decreased enzyme activities found in this study are linked to the adverse health effects related to chronic pesticide toxicity (in which oxidative damage plays a pathophysiological role, such as cancer or neurodegenerative disorders) is an attractive hypothesis that warrants further investigation.”

By being aware of the dangers, and by making a conscious effort when it comes to your shopping list, you won’t have to be part of that “further investigation.”

What can you do about dietary toxins?

Dietary toxins spell bad news for your overall health, not just your bones. They lead to osteoporosis in numerous ways, but the common theme for all the dietary toxins we’ve covered – refined sugars and grains, fats, and pesticides – is inflammation. And remember, chronic inflammation is a fast-track ticket for bone loss. But the amount of dietary toxins you’re exposed to is in your hands.

When it comes to refined sugars and grains, and pro-inflammatory fats keep the information you’ve read today in mind. You control what goes into your shopping basket and your body, and now you have the knowledge to limit products that will damage your bones.

For more information on dietary toxins to avoid, check out our post: 8 Foods to Avoid for Osteoporosis. You’ll find some tasty, bone-healthy alternatives you to try in there, too!

At AlgaeCal we realize how difficult it is to keep inflammation from toxins and foods completely out of your life, so we formulated a helping hand. Triple Power Omega 3 Fish Oil provides 1400 mg of omega 3s (inflammation-fighting superheroes) plus two more of the most powerful anti-inflammatories on the planet in every tablespoon.

Plus, you’ll absolutely love the mango flavor. Learn more about Triple Power Omega 3 Fish Oil by clicking the button below.

As for avoiding pesticides, it’s as easy as eating organically grown food whenever possible. Most supermarkets have dedicated organic produce sections these days. And how’s this for convenient?

You can check out which produce has the most, and least, pesticide residues in our “EWG’s (Environmental Working Group’s) Dirty Dozen and Clean Fifteen Lists” post. Or if you enjoy gardening, why not grow your own? Your bones (and the rest of your body) will thank you.

So, that’s dietary toxins covered, but we’re not out of the woods just yet. Many other toxins in our environment can lead to osteoporosis if we’re over exposed to them. But don’t panic, once you know what they are, you can take steps to avoid them.

In this section, we’ll cover how endocrine disruptors (harmful chemicals you’ll find in everyday products) and smoking can cause osteoporosis, plus what you can do to avoid them!

Endocrine disruptors

Endocrine disruptors (EDs) are chemicals that interfere with your body’s endocrine system.³⁹ That’s a collection of glands that produce hormones to regulate metabolism, sleep, growth and development, and mood, among other things.

Endocrine disruptors, which can be natural or man-made, produce adverse reproductive, developmental, neurological, and immune effects in both wildlife and humans. And as you’ve probably guessed, they’re not friends with your bones!

How do endocrine disruptors work?

Your endocrine system can be disrupted in various ways. Endocrine disruptors can mimic a natural hormone, which fools your body into over-responding to the stimulus.⁴⁰ Or, it can respond at inappropriate times.

Other EDs block the effects of hormones altogether. As we mentioned in the hormones section, hormones act at precise moments and in small amounts to regulate the body’s immunity, behavior, reproduction, metabolism, growth, and development. And that includes your bones.

So, by meddling with your hormones, EDs can alter the bone remodeling process and skeletal formation.⁴¹ And to add insult to injury, EDs can have lifelong effects, even after exposure has been stopped.⁴²

How do you come into contact with endocrine disruptors?

The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences reveals that EDs are in many products like:⁴⁰

• • Metal food cans
  • Detergents
  • Plastic bottles
  • Flame retardants
  • Cosmetics
  • Food
  • Toys
  • Pesticides

You see, EDs don’t break down easily, which is why manufacturers use them in their products. But this is bad news for your body and the environment, as they stick around in the air, soil, and water.

The Most Common and Well-Studied Endocrine Disruptors

Discover what the common endocrine disruptors are and their health implications:⁴²

* Please note – BPA is now commonly replaced with Bisphenol S (BPS). But research (although limited so far) shows BPS can interfere with cell functioning, and even cause cell death.⁶⁵ So even BPA-free products can be harmful.

What can you do to reduce your exposure to endocrine disruptors?

That table of EDs and their health implications makes for scary reading. But don’t feel overwhelmed or helpless. There are several ways you can limit or even completely avoid exposure to them and their harmful effects.

You may be surprised to learn some of the most common medications contribute to bone loss or osteoporosis. Even medications prescribed to treat osteoporosis!

Doctors have your health and your best interests at heart. They prescribe you certain medications because they want to help you manage the distressing symptoms of the condition you’re facing. But the unfortunate truth is your bone health sometimes takes a back seat to the immediate pressing issue the drug is treating.

So, what can you do about prescribed drugs?

Well, it’s as simple as discussing your concerns with your doctor before you agree to any prescribed medications. Let them know you’re worried about your bone health, and together you can work towards a solution that doesn’t harm your bones.

When you hear the word detox, you think of the liver, right? That’s because the liver is the major organ that supports detoxification. It contains an army of enzymes that break down toxic invaders and convert them into water-soluble substances.⁷⁷ Then they’re flushed out of your body in your urine.

Your liver plays a role in hormone production, energy storage, digestion, and more too!⁷⁸ And if that weren’t already enough, your liver and bones are also closely connected.⁷⁹

In fact, a variety of liver diseases are associated with bone loss. When your liver is unhealthy, it starts to produce pro-inflammatory cytokines that activate your bone-resorbing osteoclasts. And its ability to convert vitamin D into its active form is affected too (remember, you need fully active vitamin D to absorb calcium).

Studies show over 92% of people with liver disease have a vitamin D deficiency.⁸⁰ Plus, up to 40% of patients with chronic liver disease may experience a fracture!⁷⁹

So, in short, an unhealthy liver leads to decreased bone formation, increased bone resorption, increased risk of fracture, and an inability to flush those toxic invaders from your body.

So how do you support your liver and keep it healthy?

Your kidneys’ main role is to excrete the majority of toxins that accumulate in your body (through urine). They also balance minerals like magnesium, calcium, and potassium — all of which are crucial for your bones.

Plus, your kidneys convert vitamin D from the Sun and food sources to the active form of vitamin D your body can use.⁸⁷ Without that conversion, your body’s ability to absorb calcium from your digestive tract is reduced by more than 80%.

So how can you support your kidneys?

1. 1. Stay hydrated: Drinking plenty of water throughout the day will help keep your kidneys in fine shape. As a rule of thumb, your urine should be straw colored. Amber or honey-colored urine could be a sign of dehydration. Dark urine because of other causes can be tinged with brown or red.
   2. Keep your blood pressure in check: High blood pressure is the second most common cause of kidney failure in the United States!⁸⁸ You see, when your blood pressure is too high, it stretches your blood vessels. This weakens and scars them, making them less effective at clearing toxins. To keep your blood pressure at a healthy level, exercise often, manage stress, maintain a healthy body weight, and quit smoking.
   3. Eat a balanced, healthy diet: You know the drill by now. Eat organically grown foods as much as possible and try to cut out sugary drinks and snacks, and overly-processed or refined products.

You may have heard the Hippocrates quote, “all disease begins in the gut.” And with more research supporting the role it plays in your overall health, it’s not something to overlook!

Your gut, or gastrointestinal system, contains 100 trillion microorganisms.⁸⁹ These are your ‘microbiota.’ Their primary function is to help you digest food, absorb nutrients, and excrete waste.

But when your microbiota become unbalanced, your gut becomes less effective at all its jobs.⁹⁰ And that can cause a number of issues like irritable bowel syndrome, autoimmune diseases, and obesity.

So how can you support your gut?

As you may know, probiotics are helpful bacteria that boost your immune system, guard your gut from harmful invaders, and much more.⁹¹

Recent research shows promising effects of probiotics on your bones, too. Swedish scientists reported their surprising findings in the Journal of Internal Medicine.⁹¹ The scientists followed 70 osteopenic women (average age of 76) over an entire year. Half the women received Lactobacillus reuteri 6475 (L. reuteri 6475), a special probiotic strain. The other half received a placebo.

(Note: there were no significant differences in the baseline bone densities and other health readings between the two groups. And none of the participants took any bone loss medications.)

The women taking L. reuteri 6475 mixed it into a drink and consumed it twice a day. The scientists measured changes in bone mineral density in each woman’s tibia (shinbone) after 12 months. And the results shocked them…

While both groups lost bone density, the placebo group lost nearly TWICE the amount of the L. reuteri 6475 group!

This unique probiotic was the only difference between the two groups, and neither scientists nor the participants knew who was taking what (a gold-standard, double-blinded study). Interestingly enough, the Swedish researchers couldn’t pinpoint exactly why the probiotic bacteria reduced bone loss. To discover that, further research is required.

But having said that… There are some compelling reasons why this may be. (One of the reasons may be because “good bacteria” help with mineral absorption!)⁹² To learn more about probiotics, fermented foods, and even how your gut can influence your bone density, please check out the following resources: The Importance of a Healthy Gut + Its Connection To Your Bones The Ultimate Guide to Prebiotics and Probiotics + Their Impact on Your Bones How to Make Fermented Foods For Your Bones

The lymphatic system is a network of vessels and organs that work to expel waste from your kidneys and colon.⁹³ Your spleen, tonsils, and bone marrow are all part of the lymphatic system.

During steady-state exercise, your lymphatic system flow increases 2-3 times compared to rest. That means when you exercise, your body is able to expel toxins faster!

Exercise like yoga is particularly beneficial. Why? Because yoga can boost your body’s circulation and lymphatic drainage, and some of the weight-bearing poses involved support your bone health, too. Check out our “Ultimate Guide to Yoga for Osteoporosis” post for more information on the best poses to practice.

But wait! That’s not the end of yoga’s benefits… Yoga has powerful benefits for your mind, too. It’s true! A yoga practice helps to induce a sense of whole-body relaxation and calm. The breathing, intention setting, and meditation practices help to reduce stress. And remember, as we mentioned in the liver section, chronic stress is essentially a toxin that causes inflammation. Not to mention the implications it has on your mental health.⁹⁴

Get your sweat on!

Sweating helps you detoxify. In fact, most toxin concentrations are 2-10 times higher in sweat than in blood. That indicates your body utilizes sweating as a detoxification process!

And here’s the exciting part; exercise and physical activity aren’t the only ways to get sweaty (although we do encourage them of course). You can actually detoxify by sitting still… in a warm room that is. Yes, research shows saunas help to excrete a whole range of toxins!⁹⁵

In fact, even firefighters and police use saunas for health reasons. Law enforcement personnel are regularly exposed to chemical hazards like methamphetamine labs. And this frequent exposure can become hazardous to their health without detoxification. One study showed a sauna every day for one month dramatically reduced a group of 14 firemen’s toxic load.⁹⁶

When you look after your body’s detox organs and systems, you maximize your ability to flush out harmful toxins and protect your bones. But to get ahead of the game, it’s wise to limit your exposure to the toxins in the first place.

Now, it’s impossible to avoid every single dietary and environmental toxin out there. But in the section above, we outline many you can take steps to avoid. To discover more about each of your body’s natural detox capacities, take a read of our in-depth “How to Detox Your Body Naturally” post.

This should come as no surprise, but another cause of osteoporosis is a lack of exercise, particularly weight-bearing exercise.

Nowadays, lots of people live a sedentary lifestyle (whether they’re aware of it or not). If you think about it, modern life makes it easy to slip into. We sit when we travel or commute. We sit at our desk jobs. We sit when we’re relaxing after a long day, watching TV for hours at a time. And the consequence is this— bones are simply under-utilized for the majority of the day.

That’s why it’s important to be doing regular weight-bearing exercise, resistance training, and other forms of exercise that get your body moving!

Now, a common misconception is that exercise alone can increase your bone mineral density. While that statement isn’t accurate, exercise is an important factor for building and maintaining bone (along with proper nutrition and avoiding inflammatory toxins.)

See, weight-bearing and resistance exercise increase your muscle strength. And your muscle strength has a direct impact on your bone strength.⁹⁷ Your skeletal and muscular systems are closely linked. Muscle contractions are the strongest mechanical forces on your bones. And these muscle contractions condition your bone density, strength, and microarchitecture (the internal structure of your bones.)

Now, free weights are one of the best things you can do to increase your bone strength because of the concentrated pressure they put on your bones.

(Please note: You don’t need a lot of weight to reap the benefits of weight training, especially if you have osteoporosis. 1-2 pounds will be sufficient without putting you at risk of injury).

Your body allots resources to strengthening them due to the demand of weight-bearing exercises. Any doubts about this fact are easily quashed if you consider astronauts in zero gravity conditions. Upon returning to Earth they often need to be carried from the ship, as their bones (and muscle) have withered – at 12 times the rate of the rest of us here on Earth!⁹⁸

We all lose about 1% of bone every year after age 35. But an astronaut will lose at the rate of 12% and more per year. And that’s because their muscles have been on a gravity-free holiday. To discover more on how exercise benefits your bones, check out our “Can Exercise ALONE Increase Bone Density” post.

You wouldn’t start saving for retirement once you hit retirement age, right? Well, the same principle applies to your bones!

The habits that set the stage for osteoporosis (mainly diet and exercise) begin at a very young age. But unfortunately, most people only get a DEXA test (Dual-energy X-ray Absorptiometry) after age 40, if at all, to learn about their bone health. And that’s usually in response to a fracture.

In fact, DEXA scans aren’t covered by insurance until age 65 for women, and 70 for men. Unless your doctor finds reason to request one earlier.

So what can you do?

Imagine if you took the DEXA scan earlier. You’d have a greater chance to turn the situation around. If you can see osteoporosis is lurking on the distant horizon, you can take preventative measures to avoid it altogether! For more information on DEXA scans, check out our “What is a Bone Density Test?” page.

Since the 1970s, we’ve been very strongly encouraged to wear sunscreen whenever we venture out on a sunny day. The reasoning? The fear that a diminishing ozone layer would lead to sunburn and even skin cancer.

Obviously, cancer is a scary prospect, so many people got on board with sunscreen. But we’ve relied on the Sun to provide the UV rays our body can convert to vitamin D for hundreds of thousands of years. (And remember, vitamin D helps you absorb calcium.) Comparatively, the discovery that sunscreen blocks anywhere from 50-90% of UV rays is a recent revelation.

What does that all mean? Most Americans are now vitamin D deficient. The American Society for Clinical Nutrition goes as far as to say that because of a fear of the sun, vitamin D deficiency is now a worldwide ‘pandemic.’⁹⁹ They go on to say, ‘the major cause of vitamin D deficiency is the lack of appreciation that sun exposure in moderation is the major source of vitamin D for most humans.’

So what can you do?

Obviously, you should still be careful when you’re out in the sun. Try not to spend too much time in direct sunlight, and wearing a hat and sunglasses is always a wise safety precaution.

But do try to spend some time soaking up the rays each week. As for sunscreen, the jury is still out on whether it reduces the risk of skin cancer. The National Institute of Cancer currently claims the evidence is still “inadequate.”¹⁰⁰ But the jury is definitely in on the fact that medical complications due to vitamin D deficiency (osteoporosis being one of many) outweigh medical complications due to melanoma – by roughly ten to one!

We’ve mentioned chronic kidney disease (also known as chronic kidney failure) several times throughout this post, but here’s a little recap. Chronic kidney disease is the gradual loss of kidney function. And that’s double trouble for your bone health.

Impaired kidneys are less able to convert vitamin D into its most active form (so you’re less able to absorb calcium). And as chronic kidney disease reaches an advanced stage, your kidneys lose their ability to filter waste, excess fluids, and toxins. All three of which cause inflammation if they’re not excreted. And as you know, inflammation leads to bone loss!

CLDs are chronic inflammatory conditions of the liver where abnormalities are present over an extended period of time. Chronic liver disease covers a wide range of conditions such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, and hepatitis.

And here’s the bad news for your bones: studies show 40% of patients with CLD may experience an osteoporotic fracture!¹⁰¹ Plus, approximately 30% of patients suffer from osteoporosis. The reason CLDs cause bone loss is still not entirely understood. But there are a number of common factors that affect bone metabolism. These include vitamin K deficiency, calcium and vitamin D metabolism alterations, and hormonal dysregulation.

RA affects more than 1.3 million Americans!¹⁰² It’s the most common type of autoimmune arthritis and causes stiffness, joint pain, and swelling.

Studies show bone loss in rheumatoid arthritis patients may be a direct result of the disease.¹⁰³ And others have found an increased risk of fracture, too. Inactivity because of the disease plays a role, but certain medications can also trigger bone loss. Women are affected at a higher rate than men, which is also the case for osteoporosis, so it’s a great concern.

Did you know 70% of your immune system is clustered in and around your gut?¹⁰⁴ So making sure your digestive system is running at its peak can be key to addressing your overall health, and bone health.

Endocrine glands secrete hormones, which are substances that regulate the activity of your organs and cells. These hormones then affect your metabolism, your growth, sexual development, and bodily function.

• Thyroid Disorders: Thyroid hormones play a role in the bone remodeling process and your bone density.¹¹² Both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism are associated with reduced bone mineral density and fracture risk. For a recap on both, jump to our Thyroid section above.
• Parathyroid: The parathyroid glands are small glands in your neck.¹¹³ They regulate the level of calcium in your blood within a very tight range, 24 hours a day! That means they control how much calcium is in your bones! But when your parathyroid hormones are out of whack, they affect the health of your bones. Hyperparathyroidism is when a tumor grows in one of the parathyroid glands. When this happens, your glands can no longer regulate properly, and your calcium levels start to jump around, usually on the high end.
• Adrenal Gland Disorders: Adrenal glands are small, triangular glands located on the top of both kidneys.¹¹⁴ They secrete hormones that affect chemicals in your blood, metabolism, and certain body characteristics. If you suffer from an adrenal gland disorder, it can mean your glands are producing too much (Cushing’s syndrome) or not enough (Addison’s disease)¹¹⁵ hormones. And there is mounting evidence that adrenal hormones have detrimental effects on bone metabolism.¹¹⁴

Many cancer treatments cause bone loss, which can be worsened by the tumor itself.¹¹⁶

• • Multiple myeloma: This is a cancer that forms in a plasma cell. Plasma cells are crucial for health as they help you fight infection. More than 80% of multiple myeloma patients suffer from bony lesions that result in pain, mobility issues, neurological deficits, and fractures.¹¹⁷ A complication of multiple myeloma is called myeloma bone disease, which causes a lack of bone formation.
  • Leukemia: Leukemia disrupts normal blood production. When it comes to your bones, it alters the balances and cycles of osteoclast and osteoblast activity, which results in changes to your bones and skeleton.¹¹⁸
  • Lymphoma: Lymphoma patients have a higher risk of osteoporosis. And it’s increased when treated with alkylating agents or corticosteroids.¹¹⁹
  • Breast cancer: Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women behind skin cancer. It occurs in both men and women, but is less common in men. Since estrogen has a protective effect on bone, reduced levels trigger bone loss. This is due to treatment medications or surgery (also many breast cancer survivors experience loss of ovarian function which leads to a drop in estrogen levels).¹²⁰
  • Prostate Cancer: Just like breast cancer in women, prostate cancer in men increases risk of fractures and osteoporosis.¹²¹ This is due to chemotherapy and hormonal-therapy -induced hypogonadism (absence or reduction of hormone secretion/physiological activity of the gonads).