Nutrient Supports Bone Health over Time Dorothy I.

Onyemah April 30, 2009

The human skeleton is made of individual or joined bones, supported and supplemented by a structure of ligaments, tendons, muscles, cartilage and other organs. Bone, also called osseous tissue is a type of hard endoskeletal connective tissue found in many vertebrate animals. Bones support body structures. The health of our bones is as vital in our overall well-being as our cardiovascular system or our digestion, but its just not as visible If bone is the vital structure of human life, how many times during your busy day have you stopped to think about bone health? Most people would probably answer, Not very often. However, bone health is often taken for granted until a bone is broken, or you are diagnosed with osteoporosis. Yet at any given moment in each of us, there are millions of sites where small segments of old, weak bone are being dissolved and new bone is being laid down in its place. When we do start to think about bone health, we discover that our skeleton is a truly amazing organ. That might seem like an odd description to say that the skeleton is an organ, but when you think about it, the skeleton is as dynamic and changeable as any other part of the body. Like any other living tissue, the bones of the body undergo constant transformation. Every atom in our skeleton is replaced in a three-month period as our bodies continually monitor and improve our bones strength. So it stands to reason that at any given point in our lives, our bones will be different from what they were years ago and from what theyll become in years to come. Its unfortunate that few people take the time to understand how our bones develop and age, how they repair themselves, and what causes them to weaken. Weve seen a whole industry develop in the last few decades intended to shore up the weakened bones of old age, all with only a sketchy understanding of what bones need to function well, or indeed what those functions are! The simple truth is there is a great deal more to bone health than meets the eye. Our understanding of the many roles bones play in our health is constantly evolving. Healthy bones are more than just a support for the rest of the body. They are a factory for our blood cells, making sure that a fresh supply of red and white cells are available to meet our bodys needs for oxygen and immune function. Theyre a mineral storehouse, warehousing calcium, phosphorus, silica, and many other nutrients needed in our body. They maintain our bodys pH, releasing alkalizing mineral compounds strategically when our body becomes too acidic. And they protect our most vital organs from harm, cradling them in a hard yet flexible armor. All of these roles, and more, are essential to our health. Knowing how important roles bones play in human life, it is not surprise that there are constant research on how to support and keep them healthy for us over the course of a lifespan. One finding from a new study suggest that natural pigments found in plants may help protect against bone loss in older men and women. Researchers funded by the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) reported the findings in a paper published online by The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Nutrient Supports Bone Health over Time Dorothy I. Onyemah April 30, 2009
The study was led by epidemiologist Katherine Tucker with the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University in Boston, Mass. Tucker directs the HNRCA's Dietary Assessment and Epidemiology Research Program. Other studies have consistently shown that fruits and vegetables intake is good for bones. Biological antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids protect cells and tissues from damage caused by naturally occurring oxygen free radicals in the body. Such plant nutrients may help protect the skeleton by reducing oxidative stress and thereby inhibiting bone breakdown or reabsorption. The researchers examined potential effects on bone mineral density of overall and individual intake of several carotenoid compounds, including alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, betacryptoxanthin, lycopene, lutein, and zeaxanthin. For the observational study, the researchers tracked changes in bone mineral density at two areas of the hip and lumbar spine of male and female volunteers, aged 75 years on average, participating in the Framingham Osteoporosis Study. Among these volunteers, 213 men and 390 women were measured at the beginning of the study and four years later. Over the course of the four years of the study, carotenoids were associated with some level of protection against losses in bone mineral density at the hip in men and at the lumbar spine in women. No significant associations were observed at the other bone sites. However, the results suggest there is a protective effect of carotenoids, particularly of lycopene, against bone loss in older adults. Also, the researchers concluded that carotenoids may explain, in part, the previously observed protective effects of fruits and vegetables consumption on bone mineral density. These other researches includes a supporting title of the nutrition & bone health and eating for better bones, which supported the fact that nutrient from the fruits and vegetables is good for bone health. According the article, when it comes to bone health, theres a single goal: to maximize the intake of nutrient-dense, bone-building whole foods and minimize the intake of substances that make the body more acid. It may sound simple, but in todays fast-paced society, following this simple recipe is difficult at best, and it was likely much easier for our ancestors than it is for us. Living off the land and sea provided our ancestors with a variety of nutrient-rich, whole foods that could be harvested directly and dried, steamed, or preserved in other ways for use in winter. Even more recent generations of our ancestors, our grandparents could not have located, much less purchased and consumed much of the unwholesome foods that line todays supermarket shelves. If bone health is your goal, heres a simple way to start: change what you put on your plate at mealtimes. First, eat meals composed largely of fresh fruits and vegetables, organically grown whenever possible, that have undergone very little processing before they come to your plate. Its okay if you include some processed foods, but try to make your diet mostly fresh, whole foods. Second, make sure you are choosing foods that promote your bodys acid/alkaline balance,
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Nutrient Supports Bone Health over Time Dorothy I. Onyemah April 30, 2009
which is easy if you follow the first suggestion, as most of the alkalizing foods you can obtain are fresh fruits and vegetables. Also, another article titled antioxidant linked to better bone health for osteoarthritis suggests that increased intake of vitamin C was associated with a 50 percent reduced risk of bone marrow lesions, and a smaller bone area. Fruit intake was also linked to a smaller tibial plateau bone area and a 28 percent reduction in the risk of bone marrow lesions. Neither fruit nor vitamin C intake was associated with cartilage measurements. However, increased intake of the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin was associated with a 29 percent reduction in the risk of cartilage defects, while beta-cryptoxanthin intake was linked to smaller tibial plateau bone area. Most people understand that calcium and vitamin D, along with physical activity, are important for strong bones. But research suggests that many other nutrients affect bone health. For example, the 2004 Surgeon Generals report on bone health and osteoporosis explains how a wide array of nutrients and other food components (e.g., adequate boron, copper, fluoride, iron, isoflavones, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K and zinc; avoiding too much caffeine, fiber, oxalates, phosphorus, protein, sodium and vitamin A) impact bone health. In addition to specific nutrients, there is increasing evidence that fruits and vegetables also play a role in building bone and keeping bones healthy.
The fact that nutrients from fruits and vegetables support bones health is an interesting finding. However, it seems like the finding is not widely accepted. There are still other researches going on. According to Dr. Letitica Rao oxidative stress is of wide interest as a risk factor in the metabolic bone disease

osteoporosis. The role that can be played by lycopene in reducing this risk is not yet fully understood. Dr. Rao is engaged in an ongoing clinical study to evaluate lycopene from nutritional supplements and tomato juice in the prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Another article I read on the internet is still reviewing the fact that lycopene, a potent antioxidant present and primarily found in tomatoes and tomato products, has been associated with human chronic diseases in postmenopausal women based on epidemiological data, clinical studies and invitro cell cultures. Osteoporosis is a major metabolic bone disease that primarily affects women and men over the age of 50 because of the loss of estrogen at menopause in women and low levels of the sex hormone testosterone in men. One of the risk factors for osteoporosis that is of wide interest and will be reviewed here is oxidative stress cause by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although oxidative stress has been associated with osteoporosis and the activity and function of osteoblasts and osteoclasts, the two major bone cells involved in the pathogenesis of this disease, the cellular and molecular mechanisms of their actions and the role played by lycopene are not completely clear at the present time. Our ongoing clinical study is the first study to evaluate lycopene from nutritional supplements and tomato juice in the prevention of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women. Base on several articles I read on the Internet, there seem to be more support for the betacryptoxanthin and zeazanthin than the other components of carotenoids, but not yet fully
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Nutrient Supports Bone Health over Time Dorothy I. Onyemah April 30, 2009
accepted. Researchers from the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom revealed in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (August 2005) that some dietary carotenoids, including beta-cryptoxanthin and zeaxanthin, lower the risk of developing arthritis. However, two other dietary carotenoids, lutein and lycopene, did not seem to have the same protective effect against arthritis. However, the Boston research is more current so things may have change since the 2005 research. One other study shows that beta-Cryptoxanthin displays a unique anabolic effect on bone calcification, however, its action is seasonal and complemented by Vitamin-D. For example, in women with osteoporosis, serum beta-cryptoxanthin and 25-OH-vitamin D(3) showed a weak but significant correlation and exhibited a complementary seasonal distribution. The serum concentrations of alpha- and beta-cryptoxanthin and 25-OH- D(3) in women with osteoporosis (N = 644) were analyzed using a quality-controlled high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. RESULTS: Overall, significant seasonal variations were found for the three analytes and inter-individual variation was also high (60-73%). beta-cryptoxanthin and 25-OHvitamin D(3) exhibited a marked complementary seasonal distribution in serum, with vitamin D displaying the highest values in summer and beta-cryptoxanthin in winter. The research concluded that beta-cryptoxanthin on bone calcification and its complementary seasonal distribution with respect to 25-OH-vitamin D(3), the potential role of beta-cryptoxanthin as a sustainable nutritional approach to improving bone health deserves to be further evaluated. How nice and relieved to both young and older population to know that we wouldnt have to worry so much about our bones health when we succeed in finding that the common food we eat will keep them healthy for the entire of ones lifespan. However, that finding is yet to be conclusive and widely accepted. There were several researches that are pointing to that direction, have concluded on the finding and believed to be true. Some, had disagreed with the roles different components of the carotenoids play in the bone health. However, there are several ongoing studies that are yet to be concluded. Truly one cannot disagree with the fact that fresh fruits and vegetables play tremendous part in our health, but as of today, more studies and general acceptance of the findings are needed before we can say for sure that the nutrient (carotenoids) found in fruits and vegetables can support bone health.

Reference sites: http://www.betterbones.com/betterbody/default.aspx

http://www.betterbones.com/bonenutrition/default.aspx

[How a Diet Rich in Fruits and Vegetables Might Aid in Bone Health] [http://www.uwex.edu/CES/wnep/specialist/nfl/mmpdfs/0904.pdf] The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN)

Nutrient Supports Bone Health over Time Dorothy I. Onyemah April 30, 2009
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17882465

My presentation Research is base on the nutrient (carotenoids) from fruits and vegetables supports bone health over time. The research is conducted

Most people understand that calcium and vitamin D, along with physical activity, are important for strong bones. But research suggests that many other nutrients affect bone health. For example, the 2004 Surgeon Generals report on bone health and osteoporosis explains how a wide array of nutrients and other food components (e.g., adequate boron, copper, fluoride, iron, isoflavones, magnesium, manganese, phosphorus, potassium, protein, vitamin C, vitamin K and zinc; avoiding too much caffeine, fiber, oxalates, phosphorus, protein, sodium and vitamin A) impact bone health. In addition to specific nutrients, there is increasing evidence that fruit and vegetables also play a role in building bone and keeping bones healthy. A recent study suggests that the way fruits and vegetables affect the bodys acid/base balance may have a role in bone health. Fruits and vegetables are metabolized to bicarbonate and therefore produce an alkaline environment in the body. Diets high in protein and cereal grains are acidogenic because they are metabolized to acid and therefore produce an acidic environment. In general, acidogenic diets tend to increase bone reabsorption, meaning that the bone tissues are being broken down faster than they are beingre-formed. [How a Diet Rich in Fruits and Vegetables Might Aid in Bone Health] [http://www.uwex.edu/CES/wnep/specialist/nfl/mmpdfs/0904.pdf] Studies have consistently shown that fruit and vegetable intake is good for bones. Biological antioxidants in fruits and vegetables, such as carotenoids, protect cells and tissues from damage caused by naturally occurring oxygen free radicals in the body. Such plant nutrients may help protect the skeleton by reducing oxidative stress and thereby inhibiting bone breakdown or reabsorption. It also is known that bones are strengthened by exercise and a healthy diet. In fact, bones act like a storehouse for crucial minerals (such as calcium). Findings from a new study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) suggest that natural pigments found in plants may help protect against bone loss in older men and women
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Nutrient Supports Bone Health over Time Dorothy I. Onyemah April 30, 2009
http://www.foodnavigator.com/Science-Nutrition/Antioxidants-linked-to-better-bone-health-forosteoarthritis