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Diet & Nutrition

Is Alcohol Good or Bad for Your Bones?

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

So you enjoy a glass of wine or two with dinner, the occasional cold beer with friends, or a fancy cocktail at social gatherings…

But have you ever wondered how alcohol might affect your bone health?

After all, research shows that once you hit age 40, you lose about 1% of your bone density a year. This is especially concerning for women who are at increased risk of developing osteoporosis — a condition where bones become weak and prone to fracture.

Does this mean you have to give up your glass of wine with dinner? Well, it depends on whether you’re in the habit of having one glass or several…

As you can imagine, chronic heavy drinking is bad news for your bones.

Alcohol must be detoxified by the liver, and too many wipes out the liver’s supply of glutathione — the body’s most important antioxidant. This destroys the liver’s ability to eliminate not just alcohol, but everything else it needs to clear… a situation that ramps up inflammation in the body.

This affects your bones because chronic, low-grade inflammation sends your osteoclasts (the specialized cells that break down bone) into overdrive. And since building new bone takes much longer than breaking down old bone, too much osteoclast activity results in bone thinning and, ultimately, osteoporosis.

So it’s not surprising that excessive alcohol consumption has been repeatedly associated with low bone mineral density (BMD), elevated markers of bone resorption (bone breakdown), and increased risk of fragility fractures.

But before you say goodbye to your favorite Shiraz, there’s some good news too…

Recent research shows that moderate alcohol consumption actually supports bone health and lowers your risk of hip fracture.

In this study, researchers collected data on a large number of people over a 34-year period:

  • 75,180 women aged 53 on average when the study began
  • 38,398 men aged 50 or older when the study began

 

Compared to no alcohol intake, low to moderate alcohol consumption was associated with a significantly lower risk of hip fracture!

Now, it’s worth noting the results from observational studies need to be taken with a grain of salt because other factors could be at play. For example, in this instance, people who have a glass of wine a day might also follow a Mediterranean diet or walk more. So these factors could also contribute to their reduced risk of fracture. Nonetheless, these initial findings are promising…

But what do the researchers mean by “low to moderate” alcohol intake?

No more than 20 grams of ethanol (alcohol) per day for women and 30 grams per day for men.

To put that in perspective, here’s the ethanol content of various types of alcoholic beverages:

  • 12.4 grams for a 4-oz glass of red wine
  • 12.1 grams for a 4-oz glass of white wine
  • 13.9 grams for a 12-oz glass of regular beer
  • 13.1 grams for a 12-oz glass of light beer
  • 14.0 grams for 1.5-oz shot of liquor

 

As you can see, there’s no need to give up your glass of wine with dinner! In fact, one glass a day may be just what the doctor ordered.

But why is moderate alcohol intake good for your bones?

In women, moderate alcohol consumption boosts estrogen and has been associated with reduced bone resorption. This makes sense as estrogen slows the rate of bone remodeling after menopause.

Wine, particularly red wine, is especially beneficial due to its phenol content. (Phenols are compounds that affect the taste and color of wine!) Studies show that certain flavonoids, a type of phenol present in wine, promote the creation of osteoblasts (the specialized cells that build bone), and inhibit the creation of osteoclasts. What’s more, higher phenol intake has been associated with higher BMD.

So not to worry, you can toast the health of your bones with a moderate amount of alcohol. Just make sure you keep the guidelines I shared above in mind!

Author bio:

Lara Pizzorno, MDIV, MA, LMT

Lara is the best-selling author of “Your Bones: How You Can Prevent Osteoporosis and Have Strong Bones for Life – Naturally”. She’s also a member of the American Medical Writers Association with 30+ years of experience and the Resident Bone Health Expert at AlgaeCal.

 

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Exercise & Fitness

What’s better for bones: diet or exercise?

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger
Scientists may have found some clues to help answer an age-old question: What has a more positive impact on bones, diet or exercise?

Perhaps you’ve heard evidence for both these important habits. But a new University of Michigan (U-M) study got closer to a final answer.

To get this answer, researchers had to determine what effect diet alone, exercise alone, and then both diet and exercise together had on bone mineral content and density.

Researchers studied 16-week old mice and split them into various groups. Half got a control diet. The other half got an enriched diet with added calcium and phosphorus.

From there:

  • Some groups exercised for 8 weeks
  • Others didn’t at all
  • And still others exercised 30 minutes daily for 8 weeks, then stopped exercising for another 8 weeks.

 

In all, the researchers wanted to see whether diet or exercise made a greater difference in the mice’s bone density. And then, whether a combination of the two did even better. It’s important to know that at 16 weeks old, the mice were still expected to increase bone density regardless of treatment.

At the end of the study, here’s what the researchers found:

On average, the mice with the enriched diet saw greater increases in bone mineral density and strength compared to exercise mice alone. (In fact, mice who exercised only showed increases when they were on the enriched diet!) And the enriched diet mice saw greater increases versus the control diet mice too.

But the largest increases were in the group with the enriched diet who exercised for 8 weeks and then stopped exercising for the next 8!

Amazingly, the enriched-diet mice maintained their increases even through the 8 weeks of non-exercise. That means the enriched diet alone kept up the increases— no exercise needed!

These results even shocked the researchers. David Kohn, professor in the schools of dentistry and engineering at U-M, didn’t think diet alone would yield the results it did. Kohn believed a control diet with regular exercise would win out.

And sure, this was an animal study. But as Kohn himself said, “… if you think about the progression to humans, diet is easier for someone to carry on as they get older and stop exercising, rather than the continuation of exercise itself.”

Why You Shouldn’t Be Surprised…

Now, human studies have also proved that nutrition alone can improve bone health. In fact, nutrition alone increased bone density for 7 consecutive years, even in folks in their mid-80s!

Just like in the U-M mouse study, the participants in the 7-year human study used calcium and phosphorus to build their new bone too. But it took another 11 minerals and 3 vitamins to see consistent increases year over year.

Please note: All this isn’t to say you should stop exercising. Far from it. Exercise- particularly the weight-bearing kind- helps strengthen your bone and give you greater balance to reduce falls. And as you saw from the new study, the initial 8 weeks of exercise combined with a bone-building diet produced the best results.

By Dean Neuls

Dean Neuls is the Co-Founder and CEO of AlgaeCal. He is a natural health author and student of bone health science who is passionate about helping people & bettering lives.

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Conditions & Treatments

Scary Link Between Fractures and Fatalities

by Guest Blogger
written by Guest Blogger

You’ve probably heard how a hip fracture can change your life in the blink of an eye. In fact, nearly 1 in 4 people pass away within a year of fracturing a hip.

The International Osteoporosis Foundation reports more bleak numbers: 40% of hip fracture patients can no longer walk without help; a full 60% require assistance within a year; and 1 in 3 lose their independence and end up in an assisted living facility by year’s end.

Yet the largest study of its kind shows any fracture after age 45 can mean the worst…

Scary Link Between Fractures and Fatality

Researchers at the University of Sydney’s Kolling Institute of Bone and Joint Research discovered an unsettling truth. They followed 238,673 people aged 45+ with an average age of 63, and they surveyed these folks between 2006 and 2013.

Here’s what the lead researcher Dr. Lyn March and her team discovered…

15.7 men died for every 1,000 person-years in the study. And 7.9 women died in every 1,000 person-years. (1,000 “person-years” is a common measurement in a study of this size to show the frequency of some event.)

But that’s not the surprising part. This is: The death rate more than doubled in the people who first fractured a bone! In this case, 33 men and 19 women died for every 1,000 person-years!

Now, you might think hip fractures were responsible for most of these fatalities. But the researchers found all fractures (aside from fingers and toes) increased subjects’ risk of dying.

Dr. March said it best herself:

“Common fractures like spinal fractures that cause older people to stoop over, arm, collarbone and wrist fractures from a simple fall, or pelvic fractures from a trip on the stairs or a slip on the ice all increase the risk of the sufferer dying in the next few years.”

As you can see, fragile bones are often a precursor to bigger problems. In fact, low bone density is responsible for 1 in every 3 fall-related deaths!

This isn’t overly surprising… I mean, your bones are literally the foundation that keep you together! So weak bones can’t withstand daily strains like walking, jogging, or even falling like healthy bones can.

2 Simple Ways To Protect Yourself

So what’s the best thing to do to support your foundation? Well, strengthening it of course.

The first way to protect yourself is by exercising to keep your bones strong and healthy! Follow this link for a comprehensive list of bone-strengthening exercises.

And you can do more than exercise to protect yourself too. The second action you can take is going through this Fall Prevention Checklist to make sure your environment is as safe as possible.

Keep safe, keep strong, and be good to your bones!

By Dean Neuls
Dean Neuls is the Co-Founder and CEO of AlgaeCal. He is a natural health author and student of bone health science who is passionate about helping people & bettering lives.

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