In my last post we considered the process of bone remodeling.  We saw how old bone is literally nibbled away by osteoclasts  preparing the way for osteoblasts to come behind and lay down a collagen matrix  for new bone with a fresh supply of calcium.  We also saw how estrogen regulates this process by helping osteoclasts die (apoptosis)  as they complete their jobs of resorption, thereby maintaining the ratio between these two bone workhorse cells. We looked at the roles Vitamin D and the Parathyroid hormones play in stimulating osteoclast activity and the release of calcium and phosphorus from the bones into the blood, and how they facilitate calcium resorption in the kidneys.

 So, there’s a whole lot of activity in the bone remodeling process going on daily in your body completing a cycle in 100-day, yet taking seven years to completely rebuild every bone in your skeletal system.  Basically, we have a new frame and muscular system every seven years, which is quite amazing!  I’ve now been through nine bodies and starting on my tenth one.  

We also looked at how osteopenia and osteoporosis occur when the net rate of bone resorption exceeds the rate of bone formation, resulting in a decrease in bone mass, and the role that estrogen and testosterone deficiencies play in this degenerative process.  Then we reviewed the medical approach to this condition with drug intervention. Fosamax (alendronate) is the drug of choice.  However, its mechanism of action is deceiving, to say the least, and debilitating at worst, often causing brittle bones that fracture and jaw bone necrosis in the long run. Hormone replacement therapy is also popular, but not without some risks.  

A MORE NATURAL APPROACH

This brings us to the subject of this article: Supporting Bone Remodeling.  As we saw is a previous article, bones are made up of a lot more than just calcium.  They’re made of vitamins, minerals, trace minerals and protein.  Taking calcium tablets alone, then, is not enough to feed your bones, especially if you’re taking calcium carbonate, the cheapest and most useless form of calcium on the market.  

By the way, there’s plenty of calcium in the blood stream just from the process of bone resorption, if you stop to think about it.  The key is to get it out of the blood and into the tissues and bones. We’ll talk about that shortly.  What isn’t used up as muscle fuel is recycled back into the bones.  What cannot be used at all is thrown out through the hair and nails giving them their white color. As we age the hair turns white with calcium as bone resorption is accelerated faster than the calcium can be used, as well as other reason related to mineral ratios and balance. I talk about this ratio in an earlier blog post. But I’ll cover the subject again in a future article.

Borrowing from a previous post to refresh our memories and to show that bone building is not all about calcium . . .

Minerals present in bone are: calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, silica, iron, zinc, selenium, baron, sulphur, chromium, and dozens of others.  In order for bones to absorb the minerals Vitamin D must be present.  Collagen is also part of the bone and provides a matrix for bone formation.

MY RECOMMENDATION FOR BONE REMODELING SUPPORT:

1.) First, stop the leaks. Then start getting calcium into the bones. I use Biost by Standard Process Labs (SPL). Biost is a bone protomorphogen (nucleic protein molecule of bone cells).  It supplies the enzyme phosphatase which the body needs in order to metabolize the raw materials that compose bony tissue.  Phosphatase also transports calcium from the blood into the bones.  

Note: For men with enlarged prostates, (prostate hypertrophy), I use Prost-X because it contains phosphatase which also gets calcium into the prostate gland as well as the bones.  The prostate will enlarge if it lacks calcium.

2.) Feed your bones.  And what better to feed them with than raw bone meal . . . not dead and cooked commercial grade bone meal which is calcium carbonate  (good for your lily bulbs but not for your bones).  Raw bone meal has all the ingredients for bone remodeling.  I use Calcifood Wafers (SPL) when I want immediate support of raw material in severe cases of osteoporosis. Note: Dentists have used Calcifood and Biost for loose teeth with fine results because they rebuild the bone around the teeth.   

3.) A simple and daily supply of nutrient-rich whole foods that have the vitamins and minerals needed to build bones, especially dark green leafy vegetables like fresh raw spinach. This would include vegetables organically grown in mineral-rich soil.  You can tell that if they’re sweet.  It also includes at least 15 – 20 minutes of sunshine on the skin daily for Vitamin D, along with plenty of essential poly-unsaturated fatty acids (EFA’s) in the skin to give the sunshine something with which to make Vitamin D and carry calcium into the tissues. For those who don’t get enough sunshine, you can supplement with Cataplex D (SPL).

To supplement I use SPL’s multiple wholefood formulations of Catalyn, Organic Bound Minerals, Trace Minerals B12, and SUPER-EFF, a converted form of essential polyunsaturated fatty acids essential to the transportation of calcium from the blood into the tissues.

Note: EFA’s need to be converted in the liver to arachidonic acid to be of benefit. A person with a degenerative disease has a bad liver or else he wouldn’t have a degenerative disease.  So he can’t convert EFA’s to arachidonic acid.  SUPER-EFF fills the need here. 

For severe degenerative conditions in all tissues, including nerve degeneration in multiple sclerosis, muscle degeneration in muscular dystrophy,  and bone degeneration in rheumatoid arthritis, even in cancer,  SUPER-EFF is a converted form of polyunsaturated fatty acids and therefore readily useful in rebuilding these tissues. 

4.) Support for the four major endocrine players in female and male hormonal chemistry.  They are the pituitary gland, the thyroid and parathyroid glands, the adrenal glands, and, last but not least, the gonadal glands (ovaries and testes).  I use Symplex F and Symplex M  by SP with superb results. 

5.) Probably of utmost importance these days is support for the stress-response system’s central regulator, the hypothalamus.  I use Hypothalmex  (SPL) for support.   More about this below.

6.) Support the Thyroid and Parathyroid glands with iodine from organic minerals and Cal-Ma-Plus (SPL) which has parathyroid desiccate to enhance the absorption of calcium.  (Note: Soy products slow down the thyroid.)

7.) If you’re over 45 years of age, you would be wise to supplement with Betaine Hydrochloride tablets (SP).  We seem to produce less of it as we age.  Hydrochloric acid, besides being necessary for digestion of proteins in the stomach,  is essential in the assimilation and absorption of calcium, which needs a more acidic condition in the colon for proper absorption.  Betaine Hydrochloride provides that pH factor for calcium.  If you’re having “acid indigestion” take 2 Zypan (SPL) with meals and take care of those “heart burns” after meals while getting your Betaine Hydrochloride at the same time. 

8.) Herbal support for remodeling ageing bones, particularly in mature women.  I use Bone Complex by Medi-Herb (SPL subsidiary). 

9.) Weight bearing exercise to stimulate bone cell growth and calcium absorption into the bones.  Exercise at least 4 days each week.

Watch this short video clip:

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE HYPOTHALAMUS AND ADRENALS IN STRESS MANAGEMENT

Situated beneath the brain, the hypothalamus regulates the homeostatic relationship between you and your environment, starting with the most immediate environment, your physical body with its myriad organic functions and complex chemistry that changes with every emotional upset, mental stress and physical activity.  This critical connection between your central nervous system and your hormonal glands is crucial to homeostasis, and I am deeply concerned that this singular link between environmental stress and our ability to adapt is being overlooked in our healthcare.  

Thanks to our ability to “talk” with the body through kinesiology (muscle testing), the functional health of the hypothalamus can be easily monitored.  Interestingly enough (I notice these things), since the bombing of the World Trade Center and the subsequent activation of our Homeland Security Alert system, I have noticed an increase in the incidence of hypothalamus issues in my practice.  There’s good reason for this.  It’s a consequence of chronic stress.

Fear of terrorist attacks has been hanging over our heads for ten years and we’ve become frozen in a chronic fight or flight stress response.  In chronic stress, the hypothalamus becomes frustrated confused and the adrenal glands exhausted.  Basically, we have a stress factor that won’t go away.  The hypothalamus tells the adrenal glands to pump adrenaline into the blood stream so we can fight the threat and eliminate it or else run away from it.  When we can’t personally do either, the system becomes frustrated and the glands overworked to the point of exhaustion.  Our blood stream becomes saturated with cortisol, the stress hormone, throwing our hormonal system out of balance.  When hormone chemistry becomes imbalanced, nothing is going to function normally in the body because every cell of every organ and tissue in the body depends on adrenalin. Malnutrition and severe vitamin and mineral deficiencies themselves can trigger and maintain a stress response.

What to do?

Well, there is something we can do.  First we can put a filter on our perception of the world through the eyes of the media.  Next find your centering in love and be at Home in your skin.  Home is safe.  No one can touch you there.  Even if your body got blown up you would remain safe at Home.  Home is within you, not around you.  That’s your house. 

Finally, increase your production of oxytocin, the feel-good “hormone of love,” produced in the hypothalamus with hugging, laughter and other pleasurable experiences such as listening to beautiful music and toning the vowel sound “AH,” touching and being touched by another, giving and receiving a massage, spinal adjustments and manipulation of the joints by a chiropractor or osteopath, erotic play and sexual orgasm, breast feeding if you’ve just delivered a newborn – which itself produces oxytocin and makes childbirth a pleasurable, even orgasmic, experience. Oxytocin turns off the flight or fight stress response to calm you down.  Oxytocin spray is also available, but read about its side effects online first. It appears to increase one’s trust in people, but not everyone, just those in your clan.  ” Psychologists trying to specify its role have now concluded it is the agent of ethnocentrism.” Too much of anything good seems to always have a dark side.  Less is more in most cases. 

CONSULT FOR DOSAGES AND HEALTH COACHING

One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to nutritional supplementation, so I highly recommend professional guidance.  I am available by phone or email for a modest coaching fee.  My cell phone is (337) 802-5510 and my email address is tpal70@gmail.com.  Call or email me.  I’ll even supply you with supplements tailored to fit your needs – and if you are a subscriber you’ll enjoy a 10% discount on supplements. Let’s get your bones back to health and keep them dense and strong.

To your health and healing, 

Dr. Tony Palombo

Visit my other blog for inspired reading about the Significance of the Pineal Gland.