The rate of osteoporosis continues to increase despite new drugs and an increase in vitamin D and calcium supplementation.  Could it be that the focus on building bone has been going down the wrong path of drugs, supplements and hormone replacement?  Although all of these can potentially help build bone, the key really lies in building lean muscle mass.

As we age, we also lose muscle mass (known as sarcopenia) which results in the following health problems:

* Frequent falls resulting in bone fracture

* Depression

* Increased inflammation

* Increased mortality (dying earlier than you should)

* Physical disability

* Nursing home admissions earlier than necessary

* Increased hospitalizations

* Obesity

* Loss of cartilage

* Slow gait speed (walking slowly)

Osteopenia ⇒ Osteoporosis

You see, there is an intricate connection between your bones and your muscles known as the “bone-muscle unit”.  This unit shares many characteristics including important hormones, chemical messengers and loading connections.  Whenever a muscle and it’s connecting bone are loaded by physical stress, they adapt together and change their structure together.  If you break a bone, it is the muscles that attach to that bone that aid in healing the fracture.  The same goes for cartilage in your joints that rely on healthy muscles to keep cartilage from breaking down.  This perfectly explains why you lose bone density and cartilage while you lose muscle mass in aging.  When you think of osteoporosis and sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass), you should think of the same condition.

Why do people lose muscle and bone as they age?

The more body fat you have, the more inflammation you will have and inflammation causes muscle and bone loss.  As many people age, they become less active so they lose muscle mass and gain weight.  The stresses of daily life combined with convenience foods that are high in refined carbohydrates is a perfect recipe for muscle and bone loss.  A vicious cycle is created with decreased activity ⇒ weight gain ⇒ refined carbohydrates ⇒ inflammation ⇒ muscle and bone loss.

An additional consequence is impaired absorption and utilization of vitamin D for healthy bones.  The more body fat and inflammation you have, the less likely you are to optimally utilize vitamin D.

What are the most important supplements to build bone?

I cover many of the best bone building supplements in this article.  A quick refresher includes calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, essential fatty acids from fish oil, vitamin K, Zinc, copper, manganese, boron, and potassium.  None of these will work unless you are building muscle, reducing inflammation, maintaining an alkaline pH and if your hormones in balance.

What about supplements for building muscle?

The most important thing to build muscle is consuming enough protein in your diet.  You can add protein supplements such as whey protein, hemp protein or pea protein for additional support.  You can give your protein supplements a muscle building boost by adding leucine powder to your prot...