Things They Don’t Teach You

I was reading an interesting study last night by the Women’s Health Initiative. Calcium supplementation with Vitamin D does almost nothing for improving bone density (up to 1%).

Using two study groups of 18,141 each,  group Alpha (didn’t get D and calcium), and  group Beta did receive D and calcium; Alpha had 2 more fractures than Beta. This is statistically insignificant.

The majority of studies say the same thing: calcium supplementation DOES NOT improve bone density or fracture rates. In fact, excess calcium worsens osteoarthritis, fibromyalgia, and kidney stone formation.

We have good results with combo mixes of D3, strontium, calcium, K2, & boron. BUT, there is one mineral missing:  silica.

Edith Carlisle, UCLA School of Public Health, proved the aorta, trachea, tendon, bone and skin are highly rich in silica. Additionally, induced silica deficiency in test animals shows gross abnormalities in bones, cartilage, and connective tissues.

Silica is essential in collagen production, calcium management, bone formation, and connective tissue formation. Silica is the catalyst for collagen formation and transporting calcium into bone. Without silica, the body will store excess calcium (and Americans take in a lot of it) in alternate places like joints, organs, arteries, and soft tissue.

100 years ago silica was everywhere in our diet, primarily in the husks of grains, & potato skins. Now it is practically non-existent; white flour, white rice,  and mashed potatoes (no skins) dominate the dinner table.

We already know what strontium does for bone matrix. The New England Journal of Medicine reports that 2 grams of oral strontium ranelate per day (with vitamin D) for 3 years, reduced fractures by 49% in the first year, and 41% overall! No serious side effects occurred during the study.

One study indicates that dietary silicon is associated with greater BMD in both men and premenopausal women. Another newly released study found that ch-OSA (silica) prevented femoral bone loss in the ovariectomy rat model (standard model for investigating osteoporosis therapies).

Free University of Brussels conducted a 20-week double-blind study involving 50 women, aged 40 to 65, who had clear signs of sun-damaged or prematurely aged skin. Half of the subjects received 10 mg of biologically active silicon in the form of ch-OSA, while the other half were given a placebo. Compared to the placebo group, the ch-OSA group experienced significant improvements, including shallower micro-wrinkles (up to 30% better), improved skin elasticity (55% better), and a significant reduction in brittleness of hair and nails.

In light of the evidence, I need to add 5-10 mg of Choline-Stabilized Orthosilicic Acid to the program. One interesting side note is the anecdotal reports of increased hair and nail growth while taking silica.