RESEARCH ARTICLE
Essential Nutrients for Bone Health and a Review of their Availability in the Average North American Diet
Charles T Price*, Joshua R Langford, Frank A Liporace
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2012Volume: 6
First Page: 143
Last Page: 149
Publisher ID: TOORTHJ-6-143
DOI: 10.2174/1874325001206010143
Article History:
Received Date: 20/1/2012Revision Received Date: 9/3/2012
Acceptance Date: 9/3/2012
Electronic publication date: 5/4/2012
Collection year: 2012
open-access license: This is an open access article licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted, non-commercial use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the work is properly cited.
Abstract
Osteoporosis and low bone mineral density affect millions of Americans. The majority of adults in North America have insufficient intake of vitamin D and calcium along with inadequate exercise. Physicians are aware that vitamin D, calcium and exercise are essential for maintenance of bone health. Physicians are less likely to be aware that dietary insufficiencies of magnesium, silicon, Vitamin K, and boron are also widely prevalent, and each of these essential nutrients is an important contributor to bone health. In addition, specific nutritional factors may improve calcium metabolism and bone formation. It is the authors’ opinion that nutritional supplements should attempt to provide ample, but not excessive, amounts of factors that are frequently insufficient in the typical American diet.
In contrast to dietary insufficiencies, several nutrients that support bone health are readily available in the average American diet. These include zinc, manganese, and copper which may have adverse effects at higher levels of intake. Some multivitamins and bone support products provide additional quantities of nutrients that may be unnecessary or potentially harmful.
The purpose of this paper is to identify specific nutritional components of bone health, the effects on bone, the level of availability in the average American diet, and the implications of supplementation for each nutritional component. A summary of recommended dietary supplementation is included.
