Osteovex Studies
MENAQ7® VITAMIN K2 AS MENAQUINONE-7 (MK-7)
Bone Health- MenaQ7®
Poor bone metabolism is a condition characterized by loss of bone mineral density, which leads to bone that is weaker and more susceptible to fractures. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), this condition currently affects some 200 million people globally: one in three men is expected to incur bone fractures in the future because of poor bone metabolism, whereas lifetime risk of fracture for women is nearly one in two.
Bone is a living substance comprised of a hard-outer shell and spongy inner tissue matrix. The skeleton “remodels” itself every 8 to 12 years. This is process is regulated by osteoblasts (cells that build up bone) and osteoclasts (cells that break down bone). Osteoblasts produce a protein called Osteocalcin, a vitamin K-dependent protein that binds calcium to the bone matrix and builds healthy bones. But Osteocalcin needs adequate Vitamin K2 to activate it.
As long as the bone-forming activity (absorption) is greater than the bone-breakdown (resorption), the process of maintaining healthy bones is kept under control. However, when this delicate process is not in balance, bones become weak and brittle. This is an unfortunate result of Vitamin K2 deficiency.
The strong association between Vitamin K2 deficiency and impaired bone health was proven in both laboratory and clinical studies. It has been found that vitamin K deficiency results in a decreased level of active Osteocalcin, which in turn increases the risk for fragile bones. Research also showed that Vitamin K2 – but not K1 – combined with calcium and vitamin D can decrease bone turnover. Further, a significant study clearly demonstrated that Vitamin K2 is essential for maintaining bone strength in postmenopausal women, and also improved bone mineral content and femoral neck width.
MenaQ7® is the only clinically validated, patented Vitamin K2 as MK-7 available on the market today. Meeting the demands of an increasingly growing global market for health solution products, MenaQ7® varieties are suitable for vegans and vegetarians, free from gluten, dairy, soy, and other known allergens.
Arterial Health – MenaQ7®
Calcification was once believed to be an irreversible process and a result of aging. However, it is now known that calcium accumulation is an actively regulated process involving the vitamin K-dependent Matrix Gla Protein (MGP), the most potent inhibitor of vascular calcification known, which is actively involved in recycling calcium.
Healthy arterial tissues have shown to contain 100 times more Vitamin K2 than unhealthy arteries, and the amount of calcium in the arteries is a risk factor for cardiovascular health. One might say that “you are as old as your arteries.” Studies in large population groups show that significant calcification in young persons actually make them older than their chronological age. On the contrary, older persons with little or no calcification may deduct up to 10 years from their actual age.
The Rotterdam Study (2004) shows that high dietary intake of Vitamin K2 – but not vitamin K1 – has a strong protective effect on cardiovascular health. Findings from this 10-year population-based study, which followed 4,807 initially healthy men and women >55 years of age from start, indicate that eating foods rich in natural Vitamin K2 (at least 32 mcg/day) results in 50% reduction of arterial calcification, 50% reduction of cardiovascular risk, and 25% reduction of all-cause mortality.
In 2008, these findings were confirmed by another population-based study with 16,000 persons from the Prospect-EPIC cohort population. Female participants aged 49-70 years at the start of the study, were followed up for 8 years and were free of cardiovascular diseases at the baseline. The researchers found that for every 10mcg Vitamin K2 (MK-7, MK-8, and MK-9) consumed – not K1 – the risk of coronary heart disease was reduced by 9%.
Unfortunately, the Western diet does not contain sufficient Vitamin K2, so supplementing with MenaQ7® Vitamin K2 as MK-7 is a viable alternative recommended by experts.
https://menaq7.com/health-benefits/bone-health/
CALCLIUM (CARBONATE)
Calcium is the healthy bone mineral. About 99 percent of the calcium in the body is stored in the bones and teeth. It is the mineral that makes them hard and strong. The remaining 1 percent is needed for many activities that help keep the body functioning normally. Calcium helps blood vessels contract (narrow) and expand, makes muscles contract, helps send messages through the nervous system and helps glands secrete hormones.
Bones are constantly being remodeled every day, and calcium is moving in and out of them. In children and adolescents, the body builds new bone faster than it breaks down old bone so total bone mass increases. This continues until about age 30, when new bone formation and old bone breakdown start occurring at about the same rate. In older adults, especially in post-menopausal women, bone is broken down at a faster rate than it is built. If calcium intake is too low, this can contribute to osteoporosis.
VERY IMPORTANT: All forms of calcium are not the same! You get better and lower quality calcium. This is usually based on the elemental intake of the specific calcium.
Calcium carbonate provides 40 percent elemental calcium; the other 60 percent is the carbonate ingredient. Therefore, 600 milligrams (mg) of calcium carbonate provides 240 mg elemental calcium. Calcium citrate is 20 percent elemental calcium; 600 mg of calcium citrate provides 120 mg elemental calcium. The most common calcium used in Calcium supplements is calcium citrate.
Be very careful when purchasing calcium products that do not display the calcium form on the carton or package insert – a product may contain a large amount of calcium but they key is to know what the elemental value is.
Osteovex contains Calcium Carbonate is the calcium forms which contain the highest value of elemental calcium.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/nutrition/choosing-a-calcium-supplement
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/15049-osteoporosis-prevention-with-calcium-treatment
MAGNESIUM (BISGLYCINATE)
Magnesium is a mineral naturally found in foods like whole-grain breads, dark green vegetables, and nuts. Magnesium and calcium work together closely to maintain strong bones.
Magnesium deficiency contributes to osteoporosis directly by acting on crystal formation and on bone cells and indirectly by impacting on the secretion and the activity of parathyroid hormone and by promoting low grade inflammation.
New research – conducted by scientists from the University of Bristol in the United Kingdom and the University of Eastern Finland in Kuopio – suggests that low levels of magnesium may increase the risk of bone fractures and that, conversely, high levels may ward off this cause of disability.
The study was based on a large population sample of 2,245 middle-aged men, who were clinically followed for 20 years.
During this time, the researchers found that participants with low levels of serum magnesium had a significantly higher risk of bone fractures. The association was stronger for hip fractures.
Men with higher levels of magnesium were 44 percent less likely to have bone fractures. Additionally, over the 20-year follow-up period, none of the 22 men who had very high levels of magnesium had a bone fracture.
Why Magnesium Bisglycinate? Magnesium Bisgycinate is a preferred from of Magnesium because it is well tolerated and absorbed in the body.
Magnesium is combined with an amino acid known as glycine. Glycine works alongside many neurotransmitters (chemicals in your brain), like GABA, to promote feelings of calm. Glycine may also improve sleep quality and promote a healthy circadian rhythm.
Additionally, magnesium has strong anti-inflammatory benefits. We may use magnesium glycinate to improve blood sugar levels or to help reduce overall inflammation in the body.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10654-017-0242-2
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3775240
https://rootfunctionalmedicine.com/magnesium-citrate-vs-magnesium-glycinate/
VITAMIN D3
Known as the sunshine vitamin, vitamin D is produced by the body in response to skin being exposed to sunlight. It is also occurs naturally in a few foods — including some fish, fish liver oils, and egg yolks — and in fortified dairy and grain products.
Advancing age brings about socioeconomic, lifestyle and biological changes. The capacity of older individuals to produce vitamin D drops significantly as time goes by. Studies show that the capacity for older individuals to endogenously produce Vitamin D is equal to 25% of the capacity of younger individuals (between 20-30) who have spent the same amount of time in sunlight.
Although the exact reason for this is not exactly understood, the most logical explanation is that older people spend less time in the sun (often due to less physical activity), use more sunscreen and wear less revealing clothing.
Vitamin D & Calcium
Vitamin D is essential for absorption of Calcium. Calcium is absorbed from the bowel by an active vitamin D-dependent transport mechanism and by passive diffusion. The active transport mechanism plays an important role in calcium homeostasis, as calcium absorbed is inversely related to dietary intake.
Although the decline in calcium absorption with advancing age is probably multifactorial in origin, the effects of vitamin D supplementation suggest that vitamin D deficiency is the major cause of malabsorption of calcium in older people.
Vitamin D & Magnesium
Like any vitamin or mineral, vitamin D can’t work without first being converted into a form your body can absorb. The level to which a vitamin or mineral can be absorbed is known as its “bioavailability”.
Vitamin D’s bioavailability depends on magnesium. The enzymes (in the liver and kidneys) that enable vitamin D metabolism—converting it into its active form, calcitriol—can’t work without sufficient amounts of magnesium to draw upon.
Unconverted, vitamin D can actually increase your calcium levels rather than regulate them as they should. And exceeding your recommended dietary allowance of calcium can stimulate your hormones into drawing the mineral out of your bones—where it’s needed—and depositing it in soft tissues such as arteries.
https://betteryou.com/health-hub/magnesium-vitamin-d-benefits-dosages-types-supplements/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5367643/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28471760/
ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C)
Vitamin C is widely known as a powerful antioxidant as well as an effective cell protector and immunity booster. But supplements of Vitamin C have recently been recognized as having an important role in the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis because of its ability to increase bone density.
Research suggests that Vitamin C has a positive effect on bone formation by stimulating the protein collagen in the bone, and that it also leads to increased bone mineral density. The vitamin is also used for growth and repair of tissues, including tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels, and it aids in the absorption of iron.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4833003/
ZINC
Zinc is known as an essential nutritional factor in the growth of the human and animals. Bone growth retardation is a common finding in various conditions associated with dietary zinc deficiency. Bone zinc content has been shown to decrease in aging, skeletal unloading, and postmenopausal conditions, suggesting its role in bone disorder. Zinc has been demonstrated to have a stimulatory effect on osteoblastic bone formation and mineralization
Zinc stimulates bone growth by activating enzymes. An enzyme is a protein that triggers chemical reactions in your body. So enzymes help regulate biological processes, like bone-building!
One of the key enzymes that requires zinc is called alkaline phosphatase (ALP). And there’s a bone-specific version of ALP found on the surface of osteoblasts — the specialized cells that build bone. Bone-specific ALP plays a role in bone mineralization and is often used as a marker of bone formation.
Now, bone-specific ALP’s precise function isn’t well understood, but there’s a strong connection between this enzyme and bone formation. For example, levels of ALP are high in children undergoing rapid bone growth. Levels of this enzyme are also high during fracture healing.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20035439/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5318168/
https://www.algaecal.com/algaecal-ingredients/trace-minerals/zinc/
MANGANESE
Manganese is distributed in tissues throughout the body, including bone; manganese activates phosphatases, kinases, decarboxylases and glycosyltransferases, also is a constituent of some enzymes . In recent decades research has uncovered the special role manganese plays as a co-factor in the formation of bone cartilage and bone collagen, as well as in bone mineralization
Studies show that patients with Osteoporosis have low serum levels of Manganese, furthermore, in a randomized, controlled, two-year trial, a supplement containing manganese, copper and zinc in combination with a calcium supplement was found to be more effective than the calcium supplement alone in preventing spinal bone loss.
