19/01/2023
🦴Important info, especially if you are in the peri/menopause stage of life.
Toxins Affecting Bone Health And Promoting Osteoporosis
#1 Heavy Metals
Heavy metals are one of the most dangerous toxins for bones because they can lodge directly into your bone tissue and displace crucial nutrients necessary to maintain bone health, like calcium. At the same time, avoiding heavy metals can seem nearly impossible as these compounds can be found in everything from your drinking water and food to your beauty products and cleaning supplies.
Heavy metals are particularly dangerous because they can’t be detected in tests like urine, blood, or stool analysis because they’re directly incorporated into your bones.
Below are some of the most harmful heavy metals for bone health:
Lead
Lead is one of the trickiest metals because it weakens your bones and can’t be detected on x-rays or bone scans. It will, however, make your bones look more dense on Dexa Scans, mistakenly giving you confidence that your bone health is optimal when in fact, you are in great danger of fractures.
Unfortunately, when lead enters your body, it has a strong affinity for your bone tissue. In fact, around 90% of your body’s lead burden is hidden in your bones. To make matters worse, during menopause and andropause, when bone loss amps up, all that lead is released into your body. It’s no coincidence that this is also a time when diseases tend to show up[2].
Research shows that lead causes bone loss through three mechanisms[3][4]:
Decreasing the formation of bone-building cells (osteoblasts)
Facilitating bone-removing cells (osteoclasts)
Inhibiting kidney conversion of vitamin D to its active form, thus impairing calcium absorption and deposition
To relieve your toxic burden of lead, the first thing you can do is to make sure your calcium stores are replete. When you add more calcium to your diet or supplement regimen, it can help to push lead out of your bones.
Aluminum
Much like lead, aluminum has a high affinity for your bone tissue and is all too happy to displace any minerals that you may be deficient in. And, of course, blood levels of aluminum are not a reliable source of information because this metal hides away in your tissues.
Aluminum also loves to accumulate over time; this is not a toxin that leaves your body willingly. As a result, years and years of low-level aluminum exposure can seriously threaten your bone health[5].
Similar to how calcium can replace lead, silica is an excellent nutrient for replacing aluminum in your bones. A high-quality silica supplement can help promote your body’s natural detox process in gently release excess aluminum while contributing to your bone strength.*
Mercury
Mercury not only has an affinity for your bone tissue, but it also loves to deposit in connective tissues that impact the health of your bones. Research shows that high levels of mercury may contribute to autoimmune diseases that affect bone and connective tissue, such as rheumatoid arthritis. Furthermore, the inflammatory impact of mercury can set the stage for osteoarthritis. Both of these conditions can drastically impact your quality of life and increase the risk for osteoporosis[6][7].
Cadmium
Cadmium accumulates in your bones and kidneys, both directly and indirectly affecting bone health.
For example, due to its impact on your kidneys, cadmium can impair key kidney functions and damage osteoblast cells (the bone cells responsible for building strong bones). Cadmium also poisons a crucial enzyme that converts vitamin D to its active form in the kidneys, impairing calcium uptake.
Furthermore, cadmium damages your kidney’s ability to excrete toxins, which makes it even harder for your body to rid itself of unwanted metals[2].
Supporting your body in the natural clearing of heavy metals is no small feat, and you want to make sure that when you do go about detoxing metals, you have full detoxification support. Many detox programs will upregulate your ability to remove metals from your cells, but they don’t help you es**rt those toxins out of your body. The result? A bunch of heavy metals floating around in your blood, lodging into your tissues and creating even more damage.
That’s why I put together CitriCleanse Toxin Binder. This formula gently allows your body to naturally remove unwanted toxins and then seals the deal by assisting with their removal from your blood.*
#2 Pesticides
Pesticides are coming under more and more scrutiny as these chemical compounds continue to show up as causes and contributors to a range of health conditions. Currently, more than 70% of non-organic produce in the US contains traces of pesticides, which means that even the most careful among us are likely consuming more pesticides than we even realize[8].
One way in which pesticides damage your cells and tissues is by increasing oxidative stress. Oxidative stress initiates a cascade of inflammatory chemicals, which raises systemic inflammation and directly impacts bone health and remodeling.
Pesticides can also cause kidney damage, significantly increasing your risk of osteoporosis due to the intimate relationship your bone health has with kidney function[2].
While avoiding pesticides completely may be impossible, choosing organic food as much as possible is the most straightforward way to avoid an overload of these toxins.
#3 Phthalates
Phthalates are plasticizers that make plastic soft, increasing flexibility and durability. They’re present in a wide range of products, including water bottles, children’s toys, containers, food packaging, and food additives – to name a few.
Plasticizers decrease circulating levels of vitamin D and increase your risk for a vitamin D deficiency by 20%. This is particularly significant given that vitamin D deficiency is already so common. When vitamin D is deficient, it inhibits proper calcium utilization, making your bones weaker and more prone to fracture[9].
Studies show a direct correlation between blood levels of phthalates and lower bone mineral density, putting you at risk for osteoporosis[10].
#4 Bisphenols (BPA)
Much like phthalates, bisphenols are plasticizers that are added to a range of products, except these compounds make plastics more solid and hard. BPA is used in a range of manufacturing processes and can be widely found in the packaged food industry. In fact, the main route for exposure is through our water and food supply.
In a frightening statistic, research shows that up to 90% of the US population has detectable levels of BPA in their bodies.
BPA impacts bone health in several ways[11][12][13]:
It shuts down an important enzyme for osteoblast (bone building) function.
It inhibits the secretion of calcitonin, an enzyme that instructs your bones to stop releasing their calcium stores.
It encourages apoptosis in osteoblast cells (cell death), inhibiting bone renewal.
It acts as an endocrine disruptor, dysregulating estrogen activity, which is crucial for both osteoclast and osteoblast activity, impairing the entire bone remodeling process.
For both phthalates and BPA, awareness is the key to avoiding toxic consumption. While many companies still use these compounds, you can find alternatives to many of your plastic wear that will directly state “BPA and phthalate-free.” Furthermore, if you really want to do good by yourself and the environment, you can opt-out of plastic as much as possible and use refillable containers[2].
#5 Perfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)
PFAS are a class of compounds that are widely used as protective coatings for water and stain-resistant clothing, furnishings, and non-stick cookware. These compounds are known endocrine disruptors, and yet they are still allowed to be used in many different manufacturing processes.
As endocrine-disrupting chemicals, PFAS can disturb your body’s estrogen activity, which, as mentioned, has a direct impact on bone health. In fact, research shows an inverse relationship between levels of PFAS in the body and bone mineral density. And unfortunately, it is estimated that around 95% of people in the US have detectable PFAS levels[14][15].
To avoid PFAS, watch out for non-stick coatings (especially on cookware), and prevent stain or water-repellent clothing and furnishings as much as possible.
Tomorrow I will be posting about another hidden factor that may contribute to osteoporosis. You don't want to miss it!
Can't wait? please check out my full article on the matter here:
https://myersdetox.com/5-toxins-that-promote-osteoporosis/
Got questions? We've got answers! Post your comments and questions below and myself or a member of our team will do our best to respond!
And to read more from the references cited in this post, please visit the article at the link above.
