4 natural remedies for osteoporosis

Treatment for osteoporosis typically includes a combination of medication and lifestyle changes. You may want to try managing your condition without medication by using natural remedies. You should always check with a doctor before starting any natural remedy or therapy.

Some options for complementary and alternative ways to treat osteoporosis include:

• specific exercise routines
• dietary changes
• acupuncture
• natural supplements

Knowing more about these natural remedies for osteoporosis can help you manage the condition together with the medical treatments available.

Diet

Osteoporosis happens when your bone density decreases, making your bones more prone to breaking. Eating a diet rich in certain vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin D and calcium, can help prevent further loss of bone density.

Calcium-rich foods are the best sources of calcium. Dairy products, such as cheese and milk, are very high in calcium. Leafy green vegetables contain calcium, too.

The recommended daily intake of calcium varies based on age and gender, but women over age 50 years and men over age 70 years need 1,200 milligrams (mg) of calcium per day.

You can ensure you consume calcium by including dairy, bony fish, and leafy green vegetables in your diet.

The following shows the calcium content of certain foods:

• sardines in oil, with bones: 324 mg of calcium
• shredded cheddar cheese, 1.5 ounces: 306 mg
• nonfat milk, 1 cup: 302 mg
• soybeans, 1 cup: 261 mg
• firm tofu with calcium, half a cup: 204 mg
• baked beans, 1 cup: 142 mg
• raw broccoli, 1 cup: 90 mg

Vitamin D is a mineral that is your body needs to absorb and use calcium. As you get older, you need to ingest more vitamin D, and increasing your intake can help to prevent further loss of bone density that occurs with osteoporosis.

Accessing vitamin D naturally through food is difficult, so the United States fortifies many essential food items with vitamin D.

These include:

• orange juice
• breakfast cereal
• margarine

Foods naturally rich in vitamin D include:

• wild salmon
• tuna
• shiitake mushrooms
• egg yolk

Exercise

Improving muscle and bone strength can help you build and maintain bone density. Exercise helps with both slowing age-related decline in bone strength and improving posture to help prevent falls.

Two main types of exercises can help with osteoporosis: weight-bearing and muscle-strengthening exercises. Here’s what each type involves:

• Weight-bearing exercises: These are exercises where you move against gravity while remaining upright. High impact weight-bearing exercises help keep your bones strong. As a result, bones get stronger and denser. This can help to reduce the risk of fractures, particularly if you have osteoporosis.
• Muscle strengthening exercises: These are exercises where you move your body against resistance other than gravity, such as lifting weights. Strengthening your muscles helps support your bones.

Always speak with a doctor before starting a new exercise routine. If you have osteoporosis, it may be helpful to seek out a specialist who can help with your exercises, such as a personal trainer who has experience working with conditions such as osteoporosis.

Vitamins and supplements

Aside from vitamin D, a variety of minerals and vitamins that can help you try to improve and manage symptoms of osteoporosis.

Some of these include:

• Magnesium: This is an essential mineral to many bodily functions, and 60% of your body’s magnesium content is in your bone tissue. More research will help determine the minimum quantity of magnesium for managing osteoporosis.
• Boron: This is a crucial mineral for bone health and strength maintenance. It is not readily available in supplement form, so it may be easier for you to consume it through foods. Almonds, bananas, and celery are good sources of boron. There’s no recommended amount, but people generally get 1 mg per day from food.
• Vitamin K: This vitamin plays an important role in bone strength. If you do not have enough vitamin K intake, you may be at risk of worsening your symptoms of osteoporosis.
• Vitamin C: Vitamin C lowers the risk of osteoporosis and helps the body absorb other nutrients. Also, older adults don’t absorb Vitamin C as well as younger people, and people living in nursing homes have been found to have lower levels of vitamin C. The vitamin is needed to build the foundation of bone cells.
• Calcium supplements: Different types of calcium supplements exist. Calcium carbonate is inexpensive but might contain sugars and is a little more difficult to absorb. Calcium citrate does cost more but is more effectively absorbed and is a better choice for people over age 55.

It’s important to note that calcium supplements may increase the risk of heart disease, kidney stones, and other side effects, so you should talk with a doctor before taking them.

Acupuncture

Acupuncture is a form of traditional Chinese medicine that involves placing tiny needles at specific points on your body. People believe that it works by stimulating various organs and promoting healing.

Although there is a lack of clinical evidence to prove it is effective, acupuncture is a common alternative treatment for managing osteoporosis. Some people find that acupuncture helps improve the pain that they associate with osteoporosis.

But research from 2020 suggests that acupuncture likely acts as a placebo. This is when a person sees an improvement in their condition despite no active medical treatment, likely due to psychological reasons.

Medical treatments

When you receive a diagnosis of osteoporosis, your doctor is likely to suggest that you try to incorporate more calcium into your diet. Although increasing your bone density and mass after receiving a diagnosis is difficult, you can work to prevent it from worsening over time with dietary changes and exercise routines.

A common type of medication that your doctor may prescribe is hormone replacement drugs. These are mostly for postmenopausal people and typically include estrogen. Examples include:

• tibolone (Livial)
• raloxifene (Evista)

Estrogen plays an important role in bone health, and after menopause, you lose those positive effects. Hormone replacement drugs help slow bone turnover and maintain bone density.

Bisphosphonate medications are also a common treatment that stops bone loss and reduces the chance of you fracturing a bone. These include alendronate (Fosamax) and risedronate (Actonel). Side effects can include nausea and heartburn.

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Summary

Osteoporosis affects people all over the world, and even though there is no cure, there are lots of different treatments available for you to try.

Natural supplements, therapies, and dietary changes can help you prevent your condition from worsening. Many of these treatments can also be healthy habits to adopt early on to help prevent osteoporosis before it develops at all.

Eating plenty of calcium and regularly doing weight training and muscle strengthening exercises can help to prevent the chances of you developing osteoporosis in the future.

If you have osteoporosis, talk with your doctor. You can discuss each option, and together you can decide which medications or lifestyle changes will work best for you.

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