Thinning bone shows on an X-ray only once 30 to 50 percent of bone mass is gone, according to Dr. David Watts of Trace Elements, Inc. (TEI), writing in 1986. My own bone density has been normal all along. What I recommend for bone is a hair analysis, supplements and jumping. The mineral pattern behind a bone trend is read on a hair chart, and an X-ray reads only the loss.
What an X-ray can and cannot see
Watts’ 1986 Trace Elements newsletter series on Type I and Type II bone patterns was built on clinical evaluation of over 100,000 hair mineral profiles. It quotes Albright’s definition of the bone-thinning condition as a failure of the osteoblast to lay down bone matrix, and it states the 30 to 50 percent detection threshold for radiographs.
A 1988 Lafayette Institute report on calcium and aging makes a related point about soft tissue: tissue calcium bound to protein complexes stays in solution and does not show on an X-ray, and an organ can hold 5 to 10 times its normal calcium before any precipitated calcium salt becomes visible. The same report notes that serum calcium is held between 9 and 11 mg per 100 ml, one of the most constant values in the body, so a blood calcium reading can stay normal while calcium moves between bone and soft tissue.
The arithmetic of slow loss
Watts gives the rate: a negative calcium balance of as little as 40 mg per day can produce bone calcium loss of 1.5 percent per year. At 1.5 percent a year, the loss reaches 30 percent at 20 years and 45 percent at 30 years. He also notes that protein makes up about 30 percent of bone, and that immobilization or prolonged bed rest increases urinary calcium excretion while exercise decreases it.
Two opposite patterns behind the same bone trend
Watts divides thinning-bone tendencies into two types with opposite mineral patterns:
- Type I: a negative calcium balance from low intake, poor absorption or increased excretion. On the hair chart: a lowered calcium/phosphorus (Ca/P) ratio, a low Ca/Pb and a low Zn/Cd, with calcium and magnesium below ideal and sodium and potassium above it. Signs: warm body temperature, increased perspiration, and muscle cramps, especially at night. The pattern is sympathetic dominant.
- Type II: adequate calcium intake, normal or decreased excretion, and calcium deposited in soft tissue. On the hair chart: an elevated Ca/P, Ca/Mg and Ca/K with a low Na/Mg, calcium and magnesium above the mean, and sodium, potassium and phosphorus below it. Signs: fatigue, cold hands and feet, and low blood pressure on standing. The pattern is parasympathetic dominant.
For reference, TEI puts the ideal Ca/P at 2.6 and Analytical Research Labs (ARL) uses 2.5; for Ca/Mg the two labs use 7 and 6.67, and for Ca/K 4.2 and 4, and I read the range between each pair of figures.
What draws calcium out of bone
ARL’s 1991 bone document describes a mechanism for each oxidation rate. In fast oxidation, the body excretes calcium, magnesium and zinc to sharpen reflexes for a fight-or-flight response; held for long periods, blood calcium is replenished from bone. Magnesium deficiency in the fast oxidizer raises cortisone secretion, which increases bone turnover, and tissue acidity increases urinary calcium. In slow oxidation, sodium and potassium, the solvent elements that keep calcium ionized in the blood, fall; calcium leaves the blood and deposits in soft tissue, and bone calcium is withdrawn to compensate.
ARL names dietary contributors as well: caffeine and sugar increase urinary calcium excretion (Nutrition Research 8(9), 1988), and soft drinks combine high phosphorus, caffeine and sugar. Watts lists oxalic acid in spinach, rhubarb, cocoa, chard and beet greens, and phytic acid in grains and cereals, as factors that impede calcium absorption.
Why the supplements depend on the pattern
Watts’ table of nutritional requirements by type shows why supplement choice for bone depends on which pattern the chart shows:
- Calcium: indicated in Type I; Type II “does not respond well.”
- Magnesium: indicated in both, for a frank deficiency in Type I and a relative one in Type II.
- Vitamin D3: increased requirement in Type I, decreased in Type II.
- Vitamin C: not in high amounts for Type I, because it depletes copper; Type II responds well.
- Copper: Type I responds; Type II does not.
Watts adds that calcium supplementation alone over extended periods has resulted in decreased calcium retention. ARL’s 1991 document on bone states that copper is essential for calcium retention in bone, and that replenishing calcium without copper is not sufficient. Lead and cadmium both displace calcium, which is why TEI judges lead against calcium at a Ca/Pb of at least 84 to 1 even when lead itself reads within its limit.
Exercise and the jumping recommendation
ARL cites studies of women runners in which moderate exercise improved bone density, while those who exercised beyond a certain amount had lower estrogen and lower bone density. Jumping is on my list of recommendations as an exercise. Pain, numbness, tingling and dizziness during any exercise are signs to stop, get evaluated, and then proceed with a therapeutic exercise program designed by a Spinal Fitness expert.
A hair tissue mineral analysis is a screening test, and the types above are mineral trends, not a diagnosis.
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This article is for educational purposes only. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
