The bone contains minerals like calcium and phosphorus. It is very important to consume calcium and phosphorus rich diet to replenish the bones. The minerals from the diet are absorbed into the blood with the help of Vitamin D only.
Vitamin D for Bone Health and Mineral Density
If vitamin D is present in the blood, then only these valuable minerals are absorbed in the blood. The best natural sources of Vitamin D are cod liver oil, exposure to Sun light. The skin of white people easily makes Vitamin D after exposure to sun. 15 to 30 minutes exposure to sunlight (without Sunscreen) can generate enough vitamin D for white people for the day. Black and Brown people need relatively more sun exposure as their skin is thick and the UV light needed to convert cholesterol into Vitamin D has to work harder to penetrate the skin. About 30 minutes to 45 minutes are needed for browns and around an hour for black skinned people.
Cod liver oil, Salmon, Tuna and other fishes, Yogurt (fortified with vitamin D), Milk (fortified with Vitamin D), Egg yolk are rich sources of Vitamin D. The government of USA fortifies orange Juice, milk, cheese and yogurt with Vitamin D. One tablespoon of Cod liver oil supplies triple of your daily requirement. Most of the under developed countries are still lagging behind in this case and most of the Vitamin D comes from the sun.
Vitamin D not only helps in absorption of Calcium but also Iron, Magnesium, Zinc and phosphorus. These minerals are important to make our blood, improve immunity and help in proper metabolism.
Milk, Cheese, Yogurt is also rich source of natural Calcium and phosphorus. Pumpkin seeds, Salmon, Cheese, Shellfish, nuts, Soya foods, beans and lentils are rich sources of phosphorus, which is essential for our bone health.
Reasons for Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mineral Density
According to Ayurveda, there are many reasons for osteoporosis and bone depletion. These are listed below:-
- Stress and Anxiety
- Too much travel and too much exertion
- Late night sleep
- Lack of Physical exercise
- Low dietary intake of Vitamin D, Calcium and Phosphorus
- Hormonal imbalances
- Cancers, Kidney failure, Liver Failure
- Drugs
- Alcoholism
- Excessive Caffeine intake
- Post Menopausal osteoporosis
Calcium is needed in the bones as well as the muscles and cells for their proper functioning.
Thoughts are controller of our hormones and body metabolism. If there is stress / anxiety in thoughts, all the hormones and the calcium metabolism regulating hormones like parathormone and calcitonin secretion is also disturbed. This leads to low bone mineral density causing osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis Care with Ayurveda
Ayurveda lays emphasis on lifestyle modifications to prevent and treat osteoporosis. Sleep in time, eating healthy food, diet rich in nuts, milk, yogurt, stress free life, yoga and meditate, physical exercise are all good in case of osteoporosis and replenish bone minerals. Imbalance of Vata dosha is the reason for bone depletion. Bones are the main place of Vata according to Ayurveda. The imbalance of Vata is caused by the same reasons which cause bone depletion. These are all mentioned above.
Oils are the best treatment of Vata. Therefore oil massage with anti-vata oils is highly recommended. I recommend Oil massage with Dhanwantaram oil at least once a weak and exposure to sun for at least 1 hour.
Consuming nuts, avocados, cheese, milk is the right thing to do. Since vitamin D is a fat soluble vitamin and according to Ayurveda, fats are the best remedy to treat “Vata” imbalance. So Ghee (butter oil) is highly recommended to treat osteoporosis.
There are certain herbs like Ashwagandha, Shatavari which are processed to be made into Ghee. Such Ghees should be consumed regularly to improve bone mineral density.
Ayurveda uses best sources of calcium in nature. The calcium from corals, pearls, agate and other gem stones is the best, organic and most bioavailable form of calcium for humans. Many people consume calcium carbonate form made for inorganic sources but the Ayurvedic calcium sources help to replenish the porous bones quickly.
All expert ayurvedic doctors recommend Mukta Pishti (Pearl calcium), Praval Pishti (Coral Calcium), Akik Pishti (Agate calcium) in case of low bone mineral density.
I recommend the same but I have developed a unique combination of highly bio available form of calcium to be made into a capsule based formula called – Coral Calcium. Each capsule contains 500 mg of above mentioned organic calcium sources. Free from chemicals, inorganic form and free from pesticides.
There is another wonderful herb called Cissus quadrangularis, which is highly beneficial in osteoporosis.
In Osteoporosis Care Pack, there is another wonderful product called Bone Support. Bone support contains Cissus quadrangularis extract and many other herbs to improve bone formation.
Dosage
- Lakshadi Guggul – 2 Tablets twice daily with warm water.
- Coral Calcium Complex – 1 Capsules twice daily with warm water.
- Bone Support – 2 Capsules twice daily with warm water.
- Arjuna Capsules – 1 Capsule twice daily with warm water.
To buy Osteoporosis Care Pack, please visit store.planetayurveda.com/products/osteoporosis-care-pack
Arjuna is another herb described in Ayurveda having wound healing, bone replenishing, heart strengthening properties. It helps to heal the fractured bones, porous bones and low bone mineral density.
Lakshadi Guggul is excellent classical ayurvedic formulation used by Ayurveda experts to quickly heal fractures. The herbal formula helps the osteoblasts and osteoclasts in normalizing their metabolism. It binds the minerals together in the bone and prevents bone depletion. It helps quick callus formation in case of fractured bones. In case of osteopenia, it quickly helps to recover the normal bone mineral density. It’s effective in all ages.
