A superior nutritional supplement for bone health must be built on a foundation of ossein Microcrystalline Hydroxyapatite Complex (MCHC) as the calcium source, and fortified with nutrient cofactors such as Magnesium, Zinc, Manganese, Copper, Vitamin C, Vitamin D3, and Glucosamine HCl.

Ossein Microcrystalline Hydroxyapatite Complex (MCHC)

MCHC is the crystalline calcium complex found in bone tissue, carefully extracted from bone at cold temperatures so as to maintain intact its innate microcrystalline structure, peptides, aminoglycans, and growth factors. MCHC thus differs from bone meal, which is “ashed” (heat-treated) bone. This high-temperature treatment is done to increase the density of the calcium, allowing companies to cram more calcium into each capsule. But it only works because it breaks down the bulky lattice structure of the native hydroxyapatite crystals. This crystalline structure appears to play a role in MCHC’s ability to increase calcium absorption from other sources of calcium in the stomach. “Ashing” also destroys MCHC’s peptides and growth factors in the process. Studies comparing intact MCHC with bone meal show that “ashing” reduces or eliminates many of the potent bone-building powers unique to MCHC. Importantly, MCHC is also not the same thing as simple hydroxyapatite. Hydroxyapatite is just a chemical form of calcium (calcium orthophosphate, or calcium phosphate hydroxide), which lacks the complex network of factors present in true MCHC.

The advantage of using MCHC as your calcium source does not just lie in its bioavailability. In fact, there are calcium sources are actually more bioavailable than MCHC. Instead, MCHC’s superiority lies in its actual effects on bone tissue. Thirty years of randomized, double-blind, controlled clinical trials have proven, again and again, that MCHC is the best calcium source for building and maintaining strong bones. Other calcium forms – such as calcium gluconate, calcium citrate, calcium carbonate and calcium citrate-malate – merely slow down the rate of bone loss in women with osteoporosis, whether they are given alone or in combination with vitamin D. By contrast, MCHC, when given alone or with vitamin D, has repeatedly been reported to halt, or even reverse, the loss of bone associated with osteoporosis.

Recently, there’s also been a lot of hype about coral calcium. There is no foundation to any of these claims. Coral calcium is simply calcium carbonate, with a sprinkling of trace minerals. The fact that this calcium carbonate comes from coral reefs makes it environmentally irresponsible, but doesn’t make it magically “better” than calcium carbonate derived from limestone or oyster shells. Claims that coral calcium has superior bioavailability are have no basis in any human or even animal studies. The importers of this panacea are basing their wild statements on solubility in water, not actual clinical results. In fact, studies in humans have proven that there is little or no connection between water solubility and bioavailability.

Believe it or not, the claims being made for coral calcium have no basis in any actual studies at all. Not one clinical trial – not even one animal study – has ever been performed using coral calcium. Don’t risk your health on this powdered snake oil. 

But of course, bones are not built of calcium alone. Bone is a living matrix, with the mineralized tissue embedded in a framework of interlocking collagen fibers and a smaller amount of non-collagen protein and glycoproteins. The mineral crystals give the bone hardness, strength and rigidity, while the collagen fibers give the bone its flexibility. Several key minerals are critical to bone health, either because they make up part of the MCHC crystals themselves, or because they are needed as cofactors for enzymes involved in collagen synthesis or other aspects of bone metabolism.

Magnesium deficiency is rampant, with 80-85% of Americans consuming less than the RDA of this essential mineral.  Half of the body's magnesium is deposited in the skeleton (60% including the teeth). Magnesium has been shown to slow the rate of bone turnover (the most common direct cause of osteoporosis). It helps form smaller, denser MCHA crystals. Lack of magnesium reduces the sensitivity of tissues to the bone-building effects of vitamin D and parathyroid hormone, and results in secondary hypocalcemia. In one two-year, open, controlled trial, 71% of women receiving magnesium supplements experienced increases in bone mineral density, even as the women not receiving the supplements suffered bone loss. Magnesium also makes bone tissue less fragile, through its effects on MCHA crystal stability.

Several trace minerals have also been identified as key players in bone health, as cofactors for enzymes involved in bone metabolism – notably, zinc, copper, manganese, and silicon.  Adequate manganese levels are essential for the correct function of the osteoblast cells that are responsible for building up new bone, while synergistically increases the activity of the enzyme alkaline phosphatase, and growth factors such as estrogen and IGF-1, on bone-building osteoblasts. The copper-based enzyme lysyl oxidase is essential for the cross-linking (strengthening) of collagen, and bone abnormalities – including fractures – are among the most common and well-documented effects of deficiency in this mineral. Copper supplementation is all the more important if you’re taking supplemental zinc, since unbalanced zinc intake can reduce copper absorption.

In a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, women taking calcium citrate-malate supplements alone lost 1.25% of their bone mineral density over the course of two years, while those women taking the same amount of calcium in combination with zinc, manganese, and copper experienced an increase in their bone density of 1.48%.

Silicon is required for the action of the enzymes prolylhydroxylase and ornithine aminotransferase, both of which are necessary to the synthesis of collagen. It is found concentrated in areas of the bone engaged in active growth and in bone-forming osteoblast cells. Silicon also appears to reduce the number of bone-dissolving osteoclast cells. In a retrospective study performed in 53 osteoporotic women, silicon supplements induced a significant increase in bone mineral density in the hipbone.

Vitamin C is required for the production of stable and strong collagen protein. To synthesize collagen, the amino acids proline and lysine must be hydroxylated (meaning the addition of a hydrogen-oxygen linked molecule) by the enzymes prolylhydroxylase and lysylhydroxylase. These two essential enzymes can be deactivated by oxygen unless vitamin C is present to provide protection.

Vitamin D3 is the most important factor in the absorption of calcium. Vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) is a prohormone, meaning that it is used by the body to make the hormone 1,25-dihydroxycholecalciferol – the active, hormonal form of the vitamin is activated by magnesium and another mineral. Vitamin D3, being an advanced prohormone, is preferable to D2 (ergocalciferol – the vegetarian form, used to augment milk and other products). Clinical trials show that calcium supplementation gives better results when combined with vitamin D at doses greater than 300 IU per day. Supplementation is especially important in the winter months and in more extreme latitudes.

Glucosamine HCl is an aminoglycan, made by combining glucose with the amino acid glutamine. In the body, it is converted to N-acetyl-glucosamine, which is the backbone of the hyaluronic acid molecule.  Hyaluronic acid is the main component of synovial fluid, the joint fluid that acts as a lubricant.       

 

References

i. Castelo-Branco C, Pons F, Vicente JJ, Sanjuan A, Vanrell JA. “Preventing postmenopausal bone loss with ossein-hydroxyapatite compounds. Results of a two-year, prospective trial.” J Reprod Med. 1999 Jul; 44(7): 601-5.

 

ii. Ruegsegger P, Keller A, Dambacher MA. “Comparison of the treatment effects of ossein-hydroxyapatite compound and calcium carbonate in osteoporotic females.” Osteoporos Int. 1995 Jan; 5(1): 30-4.

 

iii. Stepan JJ, Mohan S, Jennings JC, Wergedal JE, Taylor AK, Baylink DJ.  “Quantitation of growth factors in ossein-mineral-compound.” Life Sci. 1991; 49(13): PL79-84.

 

iv. Annefeld M, Caviezel R, Schacht E, Schicketanz KH.  “The influence of ossein-hydroxyapatite compound ('Ossopan') on the healing of a bone defect.” Curr Med Res Opin. 1986; 10(4): 241-50.

 

v. Stellon A, Davies A, Webb A, Williams R. “Microcrystalline hydroxyapatite compound in prevention of bone loss in corticosteroid-treated patients with chronic active hepatitis.” Postgrad Med J.1985 Sep; 61(719): 791-6.

 

vi. Epstein O, Kato Y, Dick R, Sherlock S. “Vitamin D, hydroxyapatite, and calcium gluconate in treatment of cortical bone thinning in postmenopausal women with primary biliary cirrhosis.” Am J Clin Nutr 1982 Sep; 36(3): 426-30.

 

vii. Ruegsegger P, Dambacher MA.  “Therapy of osteoporosis with an ossein-hydroxyapatite compound evaluated with quantitative computed tomography.” J Bone Miner Res. 1987 Jun; 2(Suppl1): A325.

 

viii. Durance RA, Parsons V, Atkins CJ, Hamilton EB, Davies C. “A trial of calcium supplements (Ossopan) and ashed bone.” Clin Trials J. 1973 Nov; 10(3): 67-73