Be Friendly To Your Bones!

bone healthNearly 52 million Americans over the age of 50 have osteoporosis or low bone density.  One out of every two women and one out of every four men will suffer a bone fracture because they have osteoporosis.  Bone density can be built until approximately age 30.  During menopausal hormone shifts, bone density starts to decrease.  If there are not adequate reserves, you are at a greater risk for developing osteopenia or osteoporosis.

How Can I Increase Bone Density?

Bone friendly foods include dairy products, soy, dark leafy greens (spinach and kale), orange juice, grain cereals and almonds.  Calcium from food sources are better absorbed than calcium from a supplement.  Approximately 250 mg of calcium can be absorbed at one time.  The recommended dosage of calcium is 1000-1200 mg daily.   Vitamin D is another important component of bone health as is magnesium, which helps regulate vitamin D levels.  The main way our bodies process vitamin D is from sunlight.  Vitamin D is also found in fatty fish and dairy products – experts recommend 800-1000 IU daily.  Magnesium is found in a wide variety of foods such as avocados, black bean, bananas, and almonds.   The recommended daily intake is approximately 320 mg.  Vitamin K also plays a role in bone health.  Food sources include spinach, kale, romaine lettuce, Brussels sprouts and broccoli – try to ingest 90mcg daily.

Weight bearing exercise is also essential to building bone density.  Weight bearing exercises include walking, jumping, dancing and strength training.

Dr. Anne Hermann, is board certified in internal medicine and is also a physician nutrition specialist.  Offices are maintained in Tampa and Saint Petersburg Beach, Florida.  Please call the office at (813) 902-9559 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

 

 

How Does Vitamin K Help Me?

Vitamin K is essential for cardiovascular and bone health.  Vitamin K deficiency can lead to bone weakening, increased blood pressure and arterial plaque formation.  The recommended daily dietary intake of vitamin K is approximately 100mcg.  However, optimal levels for cardiovascular, nutritional needs and bone health is 250-1000mcg daily.  Foods rich in vitamin K include kale, spinach, broccoli, asparagus and brussels sprouts.

Dr. Anne Hermann, a holistic internal medicine physician, offers comprehensive vitamin testing to her patients.  Dr. Hermann is also board-certified in nutrition.  Offices are maintained in Tampa and Saint Petersburg Beach, Florida.  Please contact the office at (813) 902-9559 for more information or to schedule an appointment.

 

Why You Should Take Vitamin K from Tampa and St Pete’s Medical Nutritionist, Anne Hermann, MD

Posted by Anne Hermann on Mon, Apr 16, 2012 @ 05:28 PM

Anne Hermann, MD

The buzz in the nutrition world is that Vitamin K2 (menaquinone) is more important that we ever realized.  Vitamin K2 has always been recognized
for its crucial role in blood clotting.  Here are a few new recent findings about Vitamin K2:

 

Adding K2 to Vitamin D and Calcium reduces risk of fracture by 25%.  Vitamin K Supplementation for the primary prevention of osteoporotic fractures: is it
cost-effective and is future research warranted?  Gajic-Veljanoski O, Byoumi AM, Tomlinson G, Khan K, Cheung AM.  Osteoporosis Int. 2012 Mar 8

Vitamin K reduces heart disease.  High dietary menaquinone intake is associated with reduced coronary calcification.  Beulens JW. Bots ML, Atsma F, Bartelink ML. Atherosclerosis. 2009 Apr; 203(2):489-93

People with higher dietary Vitamin K2 intake have lower rates of death from cancer. Dietary vitamin K intake in relation to cancer incidence and mortality:  results from the Heidelberg cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition.  Am J Clin Nutr. 2010 May, 91(5):1348-58.

With all these benefits, I recommend that patients take 125 mcg of vitamin K2 per day.  For bone health, I recommend a preparation of Vitamin D and Vitamin K2.  Sources of vitamin K include kale, and other leafy green vegetables.  If you would like to have your vitamin K level checked, we do this through Spectracell Labs.

If you are on a blood thinner, you will need to talk to a physician about the safe amount of K2 for you.

Anne Hermann, MD, is a board certified physician nutrition specialist.  To schedule your appointment with Dr. Hermann, call (813) 902-9559.

This post was written by Anne Hermann. Follow Anne Hermann on Google, Facebook, Twitter & Linkedin.