Should i take strontium

Finally, participants in both groups reported no adverse effects through their daily logs or during their bi-monthly check-ups. Results: Although the number of participants in this study was limited, the strength of the study design lends weight to its findings. This was the first, modern double-blind randomized controlled trial to investigate the effects of strontium citrate, in combination with other nutrients, on bone health.

The fact that the MSDK regimen not only increased bone density, but significantly reduced fracture risk compared to the placebo group is extremely promising. Note that this finding comes from FRAX data, which is an assessment tool that predicts the risk of fracture based on clinical risk factors. Of course, strontium citrate was taken in combination with melatonin, vitamin D3, and vitamin K2.

But again, this supports the use of strontium citrate as an integral part of a multi-nutrient approach to bone health. The dose of strontium citrate was a little lower in this study: mg. Nonetheless, participants reported no adverse side effects over the course of a full year. And they found that MSDK treatment decreased the ratio of bone resorption to bone formation!

Namely, that strontium stimulates bone-building and slows bone resorption. But the truth is, the amount that strontium impacts DEXA results is insignificant. Another common misconception is that strontium can actually cause bones to become more fragile and prone to fracture. But this is based merely on speculation and not any kind of scientific evidence. On the contrary, strontium has been shown to reduce fracture risk independent of bone density! So regardless of any increases in bone density you may see, strontium can help you avoid a fracture… which is the ultimate goal of any regimen for improving bone health.

Strontium is truly an exceptional mineral for bone health. In fact, it can do something no other mineral in the world can…. As we touched on earlier, strontium both stimulates the rate of new bone building, and slows the rate of bone break down. This powerful dual-effect is no doubt a big contributor to the bone density increases seen in clinical studies using strontium citrate.

Plus, strontium has four other important benefits for bone health too. As mentioned at the beginning of this article, strontium is a trace mineral! That said, some foods are richer sources of strontium than others. If you have chronic kidney disease, you may want to moderate or refrain from strontium supplementation depending on the severity of the condition. This is because strontium is eliminated by the kidneys. So not surprisingly, some dialysis patients have elevated bone strontium concentrations and a higher strontium to calcium ratio in their bones.

This can contribute to osteomalacia — a condition where the bones become soft. This is because failing kidneys lose their ability to activate vitamin D , which is key for calcium absorption.

So calcium is doubly hard to come by! All this to say, more often than not, strontium has nothing to do with osteomalacia seen in chronic kidney disease. The best test to measure kidney function is called estimated glomerular filtration rate eGFR.

Simply put, the lower your eGFR, the more impaired your kidney function. The National Kidney Foundation also reports that an eGFR below 60 for three or more months indicates chronic kidney disease.

It may alter the architecture of rapidly growing bones, and no studies have been done using high doses of strontium on children. Here are some guidelines to help you maximize the bone health benefits of your strontium citrate supplement:.

Take mg of strontium citrate a day. Why mg? If you recall, the majority of human clinical studies on strontium citrate were conducted using this dose. These studies showed that mg of strontium citrate a day was both safe and effective at increasing bone density.

Separate calcium and strontium intake by at least two hours. Calcium and strontium are chemically similar minerals, and they use the same absorption pathway. So if you take your calcium and strontium at the same time, they would compete for absorption — a competition that calcium always wins. This issue is easily avoided by taking your calcium and strontium supplements at least two hours apart.

For example, we recommend taking two capsules of AlgaeCal Plus at breakfast and two capsules at lunch. Then, two capsules of Strontium Boost before bed. Limit processed food consumption. Phosphate a chemical compound that contains phosphorus, often a salt significantly lowers strontium absorption. Phosphates are used as preservatives in most processed foods, so make sure you read nutrition labels closely. Most often, phosphates are found in foods like sodas, sweet bakery products, cereals, crackers, pizza, cured meats, poultry, processed vegetables, egg products, candy, and chocolate.

Include all essential bone-building nutrients. Your bones require 13 essential minerals one of which is strontium and 3 vitamins. These include calcium, magnesium, boron, and vitamins D3, K2, and C — to name just a few! Its safety, on the other hand, has…. But the key takeaway here is that natural strontium citrate is both safe and extremely beneficial for your bones. And that anyone who questions the safety of natural strontium is confusing it with the two other kinds: Strontium ranelate and radioactive strontium.

Natural forms of strontium have been safely used in medicine for over years. And again, in the 21st century, natural strontium became confused with strontium ranelate — a synthetic version with many potential adverse side effects. Four human clinical studies from the last decade have demonstrated that strontium citrate helps increase bone density, without causing any side effects, even when taken for a prolonged period of time.

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I want to get healthier. Close Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss And increased bone density is closely correlated with lowered risk of breaking a bone.

Besides, strontium has been shown to reduce fracture risk independent of bone density. In other words, whether your bone density increases or not, strontium reduces your risk of breaking a bone!

I will be publishing a post on its positive bone-building mechanisms in the near future. If you have low bone density, you will receive the most benefit from a milligram per day dose of strontium citrate. This is the dose that has been used in almost all the human research conducted on stable strontium salts. If your bones are currently in great shape, you may still wish to consider supplementing with strontium citrate at a dose of milligrams per day.

This dose will help protect and maintain the long-term health of your bones. A personal note: this is my situation. Within a year after I began supplementing with AlgaeCal Plus and Strontium Boost mg strontium citrate daily , my bones were completely healthy. You can read about my journey from rapidly advancing osteopenia in my early 40s back to healthy bones. In the most recently published studies in which the effects of natural strontium salts on bone health were researched, strontium citrate was effectively absorbed and deposited in bone at both a mg per day and a mg per day dose.

As explained above, calcium will be preferentially absorbed over strontium. In additional to calcium-containing foods, foods that contain alginate found in kelp lower strontium absorption, and so do certain medications, including quinolone antibiotics, and medications that contain aluminum hydroxide or magnesium hydroxide. What schedule can help me optimize strontium absorption and let me lead a normal life?

I suggest the following:. It is best to take strontium supplements and calcium at different times of day to get the most benefit. Take your strontium before bedtime at night. It has been suggested that bone resorption is most active at night, so taking strontium citrate just before bed may result in strontium exerting more of its antiresorptive effects when they are needed most.

Calcium on the other hand, should be taken with food so that when food nutrients are being metabolised, the calcium absorption happens along with the other nutrients in the same digestive phase.

Both the strontium and the calcium supplements are absorbed in our gastrointestinal tracts using the same mechanism. Thus, if we take both the supplements together or at the same time, the two will compete for absorption by the body.

Scheduling your supplementation like above, will ensure that this does not happen. How to boost your ability to absorb strontium and get the most from your strontium supplement…. Our active intestinal absorption of strontium is vitamin D-dependent and decreases with aging, and with consumption of phosphate additives as well as calcium. Ask your doctor to get tested to know your current levels and how much you need to bring your levels up to the healthy range.

Phosphate, as well as calcium, significantly lowers strontium absorption. Read labels! Morbidity and mortality from fractures due to OP pose a significant financial burden on health care [3]. Majority of the treatments currently approved for OP in the United States US have anti-resorptive effects with teriparatide being the only agent with anabolic effects. It is being promoted as a nutritional supplement for bone health.

She continued SrC on her own till , when she agreed to stop taking it due to concerns about accumulation and toxicity. She took Actonel 35mg weekly for 5years, stopped for more than a year and resumed Actonel intermittently for another 2 years before starting drug holiday. She was taking Calcium mg in the multivitamin and mg of vitamin D.

Serum calcium and vitamin D were within normal range. She started strontium citrate mg daily in and took it for 5 years, stopping it in At 5 years, BMD increase was 6. She agreed to stop SrC at this time. She was advised to resume alendronate in due to declining BMD, but opted not to take it. She started self-administration of mg of SrC daily in February and continued it for four years till January , when she stopped it due to myalgias and concern about risk for toxicity.

Due to her history of ulcerative colitis, she was limited in dairy intake although averaged half a cup of almond milk daily and took calcium supplements with the SrC preparation. Strontium Sr is an alkaline earth element present in grains and seafood range 0. The whole-body strontium content of an average 70 kg human is estimated at mg approximately 0.

Sr occurs naturally as mineral deposits of strontium sulfate and strontium carbonate. SrC is the chelated form of Sr and is made from strontium minerals and citrate. Strontium ranelate consists of a combination of strontium and ranelic acid. SrR is not approved for use in the US. Standard doses of SrR 2g and SrC mg deliver mg of elemental Sr, twice the amount naturally present in the human body on a daily basis, or times the naturally occurring strontium levels in the human diet per day.

Over-the-counter supplements containing strontium citrate are available in the US, which is being widely self-administered by patients to improve bone density. SrR has been shown in vivo and in vitro studies to simultaneously decrease bone resorption and increase bone formation [7, 8].

In vitro studies show an increase in markers of osteogenesis including alkaline phosphatase, sclerostin, collagen, sialoprotein and osteocalcin [8, 9]. Histiomorphic and CT analyses of bone show improved bone mass, volume, microarchitecture and strength following SrR supplementation [7, ].