collagen for bone health?
Has anyone taken or done research on collagen peptides for bone health? I found a few studies on PubMed, like this one, which suggest that collagen may stabilize or improve bone density in post-meno women.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29337906/
I've recently seen an orthopedic surgeon. He suggested I take meds, but when we talked about non-pharmaceutical options, he said that essential amino acids are important. He said this is relatively new information, like in the past few years.
I'd love to hear what others have found or tried. Thanks in advance for your comments.
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As an FYI, I found a brand in the US that uses the Fortibone collagen used in all the studies. The US product suggests a serving size of 1 T or 5 grams a day. Some other brands of collagens suggest 2 scoops (4 T) and about 20 grams of protein a day. Those others aren't tested for bone health or possibly anything, I don't know.
Anyway, I'm still curious if anyone has tried this or investigate it at all. Thanks in advance for your help
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Hi Peggy!
I don't know anything about it, but it does look promising. There's a post about collagen peptide on the complementary medicine forum.
Just found out that I have osteoporosis and I haven't even started on hormonal therapy yet so I'm looking for anything that can help. Here's another study.
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I started taking collagen daily about a year ago to coincide with the AI. My nails stopped breaking. I have less joint aches than I had prior to taking the AI. I take that as a "win."
I add it to bone broth and cauliflower rice. I haven't been checked for osteoporosis yet, but I have lost weight and love that my nail & toenails are staying in tact. :-)
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Collagen is useful for bone health. It first came on the radar in scientific studies about 10 years ago. My four siblings and I have participated in a medical study of familial osteoporosis for the past 50 years (both my mother and maternal grandmother died from complications of osteoporosis) so I have seen research and recommendations develop over time. So far I have escaped serious fractures but between them my siblings have 11 joint replacements, 5 kyphoplasty surgeries and numerous pins and plates. While I have cycled in and out of fosamax over the years my sibs have used that as well as actonel, boniva, reclast, prolia and xgeva. One brother is now at the point where he regularly has spontaneous fractures in his femur, ribs and arm, a side effect of too much bone building medication, which can no longer be treated. My spine looks terrible but thankfully it doesn't hurt, maybe because I have always watched my diet and kept my muscles in shape with walking and stretching.
The best advice I ever received was to ingest the nutrients that help build bones through foods rather than supplements since their uptake is greater that way. The recommended vitamins/minerals are calcium, D3, magnesium, K, boron and strontium. While calcium is essential I get what I need through food rather than tablets. My mother was the poster child for taking calcium supplements and developing kidney stones as well as worsening bone density. Blood tests can measure your individual levels of these. Calcium in your blood is a useless measurement (it hasn't been absorbed) but I have to supplement with 4,000u of D3 (I was too low with 2,000u) and magnesium. I use bone broth rather than collagen supplements. Adding them doesn't hurt and they have been shown to be good for your hair and nails. My mother and sister used HRT. I didn't and I'm the only one of my relatives who ever developed cancer, so who knows? There is also a urine test (n-telopeptide) which can show how well your bone building meds are working. Here is a link to current dietary recommendations.
https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/patients/treatment/nutrition/
Needless to say I am not taking the recommended AIs. Tamoxifen is a better endocrine therapy option for osteoporosis (it can improve bone density some) but it has other side effects. Each person's situation is different so if you have osteoporosis it is important to have a doctor following your bone density with DEXA scans. While my MO is a wonderful doctor I follow my endocrinologist's advice as far as my skeleton goes.
I hope everyone finds a regimen that works for them.
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magnoliachild thanks for sharing that article. Looks like another study looking at the same brand of collagen. I happened to find another study (somewhere) but a team (I think) in Greece, looking at this same collagen. Maybe it's the only one that is tried to get studied? Who knows? Thanks also for posting the link that's in that journal. I've only search PubMed. That journal happened to have an article about probiotics helping bone health. I haven't read it (yet) but I wonder if eating yogurt daily is enough (get calcium too)
wondering44 thanks for sharing your experience. Doesn't bone broth have some collagen too? Glad to hear you've having a good experience.
maggie15 thanks for sharing your experience and that of your family. And for sharing your list of supplements. I'm taking most of those, though I heard mixed things about strontium, including blood clot issues (which is already a problem for me). Your post was packed with good info. Including that link. Thanks for sharing all of that. Hope you and your family do ok. These bone issues can be hard. take care.
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Maggie
I’m in agreement about taking collagen though I haven’t had my Decatur scan yet . I want to warn you about the dangers of tamoxifen. I used Evista and I was Er positive. After 4 year on Evista my uterine lining thickened and a large ovrain cyst appeared . When I decided to stop upon the advice of my obgyn, and my own juicing routine it suddenly disappeared. Tamoxifen Is known carcinogen. I was on Estrogen blockers 8 years but no cancer . Ask your dr before you get to that point !
Best wishes with bone loss !
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Marcia M, Thanks for your post. I don't use any hormonal therapy because I have other health problems that could be made much worse (even dangerous) by both AIs and tamoxifen. I'm 71 so lessening the chance of recurrence is not as important to me as keeping my health stable.Tamoxifen is better for bone health than AIs which cause osteoporosis but it does have other risks. Everyone needs to choose based on their own situation. My MO recommends letrozole but understands my decision. If I ever have a stage iv recurrence I'll have some tough choices to make so I'm hoping for the best.
Thank you for your concern. I hope the collagen helps keep your bones healthy!
Maggie
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peggy-j Thanks for starting this thread and sharing the studies. I am almost 14 years post treatment for DCIS for which I took tamoxifen. My hip dexa results, just this week! are both now definitely in the osteopenia range and heading towards osteoporosis. My spine is fine. I have only taken D3, kind of scared of calcium supplements due to heart/artery issues. Curious about collagen. Could you please share the name of the supplement you use, I am having trouble finding ones with Fortibone at the reasonable dosage you are using.
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From the cancer center nutritionist nurse, I was told to avoid red meat, dairy and sugar. I assume only chicken broth may be ok. Anyone else has any experience with this?
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Hi lillyishere, The reason you were told to avoid dairy and red meat is the dietary fat they contain can promote estrogen, bad if your tumor was ER+. I eat low fat Greek yogurt for the calcium and lean red meat since I also have anemia. Beef bone broth does not have much fat (.6 gm/cup) and has some iron while chicken bone broth has no fat. If you are dealing with multiple health problems it can get complicated following the recommendations for all of them. For something sweet I eat low sugar fruits like berries and cook with stevia and monkfruit since they are natural sugar substitutes. If I crave chocolate I make cocoa with skim milk (no fat) or unsweetened almond milk (good fat), unsweetened (Dutch) cocoa powder and stevia. Sugar seems to be bad for everything!
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jelson, yeah I couldn't find anything on my own. I finally emailed the company that makes Fortibone and they pointed me to ReGenos. I bought it on Amazon.
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peggy-j - thanks very much for sharing the results of your research. I just ordered some ReGenos!
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I second maggie15. I gave up the sugar. I transitioned to grilled/baked chicken and salmon also. I do eat red meat, but it was recommended by my cancer nutritionist that it should be springing and always lean. I don't eat it red meat often. I also eliminated processed deli meat. I eat non-fat greek yogurt with blueberries/strawberries with a lil honey for dessert. I still eye the Reeses in the store. Those bags are inviting sitting on the shelves. :-D
I drink a chicken bone broth with collagen. I haven't tried beef bone broth. I just buy the chicken in bulk and haven't considered any others since chicken is preferred over red meat for hormone positive cancer. The brothis my "go to" snack in the afternoons.
@peggy_j. I assume bone broth has some collagen. I am not 100% since I didn't research it. I don't know that a minimal amount is enough for a supplement with an AI. I have not discussed with my MO, so can't give a solid yes or no on it.
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You guys are doing great following the healthy route. I admittedly don’t. I developed osteoporosis after taking Arimidex and then was switched to Tamoxifen. I had no real issues with it. I do eat red meat and I am a sugar baby but I try not to overdue on either. Every one is different.
My Dexa scans have been up and down. The last one showed improvement in some areas. My internist is pushing me to take the Prolia shot but I am going to continue with Boniva. No side effects with it and much less expensive.
I am active which helps. Walking every day. Btw I’ll be 11 years out this August. Yea!
Diane
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Hello
Has anyone taken Reclast for osteoporosis? Terrified of the side effects. Couldn’t take fosamax and recommendation was made to have yearly iv Reclast. Reading kidney issues seizures stoke etc as side effects. People report having ongoing joint pain. Any comments would be
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I declined Zometa due to all these awful side effects that you read and hear about. I totally understand your hesitancy and frustration. One of the other things I'd like to know about is side effects and the long acting nature of some of these drugs. If Reclast is given once a year, what happens if you have a bad reaction to it. My assumption is that that stuff will be in your system for a year. Same with all these others that are monthly, every six months or whatever. If you react badly, isn't that stuff in your system for the duration? If so, then what are you supposed to do if you start having things like seizures and strokes? Yikes. I just don't get it.
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I never get too scared off by "side effects." They have to report it if even one person in a study suffered from it. Years after treatment I started seeing commercials for Neulasta. The side effects they mentioned were CRAZY scary! I took my Claritin as directed, and I didn't have any of them.
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