Osteoporosis is scary. Through the years, Ive seen scores of women suffer with severe frailty and broken bones. Most doctors immediately put their patients on Fosamax or a similar drug. These drugs carry significant risks, though, so I always recommend alternatives.
In the past, Ive told you about many supplements that work wonders on osteoporosis. Ive seen it firsthand in my practice. In fact, I cant recall seeing even one fracture in a woman who has followed my supplement program. (You can read about these supplements on my website. See page 6 for details.)
But now Ive found a food that works better than most supplements. This food is so effective it can actually harden bones and reverse osteoporosis.
A new study shows that the whole food natto has some other properties that could make it a key player in osteoporosis treatment. I told you about natto a couple years ago. Its also called fermented soy, which is the source of the enzyme nattokinase. If you remember, nattokinase is the enzyme that can help thin your blood and reduce your risk of clots and vascular disease.
Just how well does natto work to strengthen your bones? In the study, researchers followed 394 premeno-pausal and 550 postmenopausal women from Japan. They evaluated the womens bone mineral density at the start of the study and again after three years. They also measured their natto intake at the same time.
In the postmenopausal group, women who consumed more than four servings of natto weekly had a stunning 80% reduction in bone density loss at the top of their thigh bone compared to women who consumed no natto. And they also had a 60% reduction in loss at the wrist area.
Furthermore, the benefit seemed to increase as the women got older. And most interestingly, the study was controlled for calcium intake and soy products (including tofu). The benefit here was clearly from natto.
As a result of this study and others Ive seen, I encourage all postmenopausal women to eat plenty of fermented soy products, such as miso. In general, I still have reservations about soy, which Ive expressed in the past. But natto is soy fermented by a different organism that gives the paste a peculiar smell. Fermentation in general creates incredible compounds not available otherwise.
In nattos case, the fermenting bacteria in soy create a compound called menaquinone-7. It is also called vitamin K2. Each pack of natto contained about 350 micrograms of menaquinone-7. So in a week, the intake from four packs was about 1.4 mg. Since that is a very small amount, you can see the power of this biochemical.
Vitamin K2 has emerged as a star player in osteoporosis. You have heard of vitamin K in clotting. Coumadin, or rat poison, blocks vitamin K from working and making clotting proteins in your liver. Vitamin K is also a critical factor in inserting calcium into your bones. Without K, your bones will turn to mush. (That is why people on coumadin are at greater risk of osteoporosis. That is another reason I do all I can to keep my patients off coumadin.)
Vitamin K2 is more active by far than the more common vitamin K1. So for osteoporosis, I make sure that the supplements I recommend contain vitamin K as K2. The main source of vitamin K2 in supplements is natto. An 80% reduction in bone loss with a whole food is nothing to sneeze at. Its huge!
Natto is readily available at Asian markets. Be aware, please, it does have a strong odor. Terri and I enjoy eating natto sushi at Japanese restaurants, but not many Westerners care for it. I suggest you give it a try, since the whole food is always better than an isolated supplement in my book.
If you do not care for the odor, do not like the taste, or need more vitamin K2 in your system, then look for a supplement containing vitamin K2. The authors of this study noted that the benefit was due either to vitamin K2 or the increased isoflavones, both created by the fermentation process. Heres another opportunity for you to get dramatic help from food or food supplements and not a visit to the doctor.
Ref: Ikeda, Y., M. Iki, et al. Intake of fermented soybeans, natto, is associated with reduced bone loss in postmenopausal women: Japanese Population-Based Osteoporosis (JPOS) Study, J Nutr., 2006; 136(5): 1323-8.