Dear Friends,
Every once in a while, a scientific study comes along that feels especially rewarding.
Not because it tells me something completely new. But because it confirms something I've believed for a very long time.
Recently, I received one of those studies. In fact, I'd been waiting nearly 15 years to see it.
Back in 2010, when we were developing what eventually became TrueOsteo+, we weren't just looking at calcium, vitamin D, and the other nutrients that most people associate with bone health.
This was personal, as the inspiration was my mother-in-law, whose bone density scans showed her bone health trending in the wrong direction at an alarming rate.
We wanted to understand why bone density often declines as we get older, especially after menopause.
That search led us down an unexpected path: Stress, and more specifically - cortisol.
Not a Villain When in a Healthy Range
Most people know cortisol as the body's "stress hormone." But cortisol isn't the enemy. In fact, it's essential for life.
It helps regulate blood sugar, supports memory, helps us wake up each morning, and performs many other important jobs. The problem isn't cortisol itself.
The problem is when stress causes cortisol to remain elevated for long periods of time.
As we reviewed the research, we found evidence suggesting that stubbornly elevated cortisol could interfere with healthy bone remodeling by reducing the formation of new bone while accelerating the natural breakdown of older bone.
It can also interfere with calcium and magnesium utilization—two minerals that are essential for maintaining healthy bones.
This helps explain why several research studies have all shown that high levels of cortisol correlate directly to lower levels of bone mineral density.
With the added stress many of us experience in the modern 21st century world, it’s a greater challenge to keep cortisol in a healthy range.
At the time, very few bone health supplements addressed this. We thought they should.
That's why we decided to include Sensoril Ashwagandha in TrueOsteo+.
Ashwagandha is known as an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body better adapt to stress and supports healthy cortisol levels already within the normal range.
Sensoril had already been studied for its effects on stress, cortisol, and overall well-being, so we believed it could play an important supporting role in a comprehensive bone health formula.
Still... I always hoped researchers would eventually conduct a human study looking specifically at bone health. They finally did!
Bone Turnover Markers All Improved
The study, published in The Journal of Menopausal Medicine, followed 120 postmenopausal women (average age of 51) for six months and evaluated several important markers involved in healthy bone remodeling.
The results were encouraging. Women taking Sensoril showed significant improvements in multiple markers related to healthy bone turnover.
To help you better understand the study results, let’s quickly review the main reason why bone density typically declines post menopause.
Each day our body is constantly shedding old bone and forming new healthy bone to replace it.
We already touched on how elevated cortisol can disrupt the process, and the changes in the body resulting from a decline in estrogen can make this even more challenging.
In particular, the formation of new bone cells called osteoblasts often declines, while the shedding of bone through a natural process called bone resorption accelerates.
In case you don’t know, in the bone resorption process, bone is broken down by the body and minerals like calcium are released into the bloodstream.
When bones degrade faster than the body can make new bone, bone density declines, and that’s the health challenge we need to confront and bring back into balance.
As I mentioned, in the study the markers for bone turnover all improved, indicating a better and healthier balance of new bone formation and bone resorption – which is what you want.
In case you’re curious, the bone turnover markers the researchers used were CTX-1, BALP, RANKL and OPG.
Each one of these bone health markers improved significantly, on average, in women taking 250mg of Sensoril daily, as well as a group taking 500mg of Sensoril daily.
Because changes in bone density happen very slowly and gradually, these bone turnover markers are useful for evaluating bone health changes in shorter timeframes like this 6-month study.
In this study, the researchers did find a small improvement in bone density in the lumbar spine in women taking 500mg of Sensoril daily, but realistically, it takes more time to see meaningful changes in bone density.
This is why a DEXA scan to measure bone density is typically only administered every 2 to 5 years, depending on what your doctor thinks is right for you.
In addition to helping keep cortisol in check by helping the body handle stress better, in this study, the researchers found that Sensoril helped in other areas too.
These included oxidative stress, vascular function, and a healthy inflammatory response—all factors that can influence overall bone health.
Happy We Decided to Put the “+” in TrueOsteo+
When I first read this study, I couldn't help but smile.
Not because we guessed correctly. But because careful science had finally caught up with an idea we'd believed was worth pursuing for a long time.
And it helps confirm that making Sensoril Ashwagandha the “+” in TrueOsteo+, may help you maintain strong healthy bones.
What’s more, it's yet another reminder that supporting healthy bones isn't just about taking more calcium.
It's about understanding all the systems working together to keep your bones healthy.
Yours for Good Health,
Carl Pradelli
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