When we think of bones we tend to think of hard, strong structures that hold our body upright and protect our major organs. Indeed, healthy bones do make us strong and resilient to the demands and pressures we put on our skeleton day in, day out. However, it may come as something of a surprise to learn that just having strong bones isn’t enough…our aim is to have flexible bones.
What do we mean by flexible?
It isn’t ‘bendy bones’ that we want, it’s more about bones that have tensile strength (the strength that bones have when force is applied to them) making them more resistant to fracture in the event of impact.
You may like to think of this as the difference between having bones made of china and bones made of timber. Both china and timber look solid and strong. But if subjected to any impact or outside force, china would shatter while timber would absorb the impact, give a little and, importantly, not break.
How do we achieve tensile strength in our bones?
The secret lies not in the outer casing of our bones – which is, by nature, quite hard and brittle. Instead, tensile strength and flexibility come from within the bone matrix – the part of your bones that gives them strength and structure. In a way, the bone matrix acts like internal scaffolding for our bones, holding everything together and making the bones tough and durable.
The bone matrix is made up of two parts:
- Collagen fibres that are provide a net of support to help the bones resist breaking or fracturing (much as a concrete bridge has a metal framework to hold it together)
- Minerals – primarily calcium and phosphate – that act like cement, making the bones hard and strong.
The combination of the hard structure and supportive net make the bones sturdy and slightly flexible, so they can support our bodies and absorb impact without easily breaking.
Why do we need flexible bones?
The flexibility is essential because our bones are constantly subjected to various forces. If you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, you’ll be very aware of the risk posed by impact from a knock, accident or fall. But did you know that everyday actions of walking, running, carrying, lifting and exercise all put our bodies under regular stress? If our bones are flexible, they are more able to endure these mechanical stresses without weakening or breaking.
Strong, flexible bones are resilient and able to recover from certain levels of stress and strain. Indeed, they need the stimulus of muscles pulling on them to trigger fresh bone tissue formation. In order to form new bone tissue, we need the right level of nutrients to be drawn and held in the bone tissue by specific collagen fibres. But as we get older, our supplies of these nutrients and collagen naturally decrease – which means we may need to supplement our diet to ensure we are feeding our bones all that they need to thrive.
Adding collagen to our diet is highly recommended but it’s important to note that our bodies need exactly the right size and shape collagen peptides to fit into the bone tissue. Collagen is increasing in popularity with many people familiar with taking it to nourish skin, hair, nails and joints. When it comes to bones, it’s important to choose a collagen – such as the FORTIBONE found in bonebalance – that is optimised for absorption into the bone matrix.
Working in tandem with collagen are vitamins C & D, which support collagen synthesis, and the minerals calcium and magnesium which are crucial to form healthy bone tissue. Together they will help you build strong, flexible bones ready to take on everyday stresses and strains.