Dr. Schneider Bone Vital Plus

It's a fact that the human body cannot form calcium by itself. This makes it necessary to take in calcium in the diet. The "National Nutritional Survey II" showed, however, that the average intake of calcium is below the daily amount of calcium recommended by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Ernährung (German Society for Nutrition). It is therefore recommended that the daily diet is supplemented with calcium. However, the latest research has shown that other essential nutrients aside from calcium must be taken, since otherwise the calcium cannot be used by the body. Specifically, the body requires vitamin D to be able to absorb the calcium at all. Vitamin K, especially vitamin K2, is just as important as the vitamin D for transporting the calcium out of the blood vessels and into the bones and thus optimising the build-up of calcium in the bones. For this reason, we advise against taking a pure calcium product and with the Dr. Schneider Knochen Vital Plus have developed a combi-preparation to optimise the build-up of calcium.

Strong bones are essential for maintaining mobility and mastering everyday life. The strength of the bones changes with the aging process. Here, there bones act like a reservoir for calcium. The water level constantly rises and sinks. Our bones also undergo continual build-up and break-down processes. Up until the age of 35 or so, the build-up processes predominate. We need a lot of calcium particularly in our youth and the basis for later years is formed until the maximum bone density is reached at around age 30. After this point, the break-down processes predominate. With increasing age and through normal hormonal changes, particularly during the menopause, the break-down of bone material accelerates additionally and the bone density decreases. Thus it is important to supplement the diet across the entire lifecycle to ensure that the bones are provided with sufficient calcium. The earlier one starts, the better. Even when one begins in advanced years to take dietary supplements, it still makes sense because the break-down of bone material can be slowed.

There are even three groups of vitamin K, although few people understand the difference between the three. From a legal point of view, the product packaging doesn't have to differentiate between them. A distinction is made between:

• Vitamin K1 or phylloquinone – can be found in various green plants and types of vegetables.
• Vitamin K2 or menaquinone – can also be produced by bacteria in the human intestines in small amounts.
• Vitamin K3 or menadione – this used to be employed as an artificial "provitamin K".

Only vitamins K1 and K2 are of practical import in the (human) metabolism.

The fat-soluble vitamin K is particularly well-known as an important nutrient for blood clotting and a vitamin K deficiency can lead to haemorrhaging. Scientists have discovered that there are other vitamin K-dependent metabolic processes in the body. It is a co-factor for the protein osteocalcin, a regulator of the mineralisation of the bones. Vitamin K2 has been scientifically examined for decades but the latest studies at the University of Maastricht have shown the enormous importance of vitamin K2 for bone health and have thus awoken the interest of other scientists. Vitamin K2 controls how calcium is stored and used in the body. Vitamin K thus contributes overall to the maintenance of healthy bones.

These days, you can have your bone density checked at many chemists and pharmacies. This usually costs less than 15 euro. Measurement only takes a few minutes and is carried out at the ankle. The measurement will provide you with basic information and you can then decide if you should have a specialist DXA scan undertaken by a doctor to rule out osteoporosis. As soon as you know what the density of your bones is, you can also decide what steps to take next. The earlier, the better.

Osteoporosis is often recognised too late. In a quarter of cases, the diagnosis is made only after the first bone break. For this reason, one should regularly have bone density measured after a certain age, especially if the classic risk factors are in play or if there are several known cases of osteoporosis in the family. We speak of osteoporosis when the bones lose their stability, elasticity and fracture resistance caused by an unnatural, rapidly advancing loss of bone substance. This can lead to bones breaking under even normal, everyday stress.

The "National Nutrition Survey II" has shown that the average intake of calcium is good but not yet sufficient. At Dr. Schneider, we want to close this gap and supplement the diet with calcium appropriately. Here, the right combination of minerals and the "use and absorption helpers" plays an important role in ensuring that the calcium is absorbed by the body and stored in the bones. "The more the better" is not always the right approach, and here it is "the right thing at the right time in the right place" that counts.