Don’t waste your money on calcium supplements.

If you’re taking them hoping to build strong bones and avoid osteoporosis you’ll be let down on both fronts.

Doctors and drug companies push the idea that the best way to treat and prevent osteoporosis is by taking lots of calcium. This simply isn’t true.

Few things age a person as quickly as osteoporosis (porous, brittle bone), a disease that robs bones of their density and strength, making them thinner, more prone to break. Eventually, bone mass decreases below the level required to support the body.  Over 28 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis today, and experts from the National Osteoporosis Foundation predict 40 million Americans will suffer from osteoporosis by the year 2015.

The brilliant sunshine streaming through my window reminds me that we can now spend more time outdoors. Just in time, too. After the gray winter doldrums, especially in northern latitudes, say above the axis between Boston and northern California, there is a silent, invisible epidemic: vitamin D deficiency. This is a major component of widespread osteoporosis and resultant hip and wrist fractures that orthopaedists are called upon to treat.

New research from the UK shows that vitamin D deficiency may sharply increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome (along with a higher risk of type 2 diabetes and heart disease).

We can thank Dr. Michael Holick for this study. He wasn’t one of the researchers, but without Dr. Holick’s considerable influence we probably wouldn’t have seen even half of the explosion of vitamin D research that’s occurred over the past few years.

It seems like everyone is talking about vitamin D these days. As a result of people getting less sun exposure due to climate, lifestyle, and skin cancer concerns, there is a growing epidemic of vitamin D deficiency.

Q: I have read on the Internet that tea has a lot of fluoride in it these days. Is this true and if so, is there a near fluoride-free source?

––W.N., Mequon, WI

A new study out of Taiwan has found that the nattokinase enzyme, which is derived from fermented soy, may help to prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Since 2001, more than 2,400 patients taking Fosamax and other bone-building medications like it have reported bone death in their jaws, mostly after a minor trauma such as getting a tooth extracted.

You may not hear a lot about it, but boron is one of the most effective weapons available for the prevention of osteoporosis. It stops the excretion of calcium in the urine and raises the level of estrogen in postmenopausal women.

Most people think of calcium as the No. 1 factor in bone health—and for good reason: A recent study done by the National Institutes of Health found that half of all Americans are literally starving their bones of calcium—most of us aren’t even getting half the amount our bodies require.