According to a new study that involved 90 women aged 75 to 80, a probiotic supplement could be beneficial in maintaining strong bones.
The participants were all generally healthy but with low bone mineral density, which was measured at the beginning of the study. They were then assigned randomly to either a placebo or two daily doses of freeze-dried Lactobacillus reuteri, a microbe in the intestinal tract that occurs naturally in most people, but not all.
After a year had passed, the researchers measured the women's bone mineral density again. They found that women taking the microbial supplements had reduced bone loss compared with the participants under placebo.
The findings were published in the Journal of Internal Medicine.
Could Probiotics Help Reduce Bone Loss? Study Says Yes
It's still not exactly clear why this happens, according to lead author Anna G. Nilsson. She guesses that probiotics play a part in the women's estrogen levels, adding that "there is some discussion about calcium absorption, a change in the calcium-regulating hormones."
Despite the encouraging results, it's not appropriate yet to advise women with low-bone density to take probiotics, according to Nilsson. She notes that the study is the first of its kind done to humans and that more confirmatory tests are needed to support the results. Also, the researchers need to experiment with other types of probiotics.
"[W]e've only studied one strain of L. reuteri, the type used in animal studies," said Nilsson.
Previous Studies On Probiotics And Bone Health
There has been previous research showing how probiotics can affect the skeletons of mice. However, this study, as mentioned, marks the first legitimate observation into the effects of probiotics on human bone strength.
The results from this study could help establish strategies for bone loss prevention, which would be a landmark discovery. At present, osteoporosis management is focused more on treating the condition once it begins instead of preventing perfectly healthy people from developing the condition.
A safe, efficient, and most importantly an inexpensive probiotics-based solution to osteoporosis prevention could be a huge development among people who suffer from poor bone health. However, Nilsson has made it clear that more research is needed before one can hope of ever getting that far.
Do you think scientists will ever come up with a probiotics-based solution for effective bone health management? Feel free to sound off in the comments section below!
