When it comes to building strong bones and preventing bone diseases, herbs really help your bones. Instead of milk, green leafy vegetables are key to building stronger bones. Bone is comprised of collagen, proteins, water, calcium, and phosphate. The proteins give bones their flexibility while the minerals give bones their hardness and both are necessary for strong bones.
Bone Supporting Herbs
Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) is an often maligned herb, but they are full of nutrients and healing properties. Dandelions have an alkalizing effect on your body. They help balance out acidic foods that could weaken bones by leaching out minerals. The leaves are rich in readily available magnesium, vitamin A & K, dandelion is a great herb for improving bone health. Magnesium increases bone density so dandelions may actually help to prevent bone disorders such as osteoporosis.
Dandelions are rich in calcium which is essential for the growth and strength of bones and they are rich in antioxidants like vitamin-C and Luteolin which protect bones from age-related damage. Young dandelion leaves are mild and an excellent addition to your salad. The older leaves are bitter and better suited for soups.
Dried dandelion stems, flowers, and leaves can be dried and made into tea. Add one teaspoon of dried dandelion per cup of boiled water. Let steep, covered for at least 10 minutes. Strain and drink three times daily for best results. Drink for three weeks then take a break for one week. Repeat. Dandelion tea is a great way to reap the benefits of this herb.
Horsetail (Equisetum arvense, Equisetum hyemale) is an astringent herb and has a diuretic action, it possesses a great capacity to eliminate water from the body. Horsetail has more silica than any other plant and that silica is most bio-available in the spring shoots. This high content of silica is what the body needs to repair bony tissues. Silica helps to fix calcium so that the body can store more quantity of this mineral and then use it to repair bones, collagen, and other body tissues.
Horsetail is useful for osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is epidemic and horsetail could help by using spring shoots in a tincture that has achieved amazing and rapid results in the process of re-calcifying bones.
Horsetail is taken as a tonic 1 tsp a day. To avoid irritating your kidneys and intestines, do not use horsetail for more than two weeks in a row, followed by a week of rest. You can buy organic powdered horsetail and mix 10 grams in water taken 1x daily.
Nettles (Urtica dioica) leaf is a good source of calcium and magnesium, as well as silica and boron minerals important to bone health. Nettle leaf is rich in vitamins C and D, which both improve calcium absorption, and vitamin K to make for stronger bones. Boron is an important mineral element in our bodies which is found in stinging nettle. Boron helps maintain calcium content in our bones. Which means that stinging nettle can help slow the onset of osteoporosis.
You can eat nettles by sauteing them, putting them in soups or drink as an infusion daily. Personally, I love nettle infusion cold.
Red clover (Trifolium pratense) is a good source of minerals and phytoestrogens that are especially valuable to women concerned about bone loss. Red clover is a source of many valuable nutrients including calcium, chromium, magnesium, niacin, phosphorus, potassium, thiamine and vitamin C. A cup of red clover infusion (not tea) contains ten times more phytoestrogens than a cup of soy beverage, is richer in calcium, has less calories and contains no added sugars. Drinking red clover infusions can significantly improve bone turnover, bone mineral content, bone loss and weakness, femoral weight and density. A red clover infusion of dried blossoms is 1 – 4 cups per day.
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is one of the best herbal remedies for joint pain, back pain relief, and inflammatory arthritis. It contains many minerals, vitamins and other nutrients that play a crucial role in the strength and growth of our bones and in the maintenance of a healthy body. Alfalfa contains protein as well as vitamin A, vitamin B1, vitamin B6, vitamin C, vitamin E, and vitamin K. It also contains carotene, calcium, potassium, zinc, and iron.
Alfalfa is a plant that sends its roots down 20 to 30 feet below the ground and brings up the minerals that are normally unavailable on the surface. Alfalfa contains phytoestrogens which help prevent the bone loss that accompanies postmenopausal declines in the body’s estrogen levels. It also provides vitamin K essential to the specific proteins that are the building blocks of bones. This herb is taken as an infusion or tea.
Important: Do not use alfalfa if you take a blood thinner it could reduce the drug’s effects.
Oatstraw (avena sativa) is the green oat grass and tops in the “milky” stage before the mature oat grains form. Oatstraw’s high calcium and mineral content help build strong, flexible bones along with nourishing hair, cartilage, and teeth. Oatstraw is high in calcium, a cup of infusion contains 300 milligrams of calcium along with other minerals, protein and the spectrum of B vitamins, excepting vitamin B-12. Oatstraw is also high in silica, a mineral that is largely responsible for healthy skin, hair, nails, and bones. This herb makes a delicious infusion.
All of these herbs support your bone health, resulting in strong healthy bones well into your 80’s and 90’s. Drinking easily made infusions and teas are an easy and convenient way to give your bones the proteins and minerals they need.