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Osteoporosis Remedy by Wellesse

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Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 is a well-reviewed liquid supplement for treating osteoporosis. It does contain important nutrients for promoting bone health but a few essential ones are also missing. While the active ingredients in this supplement are safe and effective for bone health, some of its inactive ingredients are simply poor choices. How can Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 reduce the risk of osteoporotic bone fractures? What are the harmful inactive ingredients in this supplement? Read on to find out.

Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 is an osteoporosis supplement from Botanical Laboratories Inc.

This is a liquid supplement and one of the products in the Wellesse Premium Liquid Supplements line. The liquid formulation guarantees faster absorption than solid dosage (tablets and capsules) osteoporosis supplements.

This Wellesse supplement has a natural citrus flavor to make it palatable. Each bottle contains 480 ml of the preparation and the recommended daily dose is 2 tablespoons or 30 ml. Therefore, each bottle should last for 16 days.

The manufacturer recommends shaking the liquid supplement before use because the ingredients may settle to the bottom of the bottle over time.

The supplement can also be taken directly or mixed with water or fruit juice.

Active Ingredients of Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3

  • Calcium (as 30% calcium phosphate and 70% calcium citrate) – 1000 mg
  • Vitamin D (as vitamin D3) – 1000 IU
  • Magnesium (as magnesium citrate) – 40 mg
  • Phosphorus (calcium phosphate) – 190 mg
  • Boron (as boron aspartate) – 250 mcg

Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 are sugar-free and lactose-free. No artificial flavors or colors are used in its preparation.

The inactive ingredients found in this supplement are vegetable glycerin, natural color, natural flavors, citric acid, corn dextrose, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate (preservative), sodium benzoate (preservative), calcium disodium EDTA, carrageenan and sucralose.

While the liquid formulation of this supplement is unique, the active ingredients are the same as those commonly found in most osteoporosis supplements. But how do they improve bone health?

How the Ingredients Work

Calcium

Calcium is the most abundant mineral found in the bone. It is usually present in different forms of calcium phosphate known as apatite.

Because this mineral is responsible for the bulk of bone mass, it directly contributes to bone strength.

However, the amount of calcium present in the bones is reduced in osteoporosis. Bone mineral density, including the calcium content of bones, usually falls with age. Menopause is another risk factor for osteoporosis.

To maintain a healthy bone mineral density and reduce the risk of osteoporotic bone fractures, calcium supplements are routinely recommended. This supplement contains 1000 mg of calcium. This amount is the recommended daily intake value for calcium.

There are two calcium salts included in this Wellesse liquid supplement. These are calcium phosphate and calcium citrate. Unlike calcium carbonate (another commonly used calcium salt), the absorption of calcium proceeds faster with these salts.

Calcium phosphate also serves double duty by supplying both calcium and phosphorus (the two most abundant mineral content of the bone).

Because this Wellesse supplement meets your daily calcium need, you should not combine it without other supplements containing calcium. Even foods with high calcium content should be avoided. This is because high calcium intake may do more harm than good.

Magnesium

Magnesium only makes up 1% of the mineral content of bones but it is nonetheless important to bone health.

Magnesium promotes the absorption of calcium from the intestines. In addition, it improves the response of calcium to vitamin D and certain hormones. Therefore, magnesium is useful for moving calcium from the blood to the bones where it is needed.

Furthermore, magnesium serves as an alternative alkalizing agent that can be used in place of calcium. Usually, the body strips away some calcium from the bones in order to neutralize acidic food or drug components in the blood.

Magnesium can restore the acid-alkaline balance and save the bone from giving up its calcium store.

Besides promoting the mineralization of the bones with calcium, magnesium can also directly improve bone health.

It does contribute to bone mineral content but more importantly, it is needed to improve bone strength.

Magnesium is also essential to the proper formation of the microcrystalline unit that makes up the bone. Without magnesium, these crystals become bigger and weaker and produce hollow, porous and brittle bones.

Phosphorus

Phosphorus is commonly found in the bone (and teeth) as different forms of calcium phosphate. In fact, 90% of the phosphorus absorbed into the body makes its way to the bones.

Calcium and phosphorus are bound in the microcrystalline and non-crystalline sub-units of the bone.

Therefore, phosphorus (as phosphate salts) is an important structural component of the bone.

Boron

Boron is a non-essential trace mineral. Its benefits in humans is poorly understood. In fact, the most important application of boron supplementation is in the treatment of osteoporosis.

Boron promotes calcium retention in the body by reducing the urinary excretion of the mineral.

It also improves the beneficial effects of vitamin D and estrogen on the bones. Vitamin D is central to bone mineralization especially when combined with calcium. Its full benefits are discussed below.

Falling estrogen level has been identified as one of the causes of osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

Estrogen has a protective effect on the bone. It contributes to the maintenance of bone mineral density. Therefore, by increasing estrogenic activities, boron can improve bone health especially among postmenopausal women.

Vitamin D

Combining vitamin D with calcium provides significantly better results for osteoporosis patients than using only calcium.

This is because vitamin D is one of the 2 vitamins that can help transport calcium from the blood to the bones.

It is not enough to simply raise blood calcium levels. In fact, increasing calcium concentration in the blood can lead to the formation of kidney stones and also atherosclerosis. Therefore, calcium is only useful when binding to the bone matrix.

In addition to moving calcium to the bones, vitamin D is also needed to reabsorb the calcium and phosphate released from bone resorption (the phase of bone metabolism involving the breakdown of bones).

The 2 commonly used vitamers of vitamin D are vitamin D2 and vitamin D3. From studies, vitamin D3 is the most effective form of the vitamin for improving bone health and that is the vitamer included in this Wellesse supplement.

Is Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 Effective?

Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement is well-reviewed. In fact, 9 out of 10 users gave it stellar reviews and confirmed that it was both safe and effective for improving bone mineral density.

The key to the effectiveness of this supplement is its liquid formulation. Most users mentioned that it was palatable and a ready source of calcium-rich drink.

The taste of this liquid supplement was also mentioned as a high point. The natural citrus flavor used tasted a whole lot better than most liquid vitamin products.

A few users did experience nausea but most users tolerated the taste and experienced no gastrointestinal symptoms.

Calcium and vitamin D3 liquid supplement contains the right ingredients to improve bone health. While the formulation can definitely be improved, all of the ingredients used have been proven to raise the bone mineral density and lower the risk of osteoporotic bone fractures.

One of the flaws of this preparation is its calcium content. By supplying 1000 mg of calcium, this Wellesse supplement easily meets the recommended daily intake value for calcium.

However, it is unlikely that users will not get additional calcium from their diets. Therefore, it is quite easy to get significantly more calcium when taking this supplement. Given the fact that more calcium is not always good for the body, the calcium content of this supplement may be regarded as too high.

In addition, taking the daily dose (2 tablespoons or 1000 mg) of this liquid supplement at once as recommended by the manufacturer is not the best way to supplement with calcium.

Studies have shown that taking more than 600 mg of calcium at once is actually inefficient since the body cannot absorb more than that amount of calcium at a time. Therefore, it is better to follow the second dosing recommendation on the supplement’s label by splitting the daily dose into two and taking them at different times of the day.

Another important flaw in the formulation of this Wellesse supplement is the exclusion of vitamin K.

Recent evidence has shown that vitamin K is even more important to bone health than vitamin D. Vitamin K (especially vitamin K2) not only drives calcium from the blood to the bones but also actively promotes bone mineralization by promoting the deposition of calcium on bone matrix.

In addition, vitamin K inhibits bone resorption while stimulating bone formation.

Lastly, there are valid concerns about the choice of the inactive ingredients in Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 supplement.

While the manufacturer promotes the fact that the supplement contains no artificial flavors and colors, the truth is that the formulation is preserved with artificial preservatives such as potassium sorbate and sodium benzoate.

Sugar-free is also an inaccurate description of this product. Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 does contain corn dextrose and sucralose.

Corn dextrose is also known as high fructose corn syrup. It is even worse than simple sugar and has been blamed for the rising incidence of a number of diseases including diabetes and obesity.

Sucralose is another sugar alternative. It is an artificial sweetener that has not been rigorously proven as safe. In fact, some health experts believe sucralose may contribute to weight gain, diabetes, migraines, seizures and gastrointestinal problems.

For a natural supplement that is promoted as sugar-free, Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 makes rather poor choices of sweeteners. Its long-term safety is questionable and may end up doing more harm than good.

Is Wellesse Calcium and Vitamin D3 recommended? Yes and no. Yes because it is a near-perfect natural formula for improving bone health. And no, because its choices of sweeteners and preservatives are bad for your health in the long-term.

Sources


http://www.wellesse.com/our-supplements/calcium_vitamind3_liquid/

http://www.drugstore.com/wellesse-calcium-and-vitamin-d3/qxp154626

http://www.amazon.com/Wellesse-Calcium-Vitamin-Natural-16-Ounce/dp/B001G7R2NO/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1373402771&sr=8-16&keywords=osteoporosis+supplements

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