Strontium and calcium are essential for bone density, but can interfere with each other’s absorption. Strontium is effective in treating osteoporosis, but its radioactive forms can lead to cancer. Strontium and calcium should be taken separately and not with other supplements. Magnesium and phosphorus also affect their absorption.
Strontium and calcium are two closely related chemical elements that are necessary in the human diet to increase bone density and the strength of high-stress bone structures such as teeth. Despite their beneficial effects, strontium and calcium can interfere with each other in terms of absorption by the body due to the fact that they are both positively charged chemicals in the same category on the periodic table of elements. Calcium can prevent strontium absorption, and strontium can replace calcium content in bones and teeth if taken separately. However, both compounds are recommended as osteoporosis treatments, and are generally formulated into compounds where they will be better absorbed in combination, such as with calcium carbonate and strontium ranelate.
Research has shown that strontium is better at rebuilding bone with fewer side effects than older compounds in the bisphosphorate group, such as aledronate or risedronate. However, many people have an innate fear of the element strontium, because its radioactive forms, such as strontium 90, are a direct byproduct of nuclear weapon explosions. This type of radioactive strontium if present in the diet will also accumulate in bone structures and lead to cancer. Natural strontium is safe to ingest and is a common element in seawater and is present in higher concentrations in soil than native carbon. Studies beginning in 1985, where 600 to 700 milligrams of strontium were included in the diet, have shown an increase in bone density to levels 172% above normal.
Medical studies have shown that strontium supplements taken alone reduce the effects of osteoporosis and decrease the incidence of cavities and the effects of arthritis. However, when strontium and calcium are taken together, these effects are reduced as the strontium is almost completely eliminated from the body. Osteoporosis treatments therefore generally recommend that the minerals strontium and calcium be taken at least two hours apart so that they can be absorbed into the bloodstream separately. The absorption of both minerals can also be negatively affected if other supplements such as magnesium and potassium are taken at the same time.
Since strontium and calcium are used by the same metabolic processes in the body, they also tend to be excreted in the urine when various types of metabolic chemistry interfere with their use by human or animal biology. Strontium is more readily absorbed under fasting conditions, and both strontium and calcium are used more fully in children and pregnant women than are other adult segments of the population. A deficiency in the magnesium content in the body will inhibit the absorption of strontium and calcium. Phosphorus has also been shown to be a stronger inhibitor of strontium absorption than calcium when phosphorus and strontium supplements are taken together.
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