This article brings hope to both men and women suffering from bone thinning related to aging. This study was done on postmenopausal women who were studied and found to have acidic systems (acidosis) on testing their urine. They were treated with potassium bicarbonate to make their bodies more alkaline and over a period of time they all showed a deduction of their acidity and bone pain.
The cause of the hyperacidity was not specified and can result from various causes. One cause of excessive acidity is that dietary acids that are not well eliminated as the person ages and a lifetime of acidity can result in excessive bone loss.
The body has a system for maintaining a stable pH balance at 6.43 to function well. Since calcium is a good buffering agent the body uses it to eliminate acidity. If sufficient calcium is not available in the blood, the bones can be used as a source of calcium for this buffering process. Once the calcium is removed from the bone it is hard to replace, further worsening the bone thinning of osteoporosis and osteoarthritis.
The authors used potassium bicarbonate, with bicarbonate working as a buffering agent as calcium does. The acidic urine of metabolic acidosis is commonly seen in people who consume abundant protein, and pH paper can be routinely used to check urine acidity. In this study, women who took potassium carbonate lost less bone and increased their rate of bone formation.
CONCLUSION: Acidosis is said to inhibit bone formation. The authors concluded that postmenopausal women with osteoporosis and hyperacidity can be effectively treated with potassium bicarbonate to reverse their bone loss and increase the rate of bone formation. They site similar studies that show that similar results are possible in males.
NOTE: “Tri-Salts” is an alkalinizing powder.
Click on the above link to the author’s title to read the author’s abstract.
PMID: 8190153.
Summary #014.
