OsteoFort

OsteoFort offers a marine formula designed to supplement the nutritional intake needed for bone structure. At the maximum dose of six capsules, our formula provides 612 mg of total calcium, equivalent to 76.5% of the reference daily intake. This calcium comes from pearl-oyster aragonite, fish backbone and coral calcium. The formula also contains 300 mg of hydrolysed marine collagen and 180 mg of cod liver oil.

Bone is a living tissue that is continuously renewed. Osteoclasts remove old or weakened areas, while osteoblasts build a new bone matrix. This combines an organic framework mainly composed of type I collagen and a mineral part rich in hydroxyapatite crystals, formed from calcium and phosphate. Collagen provides a degree of flexibility to this structure, while minerals give it rigidity.

Calcium is therefore the product’s central active ingredient. More than 99% of the body’s calcium is stored in the bones and teeth as hydroxyapatite. When dietary calcium is absorbed by the intestine, it enters a tightly controlled circulating reserve. The body can then use it for bone mineralisation, as well as for muscle contraction, nerve-message transmission and blood clotting. Calcium is officially recognised as necessary for the maintenance of normal bones and teeth. It also contributes to muscle function, normal neurotransmission, energy-yielding metabolism and cell division.

Aragonite is supplied at 1,020 mg. It is a crystalline form of calcium carbonate naturally present in the nacre of pearl oysters. In nacre, aragonite crystals are organised in layers within a fine organic matrix, which explains the material’s strength.

The 600 mg of fish backbone provides a second marine mineral matrix. Fish bones naturally contain calcium phosphates organised mainly around hydroxyapatite, combined with a protein framework. Coral calcium, dosed at 120 mg as an ingredient, completes this combination.

Our marine collagen is hydrolysed. Hydrolysis breaks the long collagen chains into shorter, more soluble and easier-to-digest peptides. After ingestion, they provide amino acids and small peptides that can be used during the renewal of the body’s proteins. As collagen is the main component of the organic bone matrix, its presence logically complements the mineral intake.

Cod liver oil completes the formula at a dose of 180 mg. This marine oil is traditionally obtained from the livers of fish in the cod family and may naturally contain fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins.

We recommend dividing the capsules between morning, midday and evening. At six capsules per day, the 612 mg of calcium is therefore divided into three doses of approximately 204 mg. This distribution is consistent with the digestive physiology of calcium, as the proportion absorbed tends to decrease when the amount consumed at one time becomes greater.

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Who is this product for?

OsteoFort may be particularly suitable for:

  •  adults whose diet provides little calcium, particularly when consumption of dairy products, fortified drinks, fish eaten with their bones, green vegetables, pulses or nuts is low;
  •  older people wishing to pay particular attention to maintaining their bone mass;
  •  postmenopausal women, a period during which bone renewal changes and nutritional intake deserves increased attention;
  •  adults with an active lifestyle or who regularly place demands on their bones;
  •  people looking for a formula combining a calcium-rich mineral fraction with a protein fraction provided by hydrolysed collagen;

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Ingredient synergy

Calcium is the ingredient primarily responsible for the claimed bone benefit. It supplies the mineral fraction of bone and directly contributes to the maintenance of normal bones. Aragonite, fish backbone and coral calcium combine several marine mineral matrices around a clearly quantified total intake of 612 mg.

Collagen plays a complementary role. In bone tissue, collagen fibres form a framework on which mineral crystals are organised. Once digested, hydrolysed collagen does not reach the bones directly in its original form: it provides amino acids and small peptides incorporated into general protein renewal.

The combination therefore reproduces the natural logic of bone tissue: an organic collagen-based architecture and a calcium-rich mineral fraction. Cod liver oil provides complementary nutrients.

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What does the science say?

An American clinical study published in 1990 assessed the effect of calcium supplementation on bone-density loss in postmenopausal women. Despite its age, this trial remains particularly relevant to this product because of its rigorous methodology and the dose studied, which is close to the 612 mg provided by OsteoFort.

Researchers at the Human Nutrition Research Center at Tufts University in Boston recruited 301 healthy postmenopausal women aged 40 to 70. Approximately half consumed less than 400 mg of calcium per day in their diet, while the other half consumed between 400 and 650 mg.

For two years, participants received either a microcrystalline-cellulose placebo, 500 mg of elemental calcium as calcium carbonate, or 500 mg as calcium citrate malate each day. Bone density was measured at the spine, femoral neck and radius.

In women who had been postmenopausal for at least six years and whose dietary intake was below 400 mg per day, calcium citrate malate limited bone loss compared with placebo:

  •  at the femoral neck: +0.87% versus −2.11%;
  •  at the radius: +1.05% versus −2.33%;
  •  at the spine: −0.38% versus −2.85%.

The differences from placebo were significant at all three sites (p < 0.05). Calcium carbonate maintained density at the femoral neck and radius. In women who had been postmenopausal for five years or less, supplementation did not alter the spinal bone loss observed during the study.

These results show the value of supplementary calcium intake when the diet provides little.

Reference: Dawson-Hughes B, Dallal GE, Krall EA, Sadowski L, Sahyoun N, Tannenbaum S. A Controlled Trial of the Effect of Calcium Supplementation on Bone Density in Postmenopausal Women. The New England Journal of Medicine. 1990;323:878-883. DOI 10.1056/NEJM199009273231305.