Skip to content
Using Probiotics for Bone and Joint Health in Menopause
The first 5-7 years after the onset of menopause can bring about a wide variety of symptoms. These can be such symptoms as hot flashes, weight gain, brain fog, low sex drive, loss of bone density, and joint health issues. While some of these symptoms, women choose to ignore, bone and joint health problems are serious and should be resolved. Probiotics for bone and joint health could help you resolve the issue and make sure you live healthier and happier in menopause.
Estrogen plays many roles in your body, one of which involves protecting bone strength. With the decline of this hormone in menopause, your bone density lowers as well. This does not mean that your risk for bone fractures and osteoporosis increases right away. But this can happen down the road if you do not include changes in your style of life to protect your bones.
Can HRT Help Improve Bone and Joint Health?
Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) used to be a very common treatment that healthcare professionals suggested to women who suffer from symptoms of menopause. And HRT could indeed improve vaginal health, relieve insomnia, hot flashes, mood swings, and other symptoms. But, it is not a common procedure for increasing bone density and bone strength.
The thing is, your bones need extra care when you get older, many years into menopause. But the effects of HRT only work during the time you are taking it, so once your other symptoms are gone, your bones will lose that protection as well. Apart from that, HRT comes with several risks which women would rather avoid, such as the increased risk of stroke and breast cancer. That is why natural ways to support your bone and joint health may be useful.
Alternative Remedies for Joint Health Support
You cannot stop bone loss after menopause, but you can make some changes in your life to slow it down. Here are a few tips you can follow to support your bone and joint health.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Eating a healthy diet is a good idea at any point in your life, but in menopause, it becomes very relevant for keeping bone health in check. Make sure you get calcium and vitamin D from your diet or take those in the form of supplements for strong bones. You can find calcium in green leafy veggies, seeds and nuts, fish, dairy, and dried fruit. To get enough vitamin D, spend about 15 minutes in the sun every day and eat such foods as eggs and oily fish.
Drink Plenty of Water
Tissues in your body need water to function correctly. In menopause, your body does not have the same ability to retain water as it did before, so hydration is essential. Drinking plenty of water means just plain water or water with a slice of lemon or cucumber. Any other drink you may have like tea, coffee, or juice, is not counted for hydration.
Exercise for Joint Health
When you have joint pains, working out is probably the last thing you have on your to-do list. But, do not avoid it, because exercise is perfect for your overall health and the health of your joints. When you work out regularly, you make sure that your muscles keep strong, and your joints are lubricated. At least 150 minutes of moderate activity per week will keep you and your joints in shape.
Keep a Healthy Weight
Many women in menopause suffer from weight gain. As a result, they have this stubborn fat that just does not go away no matter what they do. This extra weight can put more pressure on your joints when you move, so it is time to take control and get rid of it. Follow these diet and exercise tips for weight loss and keep healthy weight so you can help your joints not to struggle.
Benefits of Probiotics for Bone and Joint Health
Probiotics have shown to be helpful for many symptoms of menopause so far. But their health benefits for bone health are also very impressive. This study discusses how supplementing with probiotics could help increase bone density and also protect from osteoporosis (1). This effect of the healthy bacteria on bone health leads to the conclusion that bone health is connected to your gut health. By improving the balance of good bacteria in your gut with probiotics, you start seeing results for your bone health as well.
Gut microflora regulates bone mass, and it also has an impact on immune health (2). Probiotics work to improve bone and immune health on many levels. They can help your body absorb minerals, improve gut barrier function, and even strengthen your immune defenses. Apart from being used for digestive issues and other gut-related problems, studies on probiotics showed that they also could improve bone mass.
Another study published has looked at Lactobacillus rhamnosus GG in particular (3). It found that this probiotic can prevent pathological loss of bone. These bacteria achieve that by stimulating the formation of the bone and increasing its anabolism. Lactobacilli are among the most popular probiotics you can find in both food and supplements. Therefore, you can already start getting the benefits of these friendly bacteria very soon.
Where to Get Probiotics for Joint Health
It is pretty easy to find probiotics for bone and joint health in foods and add them to your diet. You can get these friendly bacteria from live yogurt, pickles, miso, kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh, or kombucha. Take a trip to your local grocery store and check out what products you can find there. And if you feel like you cannot get enough probiotics from food, you can always take 5-20 billion CFUs per dose as a supplement.
MenoLabs has created a line of probiotic supplements to meet the specific needs of women in menopause. Maybe you are looking to find relief from one or more symptoms. Or if you want to find a solution just for bone density problem, still try taking the supplement. It is good to know that friendly probiotic bacteria are always on your side. So let them help you support your health as you age.
(1) Fraser Collins et al. “The Potential of Probiotics as a Therapy for Osteoporosis.”
(2) Hamid Yousf Dar et al. “Probiotics and Bone Health: It takes GUTS to Improve Bone Density.”
(3) Abdul Malik Tyagi et al. “The Microbial Metabolite Butyrate Stimulates Bone Formation via T Regulatory Cell-Mediated Regulation of WNT10B Expression.”
