Bones provide structure, protect organs, produce blood cells, store minerals, and help regulate blood acidity, and joints are the connections between bones that can allow for movement or be immobile. The most common type of joint is the synovial joint, which features a fluid-filled cavity and cartilage for smooth movement.
What are joints and bones?
Bones not only provide shape to our bodies and protection for our organs but also produce red and white blood cells, act as a store for minerals like calcium and phosphorus, and help regulate blood acidity.[1] Joints are simply the spaces where bones meet. Some joints allow for a movement, such as knee joints, whereas others don’t, such as the joints between skull bones. The most common type of joint in the body — and the one that probably most easily comes to mind — are synovial joints, which are surrounded by a fluid-filled cavity and also contain cartilage to help with smooth movement.[1]
How could diet affect joints and bones?
A healthy diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and poultry, nuts, legumes, and low-fat dairy is associated with better bone health.[2] Getting enough vitamin D, vitamin A, and calcium is particularly important for bone health.[3] A healthy diet — along with weight loss in people with obesity — is also important for joint health. [4] On the other end of the spectrum, being underweight decreases bone density while raising the risk of osteoporosis. Increasing oily fish intake and good sources of vitamin K like leafy greens, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli may also be helpful in slowing osteoarthritis, which is the most prevalent form of arthritis.[5]
Which supplements are of most interest for joints and bones?
For bone health, vitamin d and calcium together have evidence supporting their use, although vitamin D on its own may not do much in this regard.[6] vitamin k supplements may also help prevent fractures to a small extent.[7] Supplements for joint health include glucosamine, chondroitin, boswellia, turmeric, type ii collagen, fish oil, and more.
Supplement Guide
Examine Database: Joints & Bones
Research FeedRead all studies
The effect of different dietary approaches on osteoarthritis symptoms
In this meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, reduced-calorie diets improved symptoms of osteoarthritis.
Comparing yoga and strengthening exercises for knee osteoarthritis
Which supplements help most with knee osteoarthritis?
Supplementation with gotu kola shows no benefit for temporomandibular disorder
Does calcitriol improve bone mineral density after kidney transplant?
The effect of dietary protein intake on bone health, kidney disease, and sarcopenia risk
The effects of basketball on bone mineral density in children and adolescents
Can collagen and vitamin C help with knee osteoarthritis?
Does protein powder enhance the effect of resistance training on bone mineral content?
Isoflavones for bone turnover in postmenopausal women
Weak evidence supports supplements and dietary interventions for managing rheumatoid arthritis
Coffee intake and osteoarthritis risk
Is coffee or tea associated with osteoporosis risk?
Can Atlas pistachio oil improve knee osteoarthritis symptoms?
Is drinking tea associated with better bone health in older women?
Frequently asked questions
What are joints and bones?
Bones not only provide shape to our bodies and protection for our organs but also produce red and white blood cells, act as a store for minerals like calcium and phosphorus, and help regulate blood acidity.[1] Joints are simply the spaces where bones meet. Some joints allow for a movement, such as knee joints, whereas others don’t, such as the joints between skull bones. The most common type of joint in the body — and the one that probably most easily comes to mind — are synovial joints, which are surrounded by a fluid-filled cavity and also contain cartilage to help with smooth movement.[1]
How could diet affect joints and bones?
A healthy diet — rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and essential nutrients like vitamin D, vitamin A, and calcium — promotes better bone and joint health; being underweight can negatively affect bone density. Additionally, increasing the intake of oily fish and vitamin K sources may help slow the progression of osteoarthritis.
A healthy diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fish and poultry, nuts, legumes, and low-fat dairy is associated with better bone health.[2] Getting enough vitamin D, vitamin A, and calcium is particularly important for bone health.[3] A healthy diet — along with weight loss in people with obesity — is also important for joint health. [4] On the other end of the spectrum, being underweight decreases bone density while raising the risk of osteoporosis. Increasing oily fish intake and good sources of vitamin K like leafy greens, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli may also be helpful in slowing osteoarthritis, which is the most prevalent form of arthritis.[5]
Which supplements are of most interest for joints and bones?
For bone health, vitamin D and calcium are beneficial when taken together, and vitamin K may help prevent fractures. For joint health, supplements such as glucosamine, chondroitin, Boswellia, turmeric, type II collagen, and fish oil are of interest.
For bone health, vitamin d and calcium together have evidence supporting their use, although vitamin D on its own may not do much in this regard.[6] vitamin k supplements may also help prevent fractures to a small extent.[7] Supplements for joint health include glucosamine, chondroitin, boswellia, turmeric, type ii collagen, fish oil, and more.
Other FAQs
How is bone mass regulated in the body?
Quick answer:
Bone mass is regulated through a dynamic remodeling process that involves a balance between osteoclasts, which resorb bone, and osteoblasts, which form new bone. An imbalance that favors osteoclast activity can lead to conditions like osteoporosis, particularly after age 50 and during menopause, which increases the risk of fractures.
Bone is much more dynamic than it may appear, constantly undergoing a remodeling process of resorption and new bone formation. Whether or not bone mass is lost through resorption or gained is determined by the balance between osteoclast cells, which carry out bone resorption, and osteoblast cells, which form new bone tissue. The ability of bone to undergo dynamic remodeling is important for regulating calcium and phosphate levels in the body, as well as healing bone fractures and adapting to different mechanical stimuli.[8]
osteoporosis, which literally means “porous bone”, is caused by an imbalance between osteoblasts and osteoclasts, favoring the bone- resorbing activity of the latter. The risk of such an imbalance greatly increases after about age 50, particularly so in women at the time of menopause. Osteoporosis is a common cause of bone fractures in older adults.[9]
Is there a relationship between bone mass and obesity?
Quick answer:
There is a complex relationship between bone mass and obesity because weight-bearing exercise can increase bone mass, and some studies suggest that obesity may initially promote bone mass increase due to higher mechanical loading. However, other research indicates that long-term obesity can lead to decreased bone mineral density and increased fracture risk, potentially due to changes in mesenchymal stem cell differentiation.
Since weight-bearing exercise increases mechanical loading on bones, such exercises act as a positive stimulus for increased bone mass. It would follow that obesity might have a similar effect, promoting increased bone mass in response to the higher forces on the skeleton imposed by moving around at a higher body weight. Although some human studies have indicated that bone mass does increase with obesity,[10] results have been mixed, with other studies finding the opposite effect: a paradoxical decrease in bone mineral density (BMD) and an increase in fracture risk.[11]
The reason for variation in associations between obesity and BMD across different studies and populations is an ongoing area of research. Animal studies have shed further light on the complex effects of obesity on bones, with one mouse study revealing an increase in bone mass during the early stages of obesity, but impaired bone formation with chronic obesity.[12] In populations where it occurs, obesity-associated loss of BMD may be partially explained by the effects of obesity on mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a stem cell population in bone marrow capable of differentiating into a number of different tissues including muscle, bone (osteoblasts), fat (adipocytes), and cartilage.[13] Since adipocytes and bone-building osteoblast cells arise from the same MSC progenitor cells, a shift in the differentiation of MSCs to adipocytes causes a reciprocal decrease in the number of osteoblasts.[14] A change in the balance of osteoblasts to osteoclasts would reduce bone mineral density over time and increase risk of osteoporosis.