The Strontium Debate: Is it good for bone health?

@kathleen1314 Strontium citrate, like all supplements, is not regulated or approved by the FDA.

Are you the owner of the blog site that you keep posting links to?

@nycmusic
Hello, and wow thank you for this. I happened to read this and am thankful as I just had some bloodwork done and my BUN level is elevated. This tells me I need to reevaluate this. At the minimum, if anyone elects to try strontium definitely stay extremely hydrated. I will back off for a bit and retest. Will update again when and if I decide to try it again.

@oopsiedaisy
Well, it is a bit more nuanced than that.

Strontium citrate, like all supplements, the FDA regulates strontium citrate as a dietary supplement, which means it does not undergo the same pre-market safety and efficacy testing as prescription drugs.
To contrast with Canada: In Canada, strontium citrate is regulated as a Natural Health Product (NHP), while in the United States, the FDA monitors it as a dietary supplement.

In Canada, supplements are regulated more strictly than in the U.S., but they are not regulated exactly like prescription drugs. While the U.S. FDA treats supplements as a sub-category of food, Health Canada treats them as Natural Health Products (NHPs), a special category of non-prescription drugs.
This is pertinent for several reasons, one being that many of us get our strontium citrate from AOR , regulated in Canada.

No, Bone Lady is the owner. She is also a frequent poster on Inspire.
She has a fabulous blog which also posts interviews with scientists and doctors. She posted an interview with Dr. Hans the developer of TBS which is now used in many articles and in AI information.
https://strontiumforbones.blogspot.com/2022/09/tbs-strontium-and-prof-didier-hans.html

@oopsiedaisy
you say: "One can never extrapolate study results with strontium ranelate to the over the counter supplement that some people are taking that includes strontium citrate."
Answer:
Well, yes and no.
The bone-building mechanism (the way the strontium atom itself interacts with bone cells) is considered the same for both. Whether it’s attached to ranelate or citrate, the strontium ion is what actually gets incorporated into the bone matrix.
What I believe that you are saying is that these points enumerated below may change between different formulations:
1. Bioavailability; Ranelate does seem to be more bioavailable than citrate; to me that is a plus
2. Clinical Proof: As in.... there are no large clinical studies on the supplement strontium
citrate; normal for supplements, but not for what I would wish.
3. The carrier and safety in that, for example Strontium Ranelate has side effects which seem
to be attributed to the specific drug formulation. These were not found in the strontium
citrate studies. But then large scale studies may be needed to find rare side effects.

I believe that I made all the above points in my previous replies and the links to posts which I provided.

Strontium Citrate is a supplement which is regulated by the FDA as a dietary supplement; it is also available from Canada where it is regulated more stringently as a Natural Health Product (NHP) which have to be licensed and reviewed for safety and quality.

You say strontium citrate studies are needed; I agree that we need more:
Here is what we seem to have so far:
1.3 cases studies from Sara Dehart, https://strontiumforbones.blogspot.com/2018/01/in-memory-of-sara-shackleford-dehart.html

2.Mots and Comb and a study comparison: https://strontiumforbones.blogspot.com/2017/02/mots-and-comb-study-comparison.html

3 Case studies: https://strontiumforbones.blogspot.com/2018/02/bmd-increases-by-varying-amounts-with.html

4.Moise studies: https://strontiumforbones.blogspot.com/2014/10/monitoring-bone-strontium-intake-in.html

5. Various formulations including strontium citrate, animal study: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11012416/

6.AlgaeCal studies: https://blog.algaecal.com/wp-content/uploads/Doctor-Info-Sheet-SB.pdf

7.AlgaeCal studies: https://www.algaecal.com/research/clinical-studies

8.Case studies: https://symbiosisonlinepublishing.com/nutritionalhealth-foodscience/nutritionalhealth-foodscience67.php

I am happy that you have found a bone regime that works for you. I celebrate your good news and would never downgrade or question what you are doing or question the research that went into your decisions or imply that you need to justify it with lists of research and information.

Indeed, I think that your decisions are about more than "you coming to your own conclusion". I think that you spent time and that you thought much about what was best for you and how to best accomplish your goal. I think that your "choice" was actually a reasoned and thoughtful decision based on good logic and information. I rejoice that it is working for you, and I appreciate you sharing it with all of us so we may learn from your experiences.

I do not think that you are " providing advice to others on how to treat their osteoporosis" or donning a mantle of qualification which you do not have. I think that you are kindly answering questions and sharing your life experiences.

I also do not think that you are "recommending medications and supplements outright" nor a certain style of training covered by a licensing model for which many pay, when you share your life choices. experiences and the reasons for which you have made those choices. I welcome your input and am thankful for the information.

Thank you.

@kathleen1314 The FDA has the authority only to remove products from the market that are mislabeled or unsafe. I suppose that could be considered regulation but it does not mean that every supplement brought to the market has been reviewed by the FDA to even confirm that the list of ingredients it contains is accurate.

Thanks for clarifying who is the owner of the blog is. I have visited the Inspire forum in the past and have seen posts by "bonelady" there. The link you reference above simply states that he answered one of her questions via email, i.e., it was not actually an interview. The question was about whether a TBS would be as affected as a DEXA scan by ingesting strontium. His opinion was that it was not. Unfortunately, no link to any study that references this.

I assume that you are trying to do the right thing here and I believe you are earnest in your efforts to educate people on strontium. I find it difficult to stay on track with your posts and replies as they tend to be very lengthy and written as to support your thesis rather than hold a discussion. To that end, I will no longer be participating in dialog with you and wish you the best.