The Rarely-Mentioned Signalling Compound Your Bone Formation Depends On

To form strong new bone tissue, you must provide your body with the necessary nutrients and compounds. In this article, you'll learn about a compound that is rarely considered for its role in bone health: nitric oxide.

Nitric oxide has numerous effects in the body, including maximizing muscle function and growth. We'll unpack how it supports these functions and why they're critical for building and maintaining strong, durable bones.

Nitric Oxide, Muscle, and Bone

Nitric oxide (NO) is a molecule produced by your body and used for many vital functions . Its primary function is dilating the blood vessels to promote proper blood flow. This action allows nitric oxide to improve exercise performance, lower blood pressure, and enhance brain function.

Nitric oxide is a complex modulator of skeletal muscle contraction. As nitric oxide mediates increases in blood flow, it contributes to muscle performance, muscle building, and the adaptation of muscle growth to meet the demands of use.¹

Vasodilation from nitric oxide facilitates the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to muscles during exertion, allowing for enhanced contraction and recovery between exercise sets. As a result , nitric oxide can delay fatigue and enable longer, more intense workouts. This has a positive impact on muscle growth.²

This function of nitric oxide is especially relevant to bone health, as explained by Wolff's Law. This law describes how bone grows or shrinks in response to use or disuse, respectively. NO availability enhances your ability to perform physical activities that stimulate bone formation. As your muscle mass increases, so does your capacity for stimulating bone formation. Nitric oxide facilitates this process, helping you to build bone as quickly as possible.

Synopsis

Nitric oxide (NO) is a molecule produced in the body that serves several functions, including vasodilation. Vasodilation increases blood flow, which can enhance muscle function during exercise, allowing for more intense and longer workouts. This improvement allows for greater stimulation of bone growth.

How Bone Cells Use Nitric Oxide

Nitric oxide is also acts as a signalling molecule that enables communication between cells, including bone-building cells.

A study published in the journal Osteoporosis International highlights the role of nitric oxide in the mechanical adaptation of bone mass, including local bone gain and remodeling governed by bone cells called osteocytes.³

Rebuild Your Bones Naturally—Without Drugs or Side Effects

Stronger, healthier bones are possible—at any age. The Osteoporosis Reversal Program gives you a step-by-step, science-backed plan to naturally rebuild bone health, improve mobility, and regain confidence—100% risk-free with a 1-year, no-questions-asked guarantee.

Discover the Program

“In bone, intercellular communication via chemical signals like NO plays a critical role in the dynamic process of bone remodeling. If bones are mechanically loaded, fluid flows through minute channels in the bone matrix, resulting in shear stress on the cell membrane that activates the osteocyte. Activated osteocytes produce signaling molecules like NO, which modulate the activity of the bone-forming osteoblasts and the bone-resorbing osteoclasts, thereby orchestrating bone adaptation to mechanical loading.”³

Adequate nitric oxide production is essential for the cellular communication necessary for bone formation.

Synopsis

Nitric oxide is used by bone cells to tell bone-forming osteoblasts and bone-resorbing osteoclasts to create strong new bone in response to mechanical loading.

How to Support Healthy Nitric Oxide Production

Nitric oxide supports muscle development and exertion needed to stimulate bone growth, as well as the intercellular communication that facilitates new bone formation. That makes healthy nitric oxide production of paramount importance for Savers.

Nitric oxide has a very short half-life, ranging from milliseconds to a few seconds. That short lifespan means it cannot be absorbed from the diet, and must be continuously produced in the body for use.

The body produces nitric oxide through two distinct pathways, relying on precursor compounds including L-arginine and nitrates. L-arginine itself requires a precursor called L-citrulline. Supplements containing nitric oxide precursors are often marketed to enhance athletic performance.

However, you can also get nitric oxide precursors through your diet. These foods are particularly high in the compounds that your body needs to generate a steady supply of nitric oxide.

Beets*
Garlic
Dark Chocolate*
Fatty Fish*
Leafy Greens*
Organ Meats*
Meats (chicken, beef, etc.)
Citrus Fruit
Pomegranate
Watermelon*
Nuts and seeds

*Denotes Foundation Food

Include these nitric oxide-precursor-rich foods in your diet to support muscle function and development, and enhance communication between cells involved in bone formation.

Synopsis

Nitric oxide must be produced inside the body, a process that requires certain precursor compounds. The list of foods above provide nitric oxide-precursors to help ensure efficient nitric oxide production.

What This Means To You

Nitric oxide is an often-overlooked molecule essential for maintaining muscle and bone mass. Fortunately, the compounds your body needs to produce nitric oxide are readily available in nutritious foods.

The connection between nitric oxide and stronger bones is important, but not as immediately obvious as the one between calcium and bone strength. However, effectively reversing and preventing osteoporosis requires addressing the entire system of bone remodeling and its many interconnected components.

The Osteoporosis Reversal Program is a comprehensive guide that explains in simple terms the science behind how your bones work and how to strengthen them. It takes a holistic approach to bone health that considers the full breadth of factors that impact bone quality. Then it turns that knowledge into simple steps you can take in every area of your life to build bone mass and reduce your risk of fracture without ineffective drugs and their undesirable side effects.

Knowledge is the essential first step on the path to change. Keep learning and stay steadfast on your journey to stronger bones and an active, independent future.