Bone density supplements are designed to improve the health of your bones by increasing their density and ultimately their strength.
Maintaining a high bone density as you age protects you from osteoporosis and bone fractures.
Osteoporosis (and its early-stage precursor, osteopenia) are extremely common, and one of the leading causes is inadequate dietary intake of key nutrients for bone strength.
Fortunately, these deficiencies can be addressed with a bone density supplement. Our research team dug through a huge range of supplements to find the best ones on the market for improving bone density.
Our advisory panel and our research team rank the best health products and supplements based on performance, label accuracy, and the efficacy of the ingredients in the products.
- Best overall: Essential Elements Bone Boost
- Best all-natural supplement: Garden of Life Vitamin Code Grow Bone System
- Best supplement with collagen: Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Bone Marrow
- Jarrow Formulas Ultra Bone-Up
- New Chapter Calcium Supplement
Research
Rankings
Last updated: October 24, 2022
Bone density supplements considered: 25
Hours of research: 49
Experts reviewed: 8
Scientific papers referenced: 16
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | |
|---|---|---|
Best Overall  | 1. Essential Elements Bone Boost
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Best all-natural supplement  | 2. Garden of Life Vitamin Code Grow Bone System
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Best supplement with collagen  | 3. Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Bone Marrow
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 | 4. Jarrow Formulas Ultra Bone-Up
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 | 5. New Chapter Calcium Supplement
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 | 6. Pure Synergy Bone Renewal
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 | 7. AlgaeCal Bone Builder Pack
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 | 8. Calcium Supplement by Pure Micronutrients
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 | 9. Naturelo Bone Strength
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 | 10. Bone Supplements Calcium Formula by Nature’s Nutrition
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1. Essential Elements Bone Boost
Bone Boost by Essential Elements delivers a potent dose of both calcium and vitamin D, both in readily-absorbed forms. On top of that, you get cutting-edge ingredients like vitamin K and cissus quadrangularis extract. Thanks to its powerful dosage and carefully-designed formulation, it’s BodyNutrition’s #1 pick.
2. Garden of Life Vitamin Code Grow Bone System
Garden of Life sources its compounds from naturally-occurring algae and whole plant materials, which gives you access to an unparalleled range of trace minerals (like strontium, for example) that you won’t find in any other competitors.
For people looking for a whole-food-based bone strength supplement, Garden of Life is the way to go.
3. Jarrow Formulas Ultra Bone-Up
Jarrow Formulas has created an updated version of their Bone-Up bone density supplement that’s fortified with additional vitamin K and silicon in a readily-absorbed form.
It’s a solid all-around option that delivers a solid dose of calcium plus these beneficial extras.
4. Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Bone Marrow
Ancestral Supplements makes a bone density supplement sourced from whole bone extract to support your bones.
It is also quite useful for strengthening connective tissue, thanks to its inclusion of collagen from cartilage.
5. New Chapter Calcium Supplement
This supplement contains the usual bone-supporting ingredients, including calcium, magnesium, vitamin K2, and vitamin D3. It is sourced from plants and is clinical-strength, so you’re more likely to see results.
The slim tablets are straightforward to swallow and release slowly, decreasing the chance of stomach discomfort and boosting calcium absorption.
6. Pure Synergy Bone Renewal
This formula contains a large number of vitamins and minerals that can help support your bone density. It includes calcium sourced from plants and designed to be bioavailable, which means your body will absorb it at a higher rate.
7. AlgaeCal Bone Builder Pack
Made from ocean algae, this supplement includes a large amount of bioavailable calcium.
It also includes over a dozen vitamins and minerals designed to improve your bone health.
It is manufactured in the USA and comes with two different supplements that work together to improve your bone density.
8. Calcium Supplement by Pure Micronutrients
This is another supplement that includes most of the usual ingredients. It is high in calcium, but also includes things like vitamin D3 and magnesium.
There isn’t anything particularly special about this supplement that distinguishes it from the pack, which is why it is a bit lower on our list.
9. Naturelo Bone Strength
Another decent supplement. It includes plant-based vitamins and minerals, including magnesium and vitamin C. Of course, it includes quite a bit of calcium as well.
This is a reliable option for vegetarians, though there are other vegetarian options on this list as well.
10. Bone Supplements Calcium Formula by Nature’s Nutrition
With a high dose of calcium and vitamin D, this supplement may have a positive effect on your bone density. It is designed for both men and women.
This supplement includes a few ingredients that are somewhat rare in these sorts of supplements, like potassium.
Category winners
Best bone density supplement overall: Essential Elements Bone Boost
Essential Elements takes our top spot overall thanks to its comprehensive ingredients list that delivers the basics, like calcium and vitamin D, alongside cutting-edge nutrients for bone strength, like cissus quadrangularis extract and vitamin K2. It’s a fantastic choice for a daily bone density supplement.
Best bone density supplement for women: Essential Elements Bone Boost
Low bone density is particularly common among women, so it’s particularly important that they take a high-quality bone density supplement with an adequate amount of calcium. For women, Essential Elements is our recommendation primarily because of its high dosage of both calcium and vitamin D3, which enhances calcium absorption.
Best all-natural bone density supplement: Garden of Life Vitamin Code Grow Bone System
Garden of Life is known for their raw, whole-food-based approach to supplementation, and their bone density supplement is a perfect example. By using naturally-occurring algae as a base substrate, you get a hefty dose of calcium alongside trace minerals lacking in other competitors, like boron, strontium, and vanadium. There’s no better option if you’re looking for a raw foods-based bone density supplement.
Best bone density supplement with vitamin K: Essential Elements Bone Boost
Vitamin K is being increasingly recognized as an essential compound for bone strength, and when it comes to this compound, Essential Elements blows the competition out of the water with its 100 mcg dose. No other bone density supplement delivers as much vitamin K alongside an efficacious dose of calcium and vitamin D.
Best bone density supplement with collagen: Ancestral Supplements Grass Fed Bone Marrow
Collagen is an essential component of bone tissue, but it’s lacking in many bone density supplements. By sourcing ingredients from real beef bone marrow, Ancestral Supplements delivers all the nutrients you need for bone health, including collagen from bone cartilage.
Best bone density supplement for osteoporosis: Essential Elements Bone Boost
For both osteoporosis and osteopenia, your focus should be a supplement that delivers high dosages of both calcium and vitamin D. It should be no surprise that Essential Elements Bone Boost, our top overall pick, is our recommendation for this category as well, due to its market-leading dosage of these key ingredients.
Who should buy a bone density supplement?
Risk for osteoporosis and osteopenia increases with age, but a number of additional factors influence your bone density too. The following groups are at particular risk for low bone density, and should be particularly inclined to consider a bone density supplement:
Women over 50. Women have lower bone density to begin with, but the hormonal changes that happen with menopause mean that your body is particularly prone to losing bone mass, especially if your diet doesn’t have the right micronutrients to support bone strength (1).
Vegetarians and vegans. Calcium intake can sometimes be a problem for vegetarians and vegans, but that’s not the only reason they should consider a bone density supplement. Other trace minerals, like silica and vitamin K2, are often lacking in vegan or vegetarian diets that are not carefully planned (2). A bone density supplement can help shore up these weaknesses.
People with a low BMI. People who are relatively lean often have lower bone density because their body weight and muscular strength just aren’t high enough to put a lot of stress on their bones. A bone density supplement, plus intensive exercise, can be a good way to counteract this effect.
How we ranked
To formulate our rankings, our research team came up with a list of criteria to assess the efficacy, dosage, and quality of all the supplements we reviewed. Here were our criteria:
Effective ingredients for strengthening bone. We reviewed the scientific literature and came up with a list of scientifically-backed compounds for boosting bone strength.
This had some obvious ones, like calcium and vitamin D, but also some lesser-known trace elements and vitamins like silica, selenium, and vitamin K2.
We required all of the products on our list to deliver at least some of these proven ingredients for increasing bone strength.
Evidence-backed dosage. Based on recommended daily intakes and results from clinical trials on the various supplement ingredients proven to work for increasing bone, we examined which supplements delivered their ingredients within the range of effective doses. We dropped supplements that had too low of a dosage.
Quality sourcing and design. We rewarded products that carefully sourced each of their ingredients, like Garden of Life and Essential Elements. At the same time, we ditched supplements that were bloated with binders, fillers, and stabilizers.
Combining these three criteria gave us our final rankings of the top bone density supplements on the market.
FAQs
Q: What are the best supplements for bones?
A: Calcium is one of the essential vitamins for your skeletal system. However, your body requires quite a few other vitamins to properly utilize calcium, including vitamin K and vitamin D. The best supplement will include all of these necessary ingredients, not just calcium.
For this reason, we recommend Bone Boost as the best supplement you can take. It contains 1400 mg of calcium, 50 mcg of vitamin D3, and 100 mcg of vitamin K2. This is enough to have a positive effect on your bone health, but not so much that you’ll experience severe side effects.
Q: Can you rebuild bone density?
A: Yes. Your bones can “rebuild” themselves if you provide the proper ingredients. Your bones are mostly made up of calcium, so that is the main building block you need to take. However, your body also needs vitamin D to absorb calcium from the foods you eat. Without it, the calcium will never make it to your bones.
You also need enough vitamin K to allow the calcium to move into your bones, where it can improve your bone density. These three vitamins are the essential ingredients necessary to rebuild your bone density.
Exercise and diet can also play a role. In particular, weight-lifting activities can help improve bone density (3).
Q: What vitamin helps build bone density?
A: Calcium is the most crucial vitamin necessary to build bone density. After all, it is what your bones are made out of. However, several other vitamins are also necessary for calcium to do its job correctly.
You need to have enough vitamin D in your body to absorb calcium. Otherwise, it’ll just pass through your digestive tract. Vitamin K is necessary for calcium to move into your bones.
Most people are more likely to be deficient in calcium and vitamin D, so these are the two most important vitamins necessary to improve your bone health. However, vitamin K may also need to be added to your supplement regimen if you aren’t getting enough in your diet.
Q: How quickly can bone density improve?
A: Bone density can improve quite quickly. One study found that adults who are veggies high in calcium for three months saw improved bone density (4).
Of course, how quickly your bones develop more density depends on whether or not you’re providing your body with all the building blocks necessary for improvement, including calcium and vitamin D.
Related articles
Recap
Bone density is vital for avoiding fractures and osteoporosis. Sadly, many people develop osteoporosis or osteopenia as they age.
However, bone density can be improved with a good bone density supplement.
These supplements include everything you need to improve your overall bone density, including basics like calcium and vitamin D, and more advanced compounds like vitamin K2 and selenium.
For BodyNutrition’s #1 bone density supplement, click here.
