[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/bone-health-basics\/6-secret-wonders-skeleton\/#Article","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/bone-health-basics\/6-secret-wonders-skeleton\/","headline":"6 Secret Wonders of Your Skeleton","name":"6 Secret Wonders of Your Skeleton","description":"Print PDF eBook Facebook Twitter Gmail LinkedIn Pinterest Our skeletons are composed of hard tissue that provide us with a sound infrastructure allowing for upright posture, complex movements and amazing dexterity. While many people look upon their skeletons as little more than scaffolding \u2014 hard structures that hold us up and give shape to our […]","datePublished":"2017-10-27","dateModified":"2026-04-22","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/#Person","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/author\/brownbetterbonesgmail-com\/","identifier":72,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/8e08d87bd45250c6616e1752933a6576aba077f335d97ee337a0cde5e435cbd3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Center for Better Bones","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Better-Bones-AMP.png","width":150,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/image.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/image.jpeg","height":1109,"width":2120},"url":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/bone-health-basics\/6-secret-wonders-skeleton\/","video":{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"VideoObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qIj_7IhBSQ#VideoObject","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qIj_7IhBSQ","name":"The Many Functions of the Skeleton--Halloween Edition","description":"Dr. Brown and her skeleton friend talk to you about why and how bone is so intelligent. You learn about the many functions of bone beyond supporting our body.\n\n\u2192 Want to learn everything you need to manage & reverse your osteoporosis\/osteopenia naturally in one inspiring weekend with Dr. Brown? Join our bone health retreat & workshop! Learn more here: https:\/\/shop.betterbones.com\/pages\/love-your-bones-love-your-life-virtual-retreat\n\n\u2192 If you are interested in working with Dr. Brown to develop a personalized natural bone health program, read more about consultations here: https:\/\/www.betterbones.com\/consultations\/help-osteoporosis-osteopenia-fracture-healing-bone-health-concerns\/\n\n\u2192 Would you like your questions answered by Dr. Brown?  Comment below and she may address them in a future video!\n\nCheck out our website! \u2192 http:\/\/ www.betterbones.com\n\nWant to connect with Better Bones on social media?\nLike on Facebook \u2192 http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bFollow on Twitter \u2192 http:\/\/www.twitter.com\/drsusanbrown\n\u200bFollow our Instagram \u2192 http:\/\/www.instagram.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\u200bCheck out our Pinterest \u2192 http:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/betterbonesbetterbody\n\n#osteoporosis #osteopenia #bonemass #bonehealth #weightandbonemass #womenshealth #drsusanbrown #betterbonesbetterbody #preventosteoporosis\nExercise for bone health: patreon.com\/betterbones\n\nTranscription:\nto begin you know and it's really\nappropriate that I your skeleton begin\nbecause I am very intelligent\nin fact the topic of her lecture today\nis that bone is very intelligent tissue\ndid you know for example that every\nminute there are a million spots in your\nbody yes I say a million where cells are\nbuilding breaking down first old weak\nspots of bone and then other cells\ncalled osteoblasts are building up new\nhealthy bone in that same spot so that\nyour skeleton is strong no matter how\nmuch stress and strain you put on and\nit's always renewing itself and the most\ninteresting thing about this is those\nbone building cells when they get done\nbuilding a new little spot of bone they\nbury themselves into the bone and they\nbecome a whole new cell sort of like the\ncaterpillar and the butterfly story they\nbecame a whole new cell and that new\ncell is called osteocytes and those\nosteocytes show you just how intelligent\nI the skeleton man osteocytes look like\nthis there are little cells that are\nburied in the bone and they have these\nlittle tentacles coming out like an\noctopus those tentacles connect every\nosteocytes with every other so to the\neffect that the whole skeleton is\nconnected through these nerve endings in\nfact in your body you have 42 billion of\nthese osteocytes and you have\npractically 4 trillion of these little\nnerve endings that connect one of these\nbone cells to the other and in fact if\nyou put these nerve endings all together\nend to end they would go halfway to the\nmoon just in one single\nembody those osteocytes what do they do\nthey serve to tell one another where\nthere's been damage to the body if you\nhit your knee a message is sent we must\nrepair that part of the bone they sense\nwhat's happening all over the body but\neven more than that these very\nintelligent osteocytes also produce\nhormones they receive hormones to\nregulate bone formation they even have\nan impact on how your body will use\nenergy but we'll tell you more about\nthat later as a matter of fact the bone\nis so intelligent that I think we could\nsay boat is smarter than you are and let\nme say I'm thinking that I'm going to\ntell dr. Brown she should start giving\nyou a few talks about the amazing\nwonders of the human body because the\nskeleton is very smart but your whole\nbody is also extremely schmuck hold on\nin a second I think I hear her coming\nnow\nyes I do hear her coming she's coming\nright along alright everyone hey hi\neveryone this is Susan I'm glad to catch\nup with you and this skeleton my\nskeleton friend did a great job\nbeginning with this talk because indeed\nthe bot skeleton is very intelligent and\nit does many things for you that you\nmight not realize some things you\nrealize some things you don't and\nbecause it's Halloween let's celebrate\nthe skeleton the first thing our\nskeleton does is infrastructure it\nallows us to have rigidity to have\nmovement it allows us to have all the\nfun in this physical body and being so\nflexible the next thing is really\nimportant is the skeleton it provides a\nplace for muscles to attach if you think\nof a jellyfish you know without any kind\nof skeleton you can't have the muscles\nthat allow for all this elegant movement\njust look at someone doing a beautiful\ndance you see the Magnificent\norganization that allows us to have such\nmovement is all based on the skeleton\nthe skeleton also protects the internal\norgans take like your heart your kidneys\nyour lung we could easily die if those\norgans are damaged from a fall from any\nblow and so the skeleton is like your","thumbnailUrl":["https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/-qIj_7IhBSQ\/default.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/-qIj_7IhBSQ\/mqdefault.jpg","https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/-qIj_7IhBSQ\/hqdefault.jpg"],"uploadDate":"2017-11-03T18:03:32+00:00","duration":"PT10M25S","embedUrl":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-qIj_7IhBSQ","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw#Organization","url":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCm6Zry9uGdrZpm05sQLIxMw","name":"Dr. Susan E. Brown","description":"Dr. Susan E. Brown, PhD, is a medical anthropologist, a New York State Certified Nutritionist, and the author of Better Bones, Better Body -- the first comprehensive look at natural bone health. Dr. Brown specializes in osteoporosis, osteopenia, bone health regeneration, and auto-immune disease. She is also famous for her natural approach to bone health; check out her Better Bones programs and products.","logo":{"url":"https:\/\/yt3.ggpht.com\/ytc\/AIdro_m0l08uY9k8RO1FbN8-VsYIOa8fiq9BtocNNM_k3xw7a7s=s800-c-k-c0x00ffffff-no-rj","width":800,"height":800,"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qIj_7IhBSQ#VideoObject_publisher_logo_ImageObject"}},"potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qIj_7IhBSQ#VideoObject_potentialAction","target":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qIj_7IhBSQ&t={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"},"interactionStatistic":[[{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qIj_7IhBSQ#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_WatchAction","interactionType":{"@type":"WatchAction"},"userInteractionCount":204}],{"@type":"InteractionCounter","@id":"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=-qIj_7IhBSQ#VideoObject_interactionStatistic_LikeAction","interactionType":{"@type":"LikeAction"},"userInteractionCount":1}]},"about":["Bone Health Basics"],"wordCount":356,"keywords":["Better Bones Program","Skeleton"],"articleBody":" Print PDF eBook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFacebook\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwitter\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGmail\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLinkedIn\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPinterest\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOur skeletons are composed of hard tissue that provide us with a sound infrastructure allowing for upright posture, complex movements and amazing dexterity. While many people look upon their skeletons as little more than scaffolding \u2014 hard structures that hold us up and give shape to our bodies \u2014 many don\u2019t realize that this is but one of the many ways our skeletons serve us.For a fun analogy to help illustrate this point, consider this: our skeletons are not like a small store selling one kind of widget \u2014 they are more like a mini-mall offering us multiple goods and services. Your amazing skeleton offers:\u201cParking\u201d in the form of support for softer tissues and attachment points for skeletal muscle to assist in movement.\u201cSecurity\u201d in the form of mechanical protection of internal organs.A \u201csupermarket\u201d where the body can shop for \u201cgroceries\u201d such as key minerals that play essential roles in cardiovascular function and overall health. This includes calcium (97.9% of which is in the skeleton), magnesium (50%), sodium (35%), and phosphorus (85%), as well as \u201cspecialty foods\u201d \u2014 alkalizing compounds like citrate and carbonate, which attach to the minerals in bone and provide for the essential maintenance of minute-to-minute blood pH balance.A \u201chardware store\u201d in the form of bone marrow that offers blood cells (for moving nutrients and oxygen), platelets (for fixing leaks and patching holes), and \u201cbatteries\u201d (reserve energy in the form of fatty acids).A \u201clocker room\u201d for toxic metals, keeping these hazardous substances out of circulation.And there\u2019s even a \u201ccourier service\u201d in the form of hormones that send messages to the tissues about glucose control, energy metabolism, body mineral balance, and body fat (Martin 2017). Our skeletons are a wonder, and with so much to offer, it\u2019s no surprise most of us are satisfied customers! ReferencesMartin C. Bones make hormones that communicate with the brain and other organs. Science News 2017;191(13):12.Dive deeper into bone nutrition with our detailed guide to complete bone health nutrition guide.For more on how diet pH affects your bones, read our guide to alkaline diet for bone health."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Bone Health Basics","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/bone-health-basics\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"6 Secret Wonders of Your Skeleton","item":"https:\/\/betterbones.com\/bone-health-basics\/6-secret-wonders-skeleton\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]