Why This Orthopedic Surgeon Quit Surgery to Reverse Osteoporosis Naturally | Dr. Joshua Schacter
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Dr. Joshua Schacter on Metabolic Health, Regenerative Medicine, and Stronger Bones
When most people think about orthopedic surgeons, they think about surgery.
But what happens when an orthopedic surgeon who has performed more than 15,000 joint replacements decides that surgery isn’t enough?
That’s exactly what happened with Dr. Joshua Schacter.
After years of replacing hips and knees, he realized that fixing a joint didn’t necessarily restore a person’s health. His patients still struggled with inflammation, poor metabolism, muscle loss, and declining function.
That’s why he shifted his entire practice toward metabolic and regenerative medicine.
Surgery Fixes Structure—Health Restores Function
One of the biggest insights from our conversation was this:
A successful surgery doesn’t automatically create a healthy body.
Dr. Schacter explained that orthopedics is really about restoring movement and function. But if the body’s metabolism, nutrition, hormones, gut health, and muscles aren’t supported, recovery becomes much harder.
The healthier your cells are before any procedure, the better your body can heal afterward.
That applies whether you’re preparing for surgery—or simply trying to prevent one.
Bone Health Is Whole-Body Health
We often think of osteoporosis as “just a bone problem.”
It isn’t.
Bones respond to hormones, nutrition, movement, inflammation, muscle strength, and metabolic health.
That’s why taking a pill alone rarely addresses the root causes of bone loss.
Our bones are living tissue that constantly remodels in response to everything happening throughout the body.
Why Personalized Care Matters
One thing I appreciated most about this conversation was Dr. Schacter’s emphasis on individualized care.
Instead of focusing on one lab value or one diagnosis, he looks at the whole person.
That includes:
- Hormone balance
- Gut health
- Nutrition
- Genetics
- Cardiovascular fitness
- Lifestyle habits
- Recovery capacity
No two women have the same story, so no two treatment plans should look exactly alike.
My Takeaway
The future of bone health isn’t about choosing between surgery or supplements.
It’s about understanding that your bones reflect the health of your entire body.
The more we support metabolism, muscles, hormones, digestion, and movement, the stronger our bones can become.
That’s a hopeful message—and one that gives us far more control over our future than we’ve been led to believe.
Podcast Subscribe Links - Reversing Osteoporosis
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Oxalates, also known as oxalic acid, are naturally occurring compounds found in many plants, vegetables, and fruits. They are part of a plant’s defense mechanism against predators and can be found in high concentrations in foods like spinach, rhubarb, beets, nuts, chocolate, tea, and certain beans.
Regarding bone health, oxalates can bind to minerals such as calcium in the gut, forming calcium oxalate. This compound is not easily absorbed by the body, meaning the calcium that could have been utilized for bone strengthening is instead excreted. This process can potentially lead to lower calcium availability for bone health, which can be particularly concerning for individuals at risk of osteoporosis or other bone-related issues.
However, for most women, dietary oxalates do not pose a significant threat to bone health, especially if their diet is balanced with enough calcium and they do not have a history of kidney stones.
Your gut is crucial for stronger bones for several reasons:
- Nutrient Absorption: The gut is where most nutrient absorption occurs. For bones to be healthy and strong, they need a variety of nutrients, particularly calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, and vitamin D. A healthy gut efficiently absorbs these essential nutrients from your diet and facilitates their transportation to the bones.
- Gut Microbiome and Bone Health: Research has shown that the gut microbiome (the community of bacteria living in your intestines) can influence bone density. Certain gut bacteria help in producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) like butyrate, which have been shown to promote bone health. SCFAs can enhance the absorption of minerals necessary for bone strength and play a role in reducing inflammation, which can negatively affect bone health.
- Hormone Regulation: The gut helps regulate hormones that are involved in bone metabolism, including insulin, thyroid hormones, and sex hormones like estrogen. For example, estrogen is vital for bone density, and gut health can influence estrogen levels through the enterohepatic circulation, where estrogens are processed in the liver and intestines.
- Reducing Inflammation: Chronic inflammation, which can stem from poor gut health, is linked to many conditions that compromise bone strength, such as osteoporosis. A healthy gut helps to reduce systemic inflammation, protecting bones from inflammatory damage.
- Immune System Modulation: The majority of the immune system is located in the gut. An imbalance in the immune system can lead to autoimmune conditions, some of which affect the bones. Maintaining gut health helps to ensure the immune system works correctly, protecting against autoimmune reactions that could impact bone health.
In essence, maintaining a healthy gut contributes significantly to stronger bones by ensuring the effective absorption of vital nutrients, regulating hormones, reducing inflammation, and supporting a healthy immune system. Therefore, a diet rich in bone-healthy nutrients, prebiotics, and probiotics, along with lifestyle factors that promote gut health, is key to maintaining strong bones.