our bones impact insulin sensitivity

In 2007, groundbreaking research shocked the scientific community by revealing that our skeleton, via the vitamin K2–dependent protein osteocalcin, has a significant impact on our body's production and sensitivity to insulin. With that radical discovery, our perception of the skeleton makes a quantum leap from it being an inert scaffolding to it being a dynamic endocrine gland. Writing in the prestigious journal Cell, researchers explained that osteocalcin, produced within our bones, has the capacity to improve the body's glucose tolerance. And that makes vitamin K2 critical for preventing an illness of epidemic proportions: insulin-resistant diabetes.

• Lee NK, Sowa H, Hinoi E, et al. Endocrine regulation of energy metabolism by the skeleton. Cell 2007, 130(3): 456–69.)