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Osteoporosis:
Just tell me what to take
How prevalent is osteoporosis?
In the U.S., approximately 10 million women and men have been
diagnosed with osteoporosis and 18 million have been found to have low
bone mass. In the U.S., approximately 1.5 million fractures occur
annually as a result of osteoporosis.
Although thought otherwise by some, osteoporosis is not a normal part
of aging. It is a normal part of degeneration, which comes
about for several reasons. Many seniors in their sixties, seventies
and eighties still have solid bones.
Results from blood tests can be misleading. The body's first
priority is to keep the blood serum well supplied with
calcium. If you diet is low in calcium, the body robs from
other parts of the body - teeth, bones, spine.
Robbery on a steady basis results in collapse.
A calcium deficiency is the most likely cause of osteoporosis, but not
the only cause.
What are the risk factors for developing osteoporosis?
- Cigarette smoking
- Diet low in calcium. Some nutrition oriented doctors feel that
the cholesterol phobia has reduced the intake of one of the best
sources of calcium: milk and other dairy products without replacing
them with calcium food sources of similar value.
- Eating man-made foods = virtually foodless food (fast food) have
deprived many of calcium and other minerals and vitamins that team
with calcium to make strong bones and teeth.
(Are you getting the idea that its the nutritional deficiencies created
from the "normal" fast food lifestyle?)
- Use of certain medications including steroids, anticonvulsants, loop
diuretics (furosemide), long-term use of heparin, and GnRH analogs
(estrogen-suppressing medications).
- Inactive lifestyle
- Excessive alcohol intake
- High caffeine consumption
- Prolonged bed rest
- Decreasing testosterone levels
- Certain health conditions such as bone metastases related to a
diagnosis of cancer, hyperthyroidism, early removal of the ovaries,
hypogonadism in men (the gonads produce testosterone, progesterone,
and small amounts of estrogen), partial removal of the stomach, and
partial paralysis due to a stroke.
What can I do?
Diet:
Inadequate calcium and vitamin D intake is harmful to bone health.
Vitamin D: Here again strong warnings about sun-bathing, due to
skin cancer threat, result in many persons from avoiding direct exposure
from sunlight or skyshine. Sometimes they don't make up this deficit
by eating vitamin D rich foods.
Calcium: Excessive consumption of protein can cause the
needed calcium to be flushed out of the body, although a moderate
allowance of protein - 40-60 grams - does not. A protein
deficient diet - less than 40 grams daily - can also deplete calcium
stores.
Calcium is also stolen from the body by the following: (1) Caffeine
in coffee and soft drinks. (2) refined Sugar (not
lactose, milk sugar) interferes with calcium entering the bones (3)
Alcohol, as a sugar, limits the making of the stomach's hydrochloric acid
and also encourages the loss of magnesium. (4) A deficiency of
hydrochloric acid in the stomach blocks calcium absorption and increases
excretion of calcium in the urine. (5)
A deficiency in Vitamin B-6, closely associated with magnesium, can also
cause the departure of calcium. (6) Smoking
causes excessive loss of calcium. (7) Other enemies of calcium use
or retention are antacids, aspirin, mineral oil,
cortisone (the natural kind brought on by stress, or the prescribed
hormone), drugs for epilepsy, excessive sweating and - nursing an
infant.
Exercise: Lack of physical exercise will actually pull calcium
from our bones. Numerous experiments have established that non-nutritional factor of
exercise can preserve bone mass and volume, and even re-build bone.
Regular exercising of weight-bearing bones, in particular, helps
retain, and frequently builds bone volume and density. Examples of
good weight-bearing exercises include: walking, jogging, stair climbing,
back strengthening, and weight lifting.
Sodium: can decrease calcium absorption.
Magnesium: At a ratio of one part magnesium to two parts
calcium - calcium is lost.
The recommended daily allowance of calcium is:
For women
- 24 years old to menopause
1,000 mg/day
- Postmenopausal
1,500 mg/day
For men age
- 9-50 years
1,000 mg per day
- Age 51 and older
1200 mg per day
Helpful Nutrition:
For an excellent source of Calcium and Magnesium which
the body recognizes and uses go to Calcium/Magnesium
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