Having just been asked by a patient to give some advice on osteoporosis, I found I had not already written an article, so here is a good little overview.
Bone is a living tissue.
It is continually being renewed by two types of cell:
Osteoclasts – break down old bone
Osteoblasts – build new bone
There are approximately 1-10 million areas of bone rebuilding in our bodies at any given time.
As we age, especially women, it seems the break down of old bone goes faster then the new bone can be replaced. Traditional HRT looks at slowing the break down of old bone. However, after a few years this just leads to MORE old bone that is weak.
Just like the rest of the body bone tissue needs to be nourished and detoxified, so has a good blood and nerve supply.
Osteopenia and osteoporosis do not necessarily mean weak bone likely to fracture. There are other factors which can be improved.
Eating more vegetables (and possibly less low quality meat) will improve bone density.
Low progesterone is much more linked to low bone density than low oestrogen (Sellman and Sherill, Hormone Heresy: What Women MUST Know About Their Hormones, 1998)
Any progesterone replacement MUST be with natural progesterone, not synthetic progesterone. Synthetic progesterone is extremely toxic.
Progesterone improves osteoblast activity.
The Bantu of Africa have the lowest osteoporosis rate of any culture. They also consume very low calcium!
The Japanese also suffer less osteoporosis and consume less calcium than the West.
What takes calcium out of bones?
Alcohol
Antacids that contain aluminium
Antibiotics
Caffeine
Excessive meat
Excessive homogenized, pasteurised milk (yes, that’s right, modern processed milk is as good for you as coke, skimmed milk is worse than whole milk both for osteoporosis AND heart disease)
Too much omega 6 fats
Not enough omega 3 fats
Too much time inside (lack of vitamin D3)
Too much sitting
Lack of weight bearing exercise
Stress
Too much sugar
Tobacco
What do you need to build bone:
Phosphorous
Magnesium
Manganese
Zinc
Copper
Boron
Silica
Various vitamins, esp D3
Omega 3 fats
High quality protein
Minerals have to be in proper balance, there are a few options if you wish to supplement:
Calcium Hydroxyappetite Crystals – made from bone
Milk Calcium – extracted without homogenisation and pasteurisation and including other minerals
Eat a diet high in veg, (over 50%), contains a handful of nuts and seeds, some fruit and berries, little ‘carbohydrate only’ food, and contains only high quality proteins.
Supplement with pharmaceutical grade fish oil, D3, a good multivitamin and mineral or simply one of the calcium supplements I mentioned.
The best thing to do is get weight bearing exercise 3 x week, such as walking uphill, weight training, or cycling with high resistance.
You may also want to try Natural Progesterone cream – just ask us for more details – 01707 662 704
In addition to providing calcium for bones, milk calcium, especially when mixed with high quality whey protein helps burn fat, and improve lean muscle mass.
Both these can be got here:
or you can just pop into the clinic!
Be Well
Dr Chris
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