Osteoporosis
What is osteoporosis, why does it happen, what can I do to prevent it or reverse it?
In the most simple of terms, osteoporosis is a bone disease manifesting with a reduction in the integrity of the bone composition and density. The National Osteoporosis Foundation1states that 50% of Americans over 50 are effected, with 80% of that population being women.
We have seen the commercials for Fosamax, Bonevia, and Actonel. The pharmaceutical industry is pushing ways to prevent and treat osteoporosis in postmenopausal women – but is this the best way?
So What Now?
A diagnosis of osteoporosis is not a life sentence of bone degradation or pain, rather it is a warning that you need to bring your body back into balance. A visit to you local integrative medicine practitioner (a great resource can be found here: paleophysiciansnetwork.com/) will get you started on evaluating your diet, lifestyle, and hormonal issues.
Clean up your diet.
Whatever you put in your mouth is medicine, not just the pills. Every artificially synthesized pill we put in our body had its origins in nature, even if it’s hard to imagine it now in the highly processed state it might be packaged in. Make smart food choices and treat food as medicine instead of pills as the only medicine. Find quality, natural, foods high in calcium and magnesium.
Do not drink sodas. Period.
Reduce Stress, Exercise, and Go Outside!
Cortisol is our fight or flight hormone, the one responsible for helping our bodies cope with stress. What our bodies don’t always understand is that the high intensity lifestyle of a fast-paced work environment floods the body with cortisol and pulls calcium from our bones. This was helpful when we were running from predators or warring tribes, but when our stress is because we’ve been sitting on our fannies all day this protective mechanism is a bit more harmful than helpful.
Weight-bearing exercise, pretty much anything where you are moving your body in the world, helps increase the strength of the bones.
Go Outside
Sure, there is lots of research about sun exposure and skin cancer, but moderation is key. There is a 100% off, Completely Free, Sale of Vitamin D. Go outside.
Consult with a specialist
Find a health practitioner that will treat you as a person that is capable of healing yourself. An advocate for your personal health and wellness can be an amazing tool to educate you and provide you with the resources to get you to a pain free and healthy place
The Science – Nerd Talk
Bones are mineralized osseous tissue that is very much alive. Bones account for mechanical protection and mobility of our frame as well as our host to metabolic survival. Bones are our reservoir for minerals integral to our survival, storage center for our metabolism, regulator of our pH balance, envoy for detoxification, and key player in blood sugar and fat metabolism. With all of these things listed it is obvious that bone health is more important than we first thought.
The cells within the bone, osteoblasts, osteocytes, and osteoclasts, all contribute to bone health. Osteoblasts are our bone builders – they sit on the outside of the bone, manufacture hormones, and eventually become mineralized into the bone itself. Osteocytes are responsible for the calcium balance within the cells and work to communicate with the mechano-sensory aspects of bone tissue to help signal to the body if the bone is receiving too much mechanical stress. Lastly, and most importably in osteoporosis is the osteoclast activity.
Osteoclasts are responsible for bone resorption, they are literally breaking down the bone. If someone were to be diagnosed with osteoporosis it would make sense to limit this particular cellular function, right? WRONG! Osteoclasts break down old bone and then stimulate the osteoblasts to build new bone. If this function is removed, as is the case in most pharmaceuticals “treating” osteoporosis, new bone will never be built. If all the pharmaceuticals do is prevent old bone from disappearing, but do not provide the stimulation for new bone growth, our bones will eventually wear away and become structurally compromised.
There are many hormonal factors involved in bone building. Osteoporosis seems to show up most predominately in women over 50 because osteoblasts are stimulated through the sex hormones estrogen and testosterone. When a hormonal imbalance occurs, as seen in menopause, the stimulation is reduced. Fortunately, the body relies on the pituitary, thyroid, and growth hormones to compensate for this absence.
Prevention – A dose of prevention is the best medicine
History of osteoporosis in your family, early diagnosis of osteopenia (early stages of osteoporosis), symptoms of fragility in the bones? How do you prevent this in the first place? Hormonal imbalances are certainly a risk factor. Hormone replacement therapies have been shown to have a whole host of side effects, but there are ways to balance your hormones naturally (a can of worms and wonderful blog post unto itself).
•Alcohol – excessive alcohol intake2 has been shown to have an effect on bone mineral density.
•Smoking – there isn’t a need to launch into all the many negative effects of smoking, specifically as it relates to osteoporosis, tobacco smoking has been shown to inhibit the osteoblast (bone building cell) as well as breakdown the estrogen in the system (a factor for early onset menopause and hormonal imbalances)
•Malnutrition – How in the world can someone be living in modern society and have malnutrition? Poor diet, limited sun exposure, high blood pH, and poor nutrients can all lead to malnutrition. Low protein diets have also been linked to lower bone mineral density3 as well as imbalances of Omega-6 and 3 ratios of polyunsaturated fats4.
•Inactivity – bones are reformed through stimulation. Weight bearing activity, such as walking, jogging, weight lifting, all help signal our bones to get stronger
•Soft Drinks – every soft drink, diet or otherwise, is a factor. Soft drinks contain phosphoric acid which has been shown to be a direct factor in osteoporosis
Foods to Eat
Eating foods high in calcium isn’t the only solution to osteoporosis. According to Dr. Loren Cordain5 “In the U.S. calcium intake is one of the highest in the world, yet paradoxically we also have one of the highest rates of bone demineralization (osteoporosis). Bone mineral content is dependent not just upon calcium intake but upon net calcium balance (calcium intake minus calcium excretion).” This is a frustration piece of the puzzle that we don’t always take into consideration.
When researching for this blog posting the #1 hit took me to a PubMed6 article from a peer reviewed source that listed the top 2 foods to increase to prevent and treat osteoporosis are “cheese and ice cream”. Sigh. I wish I could say close but no cigar but they aren’t even close.
A high protein diet increases intestinal calcium absorption which allows for better utilization of any calcium you consume. Milk tends to be the big champion of strong bones, but it has a insulinotropic effect that triggers your body to SECRETE more insulin in the urine so it can be counter-productive in the fight against osteoporosis. Kale, a leafy vegetable, has more calcium than milk without the blood sugar spiking side effects. Watercress has 2181mg of calcium where milk just has over 800mg. Livestrong.com has a great article on calcium-rich foods:
Foods
Calcium is often consumed through dairy and grain products, but these foods are not allowed on the Paleo diet. Following the Paleo diet requires calcium to come from vegetables, fruit and seafood. Rhubarb, for example, contains 348mg of calcium per 1-cup serving and a 4-oz. salmon steak provides 225mg. A 1-cup serving of kale, white beans and beet greens supply more than 100mg of calcium. Other fruit and vegetable sources of significant amounts of calcium include broccoli, okra, green beans, oranges and cabbage. Seafood choices containing calcium includes oysters, clams, shrimp and haddock.
Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/262772-calcium-the-paleo-diet/#ixzz1IldgYKHI
National Osteoporosis Foundation. America’s Bone Health: The State of Osteoporosis and Low Bone Mass in Our Nation. Washington, DC: National Osteoporosis Foundation; 2002.2 Berg KM, Kunins HV, Jackson JL et al. (2008).
“Association between alcohol consumption and both osteoporotic fracture and bone density”. Am J Med 121 (5): 406–18.3 WHO Scientific Group on the Prevention and Management of Osteoporosis (2000 : Geneva, Switzerland) (2003).
“Prevention and management of osteoporosis : report of a WHO scientific group” (pdf).4 Ratio of n–6 to n–3 fatty acids and bone mineral density in older adults: the Rancho Bernardo Study American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol. 81, No. 4, 934-938, April 2005
http://www.ajcn.org/content/81/4/934.full5
http://thepaleodiet.com/nutritional_tools/acid.shtml6 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001400/
