Osteoporosis Is Not Just for the Elderly
Once upon a time, we looked
on osteoporosis as a disease of the elderly, which was easy to spot in older
women who walked hunched over or who couldn’t stand straight. In reality,
around 20 million women in the U.S.
are believed to have osteoporosis, and 80% of them won’t even know it.
What is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a chronic,
progressive disease that effectively reduces the amount of bone you have in
your body, making you susceptible to fractures, especially of the hip, spine
and wrist. Any fracture is disabling, but in older people they can prove fatal.
It may surprise you to know that 50% of women and one in eight men will suffer
an osteoporosis-related fracture at some point in their life.
Osteoporosis is not the same as arthritis,
in that there is no pain from osteoporosis until a fracture happens. The
absence of swollen and painful joints does not indicate an absence of
osteoporosis, because these symptoms relate to arthritis. It is therefore
sensible to check out with your doctor how healthy your bones really are, so
that you can take steps to mitigate the onset or deterioration of this brittle
bone disease.
The following tips will help you to
maintain healthy bones:
- Take regular exercise, such as walking, rope-jumping, jogging,
racquet sports, swimming or aerobics. Do this for a minimum of 20 minutes
three times a week for to help strengthen bones and reduce the risk of
osteoporosis.
- Weight-lifting is known to trigger an increase in bone density, so
this is an excellent way to guard against osteoporosis. However, medical
advice on weight-lifting should be sought if you already have the
condition to avoid putting excess strain on already-brittle bones.
- Tai Chi, which is a slow and gentle form of martial arts, is a
useful strength training exercise if you have severe osteoporosis or have
already suffered fractures.
- Care should be taken when bending or lifting objects if you already
suffer from osteoporosis. Make sure to bend at the knees, not at the
waist, and keep the object close in to your body. Also try to avoid
sitting or standing in a hunched position.
- Ensure a sufficient intake of calcium. Recommended daily amounts
are 1,000 mg/day for post-menopausal women taking estrogen, and 1,500
mg/day for postmenopausal women not taking estrogen and generally for men
and women over 65 years old.
- The best types of calcium supplements are the most absorbable, such
as microcrystalline hydroxyapatite concentrate (MCHC), or one of the
malates, fumarates, succinates, glutarates, or citrates. Keep to the
recommended doses, though, because too much can lead to kidney stones.
- Additional nutritional supplements, such as vitamin D, C,
magnesium, zinc and silica may be of use, but talk to your doctor of
chiropractic first.
- Eat a healthy, balanced diet. Include green leafy vegetables,
fruit, nuts and seeds. Raw sesame seeds contain more calcium than any
other food on earth. Limit your intake of animal protein, baked goods and
junk food.
- Drink 8 eight-ounce glasses of water a day. That’s water, not teas,
juices or coffee. Avoid caffeine, sodas and alcohol.
A Few Words on Dairy Products
If you’re wondering why you didn’t see milk
or cheese in the above food list, it’s because these are probably the worst
things to eat if you want to avoid osteoporosis. No, you didn’t read that
wrong; dairy products DO NOT guard
against osteoporosis, and are very likely responsible for most instances of it.
Here’s why:
- The enzymes needed to break down and digest milk – renin and
lactase – are no longer present in humans past around three years of age,
because your need for your mother’s milk is over by then (so why suckle on
a cow?).
- There is 300 times more casein in cow’s milk than in human milk, which
clogs and burdens the system as it can no longer be broken down.
- The calcium in cow’s milk is far coarser than in human milk, and it
is tied up with the aforementioned casein, thus it is not absorbable.
- The processing of dairy products, such as pasteurization and
homogenization, degrades the calcium to a point where it would become very
difficult to utilize anyway.
- And here’s the killer: one of the major roles of calcium in the
human body is to neutralize acid. Dairy products are extremely acid-forming. Thus the net
impact of consuming dairy is that your system actually loses calcium in its vain attempt to
deal with its negative effects.
This information, by the way, has been
around since the 1950s, but an awesome disinformation program from the dairy industry
and government has kept it largely buried.
Seek the Help of a Chiropractor
Your doctor of chiropractic can advise
on various ways to improve your bone health. Chiropractors are licensed and
trained to treat patients of any age and they can certainly help if you are
suffering from osteoporosis.
Dr. Kaden can help you improve and maintain your health and
keep your nervous system healthy through Chiropractic Care, Functional
Medicine, Functional Neurology, Nutritional Support, Weight Loss Programs and
Homeopathic Bio-identical Hormone Replacement. Please call Dr. Frank Kaden at 310-251-0862 or 310-937-2323
or email: info@kadenchiropractic.com
for an appointment. For more information please go to: www.kadenchiropractic.com
Our office in Hermosa Beach, CA has been helping the
residents of Hermosa Beach, Manhattan Beach, Redondo Beach, El Segundo,
Torrance, Palos Verdes and other nearby cities experience the amazing benefits
of chiropractic and wellness so they can enjoy life and health once again
without drugs and surgery.
