Osteoporosis Is A Good Thing?

Yes, Osteoporosis is a good thing . . . well, considering the alternative- Death.  I state it this way to first attract attention, but also to show how our body truly works.  As I have mentioned before, we need to maintain a proper balance to function.  One balance we need is a good Calcium to Phosphorus ratio, which is about 2.5 :1.  We need a little more than double the amount of Calcium than Phosphorus.  When this ratio is altered, meaning if we have more Phosphorus than Calcium, it is toxic to our body.  So what does our body do?  It brings in more Calcium.  Where does it get more Calcium?  99% of our Calcium is stored in our bones.  The excess Phosphorus activates the parathyroid which then sends Parathyroid Hormone to take Calcium out of our bones. It is a life saving mechanism, unfortunately at the expense of our bone tissue.

So the simple thing to do would be to drink more milk, right? (pretend that you didn't read my blog on Dairy)  Cow's milk has plenty of Calcium, but sadly it also has plenty of Phosphorus, almost a 1:1 ratio along with excess protein, counteracting the Calcium.  Research has shown that those who drank more milk (3 extra glasses a day) showed no reduction of bone loss.  But isn't Calcium good for our bones?  Think of it this way.  Imagine a hole in the ground, and it is your job to fill it up.  You keep putting in dirt, shovel after shovel, but after an hour you look in and the hole looks the same.  So you shovel in more and more dirt as fast as you can.  After another hour you look in the hole and it's still as big as it was originally.  Finally you look up and at the other side, you see someone shoveling dirt out of the hole.  That is what we are doing to our bodies, especially concerning our Calcium intake.  We don't need much Calcium (400 mg/day) to maintain strong bones.  It's not that we don't have enough to fill the hole, it's what we are doing to take it back out.  There are several things in our diet that is taking the calcium out.  Let's take a look at a few

1. Animal Protein- A China Study has shown that women in china who had lower calcium intake had stronger bones.  But their diet also showed that they consumed less protein, especially Animal Protein. Of their total protein, only 7% was from animal.  In the USA, about 70% is from animal.  Big difference.  Our animal meat proportions have grown out of hand
2. Excess Phosphorus- contained in animal proteins which stimulates the parathyroid hormone
3. Tobacco- women who smoke reach menopause about 5 years earlier (we'll discuss the significance of this)
4. Alcohol/Caffeine- dissolves bone, increases Calcium excretion
5. Antibiotics- increases Calcium excretion
6. Corticosteroids- decreases Calcium absorption
7. Hyperthyroid- excess thyroxin increases Calcium excretion

So what can we do to help maintain good bone quality?

1. Eat Vegetables- Green leafy vegetables are great sources of Calcium and also prevent bone loss.
2. Vitamin D- increases Calcium absorption
3. Vitamin K- decreases Calcium excretion
4. Vitamin B6- helps with production of Progesterone.
5. Moderate protein intake
6. Avoid alcohol/smoking/caffeine
7. Exercise- weight bearing exercise strengthens bones (research has shown that 50 jumps/day has great effect on bone strength)

I do not suggest Hormone Replacement Therapy, but there are things that can help maintain proper hormone balance. This is important.  Estrogen has been shown to slow down osteoporosis, but it doesn't stop it. Progesterone has been shown to increase bone growth.  Women in menopause (decrease in estrogen and progesterone) are at greater risk.  The loss of these two hormones increases the rate of bone loss dramatically.  Let's stop digging ourselves in a hole, and lets help out our body instead of putting it into position to choose Osteoporosis over Death.