by Susan Brady | Jan 28, 2018 | Nutrition
A healthy diet is essential for strong bones, good health and longevity. Real, whole food provides a concentrated source of so many valuable nutrients such as vitamins, minerals, fiber, essential fatty acids and phytonutrients that our bodies need to fuel, maintain and rebuild itself. Luckily, nature pre-packages food with a variety of nutrients that work synergistically to benefit your body and your bones. This is why real, whole food beats taking individual vitamin supplements. When you have osteoporosis, it is important to load up your diet with foods that will benefit your bones, not weaken them.
Your daily diet can feed or starve your bones
Eating a diet high in processed food, like those that you can buy in a bag or box at the grocery store, starves your bones of essential nutrients. The refining and packaging of these food strips out the nutrients in order achieve extended shelf life. Processed foods are also loaded with refined sugar, salt, trans-fats and depleted of important bone building nutrients. Not only is sugar a highly acidic food, which can leach calcium from the bones, it can also lead to chronic systemic inflammation and oxidative stress that can affect the bone remodeling process.(1) Processed salt can do the same. Studies have shown that a high salt intake increases calcium losses in the urine, some of which will be directly taken from the bones.(2) Trans-fats are man made fats that are foreign to the body and hinder proper metabolism. Filling up on processed foods also leaves no room for the good stuff!
Feeding your bones with fruit and vegetables, healthy fats, and good quality protein is an obvious choice for optimizing your bone health. When you eat whole, organically-grown food, there is nothing that doesn’t need to be there. Only real food will revitalize and re-build our bones and our body.
To give you an example of a whole food, bone building diet, let’s take a look at what one of my clients packs for her daily diet.
Client’s Bone Building Lunch and Snacks
Ginger and turmeric infused water: Not only a delicious alternative to drinking pure water, ginger and turmeric have anti-inflammatory properties, aid in digestion, and may help brain function along with preventing Alzheimer’s Disease, as well as some cancers.
Orange: High in vitamin C which is a powerful anti-oxidant as well as being important in collagen formation.
Red pepper, celery, carrots and snow peas: All provide a variety of vitamins and minerals, such as vitamin A, C and K, along with fiber make it perfect for snacking.
Sardines in olive oil with skin and bones: High quality protein with the additional benefits of omega-3- fats, vitamin D, calcium, vitamin B12 and phosphorus. The olive oil also provides key polyphenols that have strong anti-inflammatory effects.
Home made turkey bone broth: Bone broths provide numerous minerals that aid in strengthening the bones.
Kale Caesar salad: Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat to keep your bones strong because in contains 14 of the 21 essential nutrients necessary for bone health.
Sautéed baby bok choy: Cruciferous vegetable that provides important bone building vitamins like K and C, and minerals like potassium and calcium.
Your bones, along with every organ in your body, are in a constant “recycle mode.” Your body is constantly breaking down old worn out tissues and rebuilding with fresh new cells. The quality of food you provide your body is vitally important to rebuilding. It only make sense that if you give your body processed, poor quality food, you will lack the crucial nutrients needed to build strong bones and a healthy body. On the other hand, a diet full of nutrient rich foods will provide your body with all the materials needed to build and fortify your frame.
Contact me to learn more about how you can rebuild your bones, increase muscle strength and improve your overall health and well-being!
by Susan Brady | Jan 10, 2018 | Healthy aging
Happy New Year! Although many people start the New Year thinking about losing those extra pounds gained over the holiday season or getting back in “shape”, let’s not forget about them bones! Those long skinny structures that lie deep down inside are essential for keep us erect and moving every day! A strong and healthy body includes having bones that will bend, not break, and everything you do to take care of your bones will result in a healthier body as well.
What’s the best way to keep our bones strong and healthy?
For years we have been told that eating dairy products and supplementing with calcium and vitamin D is all that we need to maintain a strong skeleton. However, emerging research indicates that calcium and vitamin D supplementation is not effective in preventing fractures.
In December of this past year, the Journal of the American Medical Association published a review looking at the association between calcium and vitamin D supplementation and fracture risk in older adults. (1). After reviewing the literature and analyzing 33 studies, the authors concluded that the use of calcium and vitamin D supplements did not help to lower the risk of hip fractures. In fact, their findings do not support the routine use of calcium and vitamin D supplements in the general population.
This study, along with previous studies suggesting calcium supplementation may increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, leaves many of us bewildered as to what we CAN do to maintain bone strength and prevent fractures as we age.
Why do our bones weaken with age?
The most common reason that we lose bone mass as we age is the decline in estrogen levels that occurs when we go through menopause. Estrogen prevents bone loss and reduces the risk of fractures by helping to maintain osteoblasts, the cells that lay down new bone. Without estrogen, these osteoblasts die off more quickly than normal leading to a decline in bone formation. Luckily, there are ways to maintain osteoblast function as we age.
Ways to Enhance Osteoblast Function as We Age
Eat a plant based diet rich in fruits and vegetables
The positive correlation between the consumption of fruits and vegetables and bone mass may result from several factors. Plant foods tend to be more alkaline which can help to maintain the delicate acid-alkaline balance in the body and promote healthy osteoblast function. (2) Consumption of fruits and vegetables also provide a host of polyphenols. Polyphenols are the compounds in plants that have antioxidant and anticancer properties and have also been shown to support osteoblast function.(3)
Exercise your way to stronger bones
As you know, exercise is one of the most effective ways to prevent osteoporosis. Wolff’s law states that bone will adapt to new or unusual mechanical stress by altering the bone structure. Exercise increases the physical stress on the bone. Bone tissue will adjust by increasing osteoblast formation in the areas affected by mechanical stress. (4)
Enhance your serotonin levels
Studies show that serotonin regulates osteoblast function and plays a significant role in bone formation. (5) Serotonin levels cam be increased naturally by getting plenty of sleep, reducing stress, and getting sunshine.
This year let’s rethink the ways we can better nurture our bones. My resolution is to continue providing up to date and accurate ways you can keep your bones and body strong and healthy.
Be on the lookout for more newsletters in the coming year and for personalized care, call to set up a consultation.
References:
1. Zhao, J., Zeng, X., Wang, J., & Liu, L. (2017). Association Between Calcium or Vitamin D Supplementation and Fracture Incidence in Community-Dwelling Older Adults. Jama,318(24), 2466. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.19344
2. Arnett, T. R. (2008, February 01). Extracellular pH Regulates Bone Cell Function1–3. Retrieved January 08, 2018, from http://jn.nutrition.org/content/138/2/415S.full
3. When nutrition interacts with osteoblast function … (n.d.). Retrieved January 8, 2018, from https://www.bing.com/cr?IG=D86CF42C15094A29836B010F2090E8F9&CID=36C0093821AB66462EB2024A20046721&rd=1&h=QTO1TPVPok5IlwumuXKdehEKsQwwekZuXHzHswwStQE&v=1&r=https%3a%2f%2fwww.cambridge.org%2fcore%2fjournals%2fnutrition-research-reviews%2farticle%2fwhen-nutrition-interacts-with-osteoblast-function-molecular-mechanisms-of-polyphenols%2fE5CDA36BA6A322C5F82B18518062B9AD&p=DevEx,5035.1
4. The roles of exercise in bone remodeling and in prevention and treatment of osteoporosis. (2015, November 30). Retrieved January 08, 2018, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S007961071500228X
5. Serotonin regulates osteoblast proliferation and function … (n.d.). Retrieved January 8, 2018, from http://www.bing.com/cr?IG=38D06CE787BF47E0B16F411B3CDBB4C8&CID=086EE1C9D11966DD2144EABBD0B66713&rd=1&h=nORVcJm-jBkCIL2oG3FCqGaNCd0ZhROr0XvwUvPWjTA&v=1&r=http%3a%2f%2fwww.scielo.br%2fpdf%2fbjmbr%2fv47n9%2f1414-431X-bjmbr-1414-431X20143565.pdf&p=DevEx,5066.1
