Osteoporosis

Protect Yourself Against Osteoporosis

by Glennis Rogerson, B.S. of Naturology, B.S. of Healtheology, Ph.D. and H.D. candidate

Osteoporosis is not necessarily a disease of calcium coming out of the bones or a lack of estrogen, as some medical experts would have you believe. That is only part of the story.

Most people think osteoporosis is a disease of the elderly, but current research shows that the beginning phases can occur around a person’s mid-20s; it also affects men as well as women. Apart from normal bone density loss due to aging, osteoporosis causes the bones to become thin, brittle and fracture very easily. Estrogen, however, helps bones keep their strength.

This is why menopause, with its decrease in estrogen output, is a very real cause of the quickening of the rate of bone thinning. In men it is thought that the cause is a low amount of testosterone. “Statistics show that more women die following a hip fracture than from cancer of the breast, cervix and womb combined.” (Medicine and You Magazine).

The biggest problem with the disease is that individuals do not know that they have it until they have a fracture. The thickness of the bones is laid down by our genes, and some nationalities have naturally thin bones, especially the white races. People who do very little exercise are at great risk for having thin bones, and in many races the mere chore of getting food and water causes them to exercise in a way not seen in Western cultures. While the disease does tend to run in families — since close relatives often have similar habits and lifestyles, food choices and exercise (or lack of) — osteoporosis is not necessarily hereditary.

The advice that drinking cow’s milk will provide all the calcium for growing bones is a fallacy. Bones need more nutriments than calcium, and cow’s milk does not provide these ingredients. Calcium is not readily assimilated, and even in countries where cows milk is consumed there are many with osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is caused by an increased activity in the osteoclasts that destroy bone. Good bone health begins in infancy and continues until adulthood. To try to undo years of neglect when we are adults is like trying to act about 20 years too late. The damage is done.

How can we help ourselves? The following nutriments are needed for healthy bones.

Vitamin B6 and Pyridoxine: increases the connective bone tissue strength, and helps to act as an antioxidant in excreting unwanted homocysteine.
Vitamin B9 and Folic Acid: essential for producing DNA and RNA in cells, for cell division, sugar utilization and in the excretion of homocysteine, a toxic compound by-product of our metabolism.
Magnesium: necessary to metabolize vitamin C, phosphorus, calcium, sodium and potassium; 80% of women surveyed who had osteoporosis lacked in this mineral.
Manganese: needed to grow normal bones and to formulate tyrosine, which aids in calcium metabolism.
Boron: keeps calcium and other nutriments in the bones, also used in calcium metabolism.

If the body is receiving supplements, it is essential to ensure a balanced intake. This can be achieved by taking a multivitamin and mineral tablet, not a megadose variety, but one with the RDA of all nutriments. You might try additional doses of calcium, boron and magnesium (about 500 mgs. and 300 mgs. of magnesium; if over 40 years, double this dose); take three mgs. of boron daily.

In summary, be sure to eat a balanced diet with plenty of fruit and vegetables, and of course exercise as much as you can.

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