Osteoporosis is something that strikes fear in the eyes of many people especially women. I am here to tell you that it is something that people should not be fearful over. By understanding the body and taking care of it, osteoporosis is something that can be prevented and even reversed or so called “cured.”
Osteoporosis is defined as someone who has decreased their bone mineral density to where something as simple as a small fall can fracture his or her bones. Usually happens to those who are postmenopausal when levels of estrogen diminish.
There are strong contributing factors to osteoporosis, which cannot be avoided such old age. These things cannot be controlled so there is no use dwelling on them. The fact of the matter is, as people age the body becomes less healthy.
I would like to propose, instead of trying to study a disease process, study how the body works and how to keep it functioning as it is made to do so. It is a lot easier to work on what is right instead of focusing on the wrong. No matter what everyone will get old so you mind as well accept it and embrace it as much as possible.
Now that things are settled lets go into what many doctors probably did not tell you about your body. The focus is so fixed on disease and what it does that it is easy to forget about the basics. The solution to osteoporosis is a lot simpler than meets the eyes. It’s common knowledge that Calcium and Vitamin D help to strengthen your bones but that is only a tiny part of the puzzle. Taking supplements alone wont solve the problem. In fact, in most cases you are just wasting your money because your body does not absorb it properly.
The most important contributing factor on developing stronger bones is STRESS. Bone is a dynamic tissue and your body does not know when to build new bone until it is told to do so. Your body is told to build new bone, IF and only IF there is stress to the area. When I talk about stress I do not mean your spouse/boss yelling at you but stress as in weight bearing activity. Weight bearing things include; weight training, walking, or running. Pretty much any form of exercise that adds an additional load on your body.
Everyday of your life, your body is making new bone cells and also taking away bone cells. The minerals that make bone get recycled in your body. By cells called Osteoblast which makes bone cells, and Osteoclast which takes away bone. Because your body recycles a lot of minerals, we may not need as much as the health industry claims. Instead we need more movement and exercise.
So why does the body need to make a cell that takes away bone? The answer is simple, every cell of your body has a certain life-span to it and the body has to continue to make new cells every day. Other examples would be skin cells and hair cells getting produced on a daily basis. With areas that have too much stress there can also be an over accumulation of bone made in that area and that is when the body needs to make osteoclast, which takes away bone.
Let’s first start with the hormone that starts it all and that is easily available for us, Vitamin D! So how do we get it for free?
Simple, all you have to do is walk outside during the day. The UV-Rays that we get from the sun give us Vitamin D every single day. As the UV-Rays come in contact, the skin will produce an active form of Vitamin D called Calcitriol. The liver and kidney is responsible for the production of calcitriol and the process takes about 12 days. Once that is achieved the calcitriol is released into the bloodstream. Some of it goes to the lining of our digestive tract so we can absorb calcium, otherwise our bodies would be unable to absorb the calcium. The organ that is responsible to regulate vitamin D and calcium levels is the parathyroid gland in your throat. This gland responds to weight bearing stress on the bones, which starts the entire process of rebuilding bone.
Since vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin, the body has trouble absorbing vitamin D. So the best source of vitamin D is in fact by way of UV-Rays. The vitamin D that we ingest does not get absorbed so easily because most of it gets passed through our digestive tract since it’s a fat-soluble vitamin. The benefits of vitamin D go beyond the hormone that helps absorb calcium. Research has found that it lowers the risk of cancer and people who lack sunlight, especially from European countries with low sunlight are more susceptible to depression. Heart disease and high blood pressure has been shown to be more prevalent in people who are deficient of vitamin D. There was a study where they found that people, who stay out in the sun, have significantly lower cholesterol levels than when they were not out in the sun during the winter months.
Essentially someone who is robbed of vitamin D in their life becomes susceptible to many health conditions. When they lack vitamin D, it affects the entire body because it robs them of absorbing many nutrients that can result in unrelated sicknesses or diseases. In other words osteoporosis should be the least of the worries.
Research has found that 5-15 minutes of mid-day sunlight without sunscreen is fine for those of European decent. For those who are Asian decent staying out in the sun for longer is safe. There is a big scare of skin cancer in and harmful UV-Rays. Recently, it has become a controversial debate whether we need sun block and if it is actually harmful because of the chemicals put in them. Staying out in the sun for a matter of minutes without sun block will not do anyone any harm. The benefits definitely out weight the risk.
A person whose bone density has diminished by right has the ability to increase their bone density and even reverse osteoporosis with a balanced diet, enough sunlight and exercise. Those who are of elderly age or of any age can go outside and enjoy the warmth of the sunlight and go for a walk. A person can get UV-Rays by standing in the shade on a sunny day if they are scared to get tanned.
Menopausal women have no need to fear. The lower levels of estrogen will contribute to slower production of active vitamin D and absorption of calcium. Which should give you even more reason to exercise and eat properly. As I tell my clients who come in with problems, consider your condition/aging as an opportunity to be healthy instead of a hindrance or excuse for being less healthy.
Supplementation can be implemented but the important thing is to remember that they should never be a replacement to eating correctly and exercising. Food and proper sunlight should never be fully replaced with man made substances that were made in a lab. In fact in some cases where your body is unable to absorb the vitamins can actually be harmful for your body. That is why people who have history of kidney failure, renal stones, and ventricular fibrillation have been told not to take calcium.
Other bone conditions such as degenerative joint disease can also reversed by having movement in the joints and the rest of the body. Seeking Chiropractic care can offer movement in areas in the body that has not moved for a long time. Like everything else, if you don’t use something you will lose it. And there is not enough physical stress on the bones and not enough movement in their joints they will deteriorate.
Unnecessary exposure to medical imaging such as X-Ray can also cause damage to the cells in your body. Especially the bone cells because it takes longer for the X-Rays to pass through a dense tissue such as bone. I find it rather ironic because the procedure used to diagnose a disease is actually contributing to the disease itself many cases. Another thing I might add would be to avoid drinking cola, which has phosphorus or phosphoric acid because it acts as an antagonist to calcium.
Choosing when the appropriate time would depend on the consumer because we now live in an information age where you should not completely rely on the opinion of one person or the culture as a whole. There is still little we know about the body and we are discovering new things all the time so it is best to continue to educate yourself.
For those who have health conditions such as high blood pressure please seek a proper trained individual who can advise a exercise regimen to can be safe and effective for you. Do not surrender to your condition, take control over your body.
Remember to empower yourself, educate yourself and then make a proper decision. Most importantly nourish and TRUST your body. You owe it to yourself and those you love.