Osteoporosis is a disease of bone disintegration occurring when the components for bone maintenance don't occur in the diet or are not used by the body. It's what happened to grandma, that pathetic old woman bent over double in a wheelchair with the Quasimodoian hump in her ruined back. It is what Sally Field, new front-woman for Boniva®, is trying to avoid, herself, presumably...
Why do so many older persons, especially women like my own mother, wind-up with Osteoporosis (OP)? Is it avoidable? How avoidable is it? Do they "catch" it ... is it genetic ... Is it a Fosamax® or Boniva® deficiency somehow (Nature retches, reader...)... or maybe it's just bad luck like getting hit by lightening. Well, good news folks! It's likely none of those things. Of course, here's the worrisome bad news, just to get it out of the way up front:
OP is generally the result of doing, pretty much, what *darling doctors* & *dutiful dieticians* prescribe you to do... in other words, most OP is the result of a LIFE-LONG nutritional deficiency caused & perpetuated by the very nutritional "experts" providing conflicted advise. This nutritional deficiency OP is called Type II or Age-related OP because... well... everyone will eventually develop it in varying degrees, if they live long enough...
Dying at 100; however, with a little normal "wear & tear" Osteoporosis is a huge difference from being bent over double at age 60 the way my mother was. You think?
OK, I hear the internal dialog, you're wrong -- let's move on...
You're thinking, "My doctor explained half a dozen genetic markers influencing bone density AND, Mr. Wise-guy, web-loon... ...both my mother & grandmother had OP and like me, consumed dairy every day...SO THERE! It has to be genetic"!
This is bad thinking based on bogus information and is a tacit result of corporate pecuniary irresponsibility... forgetting that the preceding illustration is largely a fantasy example... Seriously, it is the *ODD* MD who is going to sit around explaining genetic markers to a patient. So, let's do the "odd thing" ourselves...
...Let's talk a little about GENETICS:
Because there are dozens of inherited genetic characteristics effecting & affecting bone density? Yes, some folks will be more genetically pre-disposed to develop OP than others... but that certainly doesn't mean it is a forgone conclusion that you will develop the "crippling" variety of OP... or that you need one of these evil 'Phosphonates' like Boniva® or Fosamax®.
Ms. Field! I weep!
Below are some of the pit-falls involved with labeling everything Medical Doctors can't explain or fix, as a "likely *Genetic* problem."
Take heart! Because I'm also confident that regardless (with some rare exceptions) of how the genetic deck "might" be stacked against you? If you do a few "simple" things, Osteoporosis can very likely be avoided, altogether!
I don't want to make light of people's addictions... because I'm sure some would think giving up sugar & refined carbs, is not "simple". But Folks! It's STILL something you should do anyway even if there were no such thing as Osteoporosis, because "Anti-nutrients" like sugar, "Cheezy Poofs & "Snacky Cakes" can cause or exacerbate virtually every disease. Anyway, moving on...
1)... For maximum Pharmaceutical sales Doctors want to be able TO BLAME the disease on you... OR... be able TO NOT BLAME the disease on you. Huh? What? They want to do BOTH?
Sure, as long as NONE of the blame can be directed where it belongs... with the Doctors & Dieticians. Here's how Genetics is a useful tool in the "deflect the blame" game:
(a)...If you are a little over weight or have other problems that might possible be nutritionally related...like marginal Lipid Profile Numbers? Doctors will tell you OP is your fault because you don't eat "right" or exercise enough! Consequently, you NEED Fosamax® or Boniva® (...Sally, please!) to compensate for your lack of will power.
You are easily convinced of this because you've never liked to exercise, anyway, and even though you try to follow the New Food Pyramid (NFP), you just can't seem to lose weight, improve your Lipid Profile or stop your bone loss... ...so you accept the blame & take the Fosamax®...and the Lipitor®. Of course, what you don't know is that the deck is stacked against you by the very Food Pyramid you feel guilty about not following more closely! This is "The Law of the Perversity of Nature" because had she followed it more closely she might be WORSE off. That's right!
Believing the Old & New FP's recommendations on milk & dairy as the primary source of Calcium & Vitamin D is the reason my mother... just like my grandmother... is/was bent over double with OP after a concerted lifetime effort to consume dairy every day.
However, with my great-grandmother and further back, they rarely encountered OP, because they did things completely different, nutritionally, back then. Ironically, being POOR, helped...this is because if you were a "dirt" poor, Georgia, "subsistence farmer" you ate a much more healthful, mineral/nutrient-packed diet than your rich Wall Street stock broker of today. Out of necessity, they grew their own Organic plants & Grass-fed, Free-range animals, long before all us old "tree-huggers", glommed onto those terms. Sorry, I digress.
See, it's a lie that milk is a good source of Calcium because of the skewed Calcium/Magnesium Ratio of 10 to 1! Magnesium should be at a 1 to 1 ratio (or greater) with calcium, or a minimum of a 2 to 1 ratio. Also, the absolutely critical Vit. D, in milk is the inferior, much less active form of calcium, D-2. The superior Vit. D-3 form, in Cod Liver Oil, quality supplements & made by the Sun... is relatively non-toxic (unlike D-2) & efficiently helps with absorption of calcium (unlike D-2). Milk, decidedly, does NOT do a body good! A "milk mustache" is a cutesy badge of ignorance, reader!
Moreover, the NFP's corporate driven reliance on Grains is also troubling (though Soaked or Sprouted grains are great the NFP never mentions "Soaked or Sprouted"). The NFP recommends twice as many servings of grains as any other category... half of which can be refined! This is a major health hazard, reader, and a recipe for health disaster resulting in a "moderate" sugar consumption, coupled with a "moderate" refined carb consumption ... leading to a "Not-so Moderate" rise... ...in glucose. ...In insulin secretion. ...In FAT storage. ...In increased joint & arterial inflammation. ...In weaker, more brittle bones. ...In Depression... ...the list goes on & on...
See? No matter how hard the lady that's "a little overweight" tries, she can't seem to lose that 20 pounds that she's gained since menopause. Consequently, she feels terrible and provoked to thinking, "I better do as the doctor says and take my Boniva®...because I'm a weak, bad person." Oh, Sally! We're blaming the victim and the victim blames herself!
(b)...But what if you can't blame the victim! What if the victim is a slim marathon runner who follows the food pyramid, never-ever touches junk food, and believes (the abject lie!) that you can get all the nutrients required in a balanced NFP diet without supplementation! Then, because you're doing everything "right", the doctors can't possibly blame you, so this means, you NEED Boniva® because your OP must obviously be genetic.
You're also easily convinced of this insanity, because that way... there's NO guilt! ...And because your OP is *genetic*, there's really nothing you can do about it, so you shift the blame & you take the Boniva®.
Of course, what you don't know is your OP was actually triggered & exacerbated, ironically, by being a marathon runner and following the food pyramid! ...WHAT THE...?? ALAN, STOP !! ... You're Making My Hair Hurt!
OK...it's pretty simple: Because of the NFP's corporate driven philosophy that Supplementation is not necessary ... coupled with their corporate driven reliance on "Mineral Leaching", high Phytate & Oxalate foods like Grains & Soy... the result is that many Folks are Mineral & Trace Mineral deficient, even if they follow "The Rules" as outlined by the conflicted and uncaring medical *corpocracy*.
See, Mother-Nature demands that your blood pH stay within a very narrow range...so, if necessary, she will sacrifice the strength of your bones by leaching out the necessary Alkaline Minerals required to keep your blood pH from becoming too acidic and instantly killing you.
...Then the conjectured Marathoner further exacerbates the Mineral Deficiency because her long-distance running sweats out Potassium & a "soup" of electrolytes & Trace Minerals she, very poorly advised, does not replace. And just like NPR's Dr. Zorba Pasture, she believes all you have to do to replace Trace Minerals is eat a piece of lettuce. Lord, that Zorbie is some piece of work.
I feel this is just wrong -- Soulless Corporate farming only replaces a handful (sometimes just 3, N-P-K) of the 70 plus Minerals & Trace Minerals the body requires. With just some cursory research you will see that the United States leads the world in being able to most efficiently suck critical Minerals & Trace Minerals right out of the soil... and then, very suspiciously, reader, NOT replace them.
2)...It's easy to float the "genetic theory" because I hear many women say, "My mother & several other family females have OP..." Well, what if it is because all of you eat the same things & poison yourselves the same way?
I mentioned last time how the whole country of New Zealand had a high heart disease & cancer rate because of selenium depleted soil that was corrected by importing selenium-rich wheat from Australia. Remember?
Well, because MD's don't think & are not taught regarding a trace element deficiency --WHAT IF, some handsome, Greying-at-the-temples, silver-tongued "Head of New Zealand Medicine" said the high rate of heart disease was because of a genetic problem inherent to people of an island nation... and that everyone should take Lipitor & Beta Blockers...
Would they buy it ?? You bet your "Kiwi" Shoe Polish they would!
Getting Hit By Lightening OP:
I guess there is one situation that might fall loosely under bad luck...that is doctor induced Osteoporosis, or Type III, due to long term use of immune suppressing drugs like prednisone. They don't tell you about that, do they!
Virtually every medical discipline's reliance on steroids is tantamount to playing Medical Russian Roulette, due to the myriad of possible unintended consequences of steroid use... and don't be fooled by the NEW "Steroid-like", "Steroid-lite" immune suppressing drugs that are "safe" to take continuously.
I am living proof that there is a natural and nutritional approach to dramatically improve Auto-immune Diseases. I almost died (actually the Bastards almost killed me not to put too fine a point on it!). I had the "incurable" bowel disease, Crohn's. After 7 years of increasing misery...their next step was "Lets cut-out most of your gut, Mr. Graham". So in desperation I went looking for another way.
Well Folks, I walked into a health-food store and in pretty short order I had my Crohn's beat-back 75% ... now 8 years later, I have virtually no symptoms. This took educating myself, some 'trial & error' and sacrificing things that I don't miss AT ALL today...things like refined carbohydrates. You know them as "Snacky Cakes & Cheezy Puffs", and how good can they be if a fat psychopath like Eric Cartman is raking them in by the bagful...
Consider now, is Osteoporosis a Fosamax® or Boniva® deficiency?
Is it, Sally?
No...quite the opposite, actually. This class of poisons, called Bisphosphonates, are an abomination... just ask the women suing Merck because of "Phossy-jaw" or Jawbone Necrosis -- the rotting away of the jaw bone. WOW, that doesn't sound Good! Sally eventually sacrifices her sweet smile?
Mother-Nature (or your God of choice) developed a wonderful DUAL system, reader. As your OsteoBlasts build new bone, your OsteoClasts remove the old weak bone. Phosphonates are a metabolic POISON that actually kills the osteoClasts so the old bone is not removed...this provides more bone, but it is weak brittle bone leading only to an increase in hip fractures 5 or 6 years down the road. Also, a reason that bisphosphonates may sometimes do the opposite of their intended effect is that osteoclasts prompt osteoblasts to form.
If you want more straight info on OP & bisphosphonates go to one of my favorite Holistic Practitioners, "The Leaf Lady" at http://naturalhealthnews.blogspot.com and sign-up for her News-Letter.
Here's her comment: "While Fosamax® is a fluoride based drug I advise against... on the basis that is makes bones hard and brittle, not strong and flexible, while suppressing your thyroid. It just so happens that drugs like Actonel - from Proctor & Gamble pharmaceuticals- are made from by-products of TIDE, otherwise known as."
Menopause Induced OP:
I have a little problem with "Type I", Menopause (lack of Estrogen) induced OP for the following reason: It is compartmentalized into this separate area by calling it Type I OP, making it sound like something completely different from Type II (nutritional) ... so *obviously*, it can't be helped by nutrition... which leaves BONIVA® as the only apparent recourse. Ms. Field... the devil has you by the coat-tails!
The flaw, as I see it, is that doctors will admit most of the OP in these women started many years before menopause and that the loss of estrogen did pretty much the same thing as a nutritional problem, which is cause a mineral loss, only accelerated ... ...so menopause didn't actually cause the OP, it just exacerbated it. BUT it remains still: even if it did cause it, that doesn't mean that it can't be helped dramatically with nutrition & life-style changes.
Dr. Mercola www.mercola.com , et sig al, feels that taking natural Progesterone will do a positive thing, which is promote the growth of OsteoBlasts (which build bone) as opposed to Boniva's negative approach, which is to KILL the innocent, hard-working "little" OsteoClasts which remove old, brittle bone. Actually, the osteoclast is a giant multinucleated cell - not that you care. You might benefit from a little natural "phyto-estrogen" but because we live in an Estrogen-rich environment, it is very likely you need Progesterone... but with minimal or no "Estrogen". However, get checked for progesterone.
Here are some things to do in descending order of importance...this may seem like a long list of things to give up - but once you do, you will feel so much better that it will seem like a miniscule sacrifice...well, everything except coffee, which to my mind... is anything but, miniscule. Heavy sigh!
1)... NO Sugar, Refined Carbs, "Snacky Cakes" or "Cheezy Puffs"! Doing this one thing can certainly ameliorate Osteoporosis and almost every chronic disease...especially Arthritis, MS, Bowel & Heart Disease, among others. Sugar causes a glucose rise... which causes a secretion of insulin... which causes you to dump more Calcium in your urine. It's the SUGAR, Sally!
Another Dr. Zorba Pasture anecdote (...his insentient aural antics give my life "Worth & Meaning") -- A caller to his NPR radio show said that every time he ate sugar it caused joint pain. Of course, Dr. Z , in his slightly condescending manner, replied that it was a fluke, and there was NO scientific reason why that should happen...
Folks, there is not just ONE good reason for why that should happen... there are a HALF DOZEN good reasons why that should happen!
Let me just give you one (it's a long one): Sugar inhibits the production of the D6D Enzyme necessary for the first step in the Omega 3 Cascading Pathway (PW) which converts Simple Omega 3 (ALA) to the "work-horse", Complex Omega 3 (EPA) which activates the Prostaglandin III... ...which is your body's most powerful inflammation fighter. I'm not making this stuff up reader!
By shutting down the Omega 3 PW, the Omega 6 PW will likely NOT activate the desirable Prostaglandin I, but instead will activate the prostaglandin II causing an increase in INFLAMMATION, Platlet Stickiness, Blood Pressure & Allergic Reactions. Read my paper "Fat Facts" at www.alien.net/zfat.html Become an expert!
2)... NO Caffeine -- If God would give me special dispensation so I could drink just one large pot of Mexican Coffee daily, without it leaching minerals from my bones...I would praise Her name. Hmmm...so praise doesn't work, eh?
3)... NO Carbonated drinks, Tums or any other forms of Calcium Carbonate like Caltrate, Oscal & all forms of Coral Calcium (which is Calcium Carbonate from the sea instead of dug out of the ground) -- These things destroy valuable stomach acid which causes poor digestion AND impaired mineral/trace mineral absorption.
Don't confuse a healthful acidic stomach pH with an unhealthful acidic blood and/or body pH! If you don't remember anything else I tell you, please remember this... ...the only way to have a healthful alkaline Body pH, which will then help maintain your slightly alkaline Blood pH of 7.4, without leaching alkaline minerals from your bones - is to start with a very acidic stomach pH (less than pH 3)! If you have a more alkaline stomach pH (4 or greater) due to Tums, sodas & old age, you will have an unhealthy Acidic body pH. All, and I mean ALL MD's lie about reflux, heartburn & the "usefulness" of Antacids. Read "The Antacid Myth" at www.alienview.net/ALLT1.html#AntacidMyth
Most people over 50 need to take "Stomach Acid-in-a-Capsule"...Betaine HCL w. Pepsin and NOT antacids. Have that instead of your Boniva Pill, Sally!
4)... Fine-tune your digestion -- TRY HCL w. Pepsin...TAKE a broad-spectrum of Digestive Enzymes & a broad-spectrum of Probiotics like L. Acidophilus. If you are young and have plenty of stomach acid or if you have Gastritis or a Peptic Ulcer... then you want to avoid HCL w. Pepsin until you get it fixed. Your MD giving you antacids for Ulcers, does NOTHING to fix the problem and exacerbates same!
If you don't have a Gall Bladder... take an Enzyme Formula with Ox-bile or take a separate Bile Salts Formula. If you are over 50 and still have your Gall Bladder, take 1000mg of Taurine daily on an empty stomach. This cheap, Multi-purposeful Amino Acid is great for your heart & brain but also helps the flow of bile if you develop a "sluggish" Gall Bladder with age. Ask your MD about a "Sluggish" Gall Bladder and he will ask what hallucinogens you've ingested. Which really means, he doesn't have an expensive, toxic pharmaceutical for this purpose, so it's better to imply you're "trippin", reader!
5)... Sodium Fluoride (SF) -- Please do not get talked into taking SF for your OP...the peripheral, unintended consequences of taking a poison like SF are many & profound. If you are a parent who continues to let your child swallow Sodium Fluoride tooth-paste, after you've been warned... ...I suspect there's a special place in "Hell" just for YOU.
6)... Consume mass quantities of green leafy veggies (the dark kind - NEVER Iceberg lettuce), sea veggies (like Iodine-rich Kelp) and Sulfur-containing foods like garlic, onions, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage & asparagus
7)... NO Tap Water -- Buy a Reverse Osmosis (RO) Filter for about $120. Re-mineralize RO water with liquid Trace Mineral drops (RO removes 95% of the Trace Mins.). Store in glass mason jars...never plastic. The chlorine in tap water kills the good bacteria in your gut leading to poor absorption of Minerals & Trace Minerals.
8)... Supplements in descending order of importance:
Hummm...why isn't Calcium listed first? Calcium won't do you any good unless all these other players are in place. Your bones actually contain more Protein than Calcium! Protein provides the matrix for the calcium to build upon!
In fact, if you were to magically or accidentally get EVERY vitamin, mineral, trace mineral, EFA (Essential Fatty Acid), non-denatured protein, non-oxidized fat & whole-food carbs in EXACTLY the right amounts... while getting lots of exercise in a Toxic-Free environment? You would only need a portion of the recommended daily Calcium dose!
Vitamin K - is necessary for synthesis of bone protein & bone repair. Many Multi-Vitamins don't even contain Vit. K and you may not get much in your diet if you don't eat many green leafy vegetables. Some of the full spectrum Vit. K complexes that contain K1, and the 2 forms of the superior K2, with maybe some co-factors thrown in, are the best... but can get a little pricey. If you want something cheap, but effective, Concentrated Alfalfa juice in powder / capsule form only has the less active K1 but you get a lot for your buck - plus Concentrated Alfalfa has EVERY mineral needed for joint maintenance, in a readily digestible form!
Vitamin D-3 - The best D-3 comes from the sun... ...but if that is not an option then get 1000iu to1200iu of D-3 from Cod Liver Oil and/or supplementation. Do not exceed 2000iu daily unless you get tested for Vit. D. Avoid the inferior, less active form, Vit. D-2, like the kind found in milk.
Multi-Vitamin/Mineral - Make sure your Multi has at least 4mg of Manganese & 75mcg of Molybdenum (many don't)... Please get a Multi that is 1 or 2 notches above Centrum (bleh!) ...if you think you'll just go ahead and take Centrum or Theragram anyway...please stop reading right now and just forget everything you've read so far & have a happy life. Read "The Ballad of Cheap Vitamins and Motor Oil" at www.alienview.net/ALLT1.html#badVit to understand my disgust with "stuff" like Centrum & Flintstones.
Trace Minerals - for those of you still here...use liquid Trace Mineral Drops in your filtered water and consume Unrefined, Sun-dried Sea Salt with all 70 plus Elements. The salt Must be pink, grey or off-white...never pure white (indicates NO trace mins).
Magnesium - Use Amino Acid Chelated, Kreb's Cycle or Citrate forms...never use the inferior Oxide form (like in Centrum). Take from 1000mg to 1500mg at a 1to1 ratio with Calcium - if it gives you diarrhea (the Citrate more-so than the Amino Acid form) then reduce the magnesium and later try to slowly build back up or stay at the lower dose. Always take Calcium & Mag. in small divided doses. In an effort to prevent OP...those MDs who load you up with Milk & Caltrate Calcium, without ever mentioning Magnesium...should be put in jail ! Most people need MORE MAGNESIUM in their lives.
Calcium - Use Amino Acid Chelated, Kreb's Cycle or Citrate forms...never use Carbonate (like in Centrum), Coral Calcium, oyster shell or dolomite. Take 1000mg to 1500mg in divided doses. Taking in small, divided doses is Extremely Important...If you take 1000mg Calcium all at once, as the intrepid Dr. Zorba recommends? You are wasting a lion's share of it.
Boron - Take 3mg total...check your Multi so you don't exceed the 3mg. Many Multi's don't contain Boron, which I don't understand, because it is critical for Calcium absorption.
Zinc & Copper - If you have one of the rare conditions where you retain Copper... hopefully you already know about it. Anyway...If you consume lots of high Phytate refined grains and you do not supplement with Zinc & Copper (they should be together at about a 10 to 1 ratio) -- AND if you have brittle greying hair, brittle cracked nails & dry "old people" parchment skin... then it is likely that you have either Hypo (low) Thyroid or you have a Zinc and/or Copper deficiency, in either case, you can reasonably expect to develop one or more of the following : Ostoporosis, a negative Lipid Profile, Diabetes, respiratory problems, Anemia, Heart Disease...Oh gee, it might be easier to list the nasty things to which it DOESN'T contribute...
WARNING : do not take excessive Copper (over about 6mg daily) & do not take Copper w/o the correct compliment of Zinc. Copper & Zinc must go together but they are constantly at odds...if you take too much Zinc it will inhibit the Copper or too much Copper will inhibit Zinc. Most Multi's usually have 15mg Zinc & 2mg Copper. I recommend you take from 30mg to 50mg of extra Zinc (for a total of about 45mg to 65mg) thus requiring an additional 3mg or 4mg of Copper. ALSO never take over 100mg Zinc daily. Make sure you add the Zinc & Copper in your multi, into the total. Myself & the other old geezer that writes with me, Alfred Lehmberg, are actually getting color back in our hair...it's magic, Folks ! If you have copper plumping & use copper cookware...do not take supplemental copper until you get tested for copper. I would not drink water coming from copper pipes.
Glucosamine & MSM - A Very powerful "one - two" punch for bones & joints... and your heart... well, actually every place you have muscle & connective tissue...which is virtually EVERYWHERE!
Chromium Amino Acid Chelated or Polinicotinate - Increases Insulin sensitivity which increases bone strength. Your Multi will have from 100 to 200mcg but you should take extra - for a total of 500 to 600mcg, including what's in the Multi. This will also dramatically help with Diabetes & weight control.
Silica - Critical for Calcium absorption & bone strength. The herb Horsetail is a good source.
Take a long walk everyday between 10 am & 2 pm to kill two birds with one stone ...Weight-bearing exercise & Vitamin D-3 from the sun. Of course the sun's Vit. D production will probably only work in the summer unless you live in southern Florida. In winter and/or living up north, the sun is likely at too low an angle to activate the Vit. D process in your skin. If you're black...please don't rely on the sun for your Vit. D. Actually, most people should not rely on the sun for Vit. D.
OK...that's all for now. There are actually MANY more things one can do, but I'm sure most of you are thinking "Does he really believe I'm going to do all that? Shoot... taking a Boniva® pill once a month is so much easier." That's true...it's hard to do the right thing...until you do it for a while...then you realize that doing the right thing is ALWAYS easier in the long run.
Sally... Sally... Sally... I've loved you since I was a young man (we're the same age). Boy, did you look good in that stupid Burt Reynolds movie with the car chase. I cannot bear the thought of losing your sweet smile to bone rot. Please put the Boniva® Devil behind you, ...AND refrain from fronting that insanity before it's too late...
The Boniva® people? "They don't like you... ...they really don't like you." Sorry Sally, I couldn't resist.
by Alan Graham, M.D. (with Alfred Lehmberg)
http://www.alienview.net/ALLT1.html
email: alan068@centurytel.net
Comment
© 2025 Created by admin. Powered by
You need to be a member of WQMag.com to add comments!
Join WQMag.com