Effective Ways to Stop Osteoporosis….

Today's Post:  Thursday, 2-26-2015

As he often does, in an email earlier this month, Dr Al Sears emailed me some of the things he finds prevent or stop or reverse osteoporosis AND shows that before agriculture we know that osteoporosis was very rare to never happened at all! 

In fact, the evidence shows that older people then had heavier and stronger skeletons than younger people!

He left out to take vitamin K2 and effective strength training and to avoid colas most of all and why.

He also left out the problem with proton pump inhibitors and the need for people who take them to supplement with magnesium and perhaps boron.

But he has SO much right and says it so well, I decided to do a post based on it!

1.  Here’s a quick recap of the things I’ve learned that help prevent or reverse osteoporosis first.

a)  The most critical and effective one to include is to do some kind of weight bearing or bone stressing exercise for each of the major bones in your body. And the bones in the back and spine and pelvis and legs are most critical.

Super slow or slow rep heavy stress training with moderately high repetitions but for just one set per exercise does this best.  (I learned to do this myself and can feel how very effective it is immediately and the day after!)  (I learned of it from The Perfect Workout who helps people do a complete program in just 20 minutes with a one on one personal trainer coach.)

We know that baseball pitchers develop much stronger and heavier bones in their pitching arm for example.

But what is most interesting is that this kind of exercise was developed because many years ago, people over 65 with osteopenia, early stage or moderate osteoporosis were helped to do leg presses on a workout machine.  And, they got exactly that kind of coaching to gradually get stronger over 12 weeks to 3 months.  In just that short time, their degree of osteoporosis got much less as their bones got heavier and stronger!

Of course, the key here is that had they done exercises also for their back and abdominal muscles and arms and other leg exercises AND were helped to add the foods and supplements that increase this bone building effect – AND to completely STOP the things that cause osteoporosis, AND kept doing it all for three YEARS, the effects would have been dramatically greater.

Just exactly that is available to you in this post by combining my points here and the points in Dr Sears’ post below!

b)  It’s been known for some time that getting enough calcium intake plus taking vitamin D3 helps build your bones. 

But that is rarely done in a way that works!

Taking calcium supplements does little due to the low bioavailability of the calcium.  And, adding tiny amounts of synthetic vitamin D2 does very little to improve things!

In massive contrast to that, eating very abundantly of leafy greens and beans and lentils and raw nuts if you aren’t allergic – which are all high in bioavailable calcium AND taking 5,000 iu to 10,000 iu a day of vitamin D3 plus vitamin K2, which ensures the calcium adds to your bones and comes out of your blood vessels, plus eating those foods and taking magnesium supplements of at least 400 mg a day plus taking boron, 3 mg a day -- all done with this kind of exercise, is extremely effective.

(If you do take small amounts of calcium in supplements, taking them right after eating both improves their bioavailability and help prevent them from going into your blood vessels instead of your bones.)

c)  If you take proton pump inhibitors which tend to cause your bones to break, following these methods, particularly the exercise and magnesium supplements, has been shown by actual direct tests to be essential to avoid things like a broken pelvis or thigh bones.

d)  The other most essential thing to do is to STOP doing the major cause of osteoporosis in both men and women.  The acidic effect of ingesting too many carbonated drinks each day and the even greater acidic effect of the phosphoric acid in cola drinks are both direct causes of osteoporosis. 

So to prevent the fattening effect and the other health harms from drinking both regular and diet soft drinks AND to stop giving yourself osteoporosis, completely stop drinking them! 

Why keep making yourself fat and sick and making your bones weak?

2.  Here’s what Dr Sears wrote in his email:  [As I often do, my comments are set off by this style of brackets.]

“As an anti-aging specialist, I've spent a lot of time studying and treating osteoporosis among the many "older" patients who come to my wellness clinic.

Many of them believe they must accept this painful and dangerous condition as an unavoidable part of aging.

This means I also spend a lot of time debunking the osteoporosis propaganda put out by the medical establishment.

I want them to learn about the natural ways they can keep their skeletons strong – at any age!

Osteoporosis is a "silent" disease, because it gives no clue that you might have it until a slight bump or fall produces a nasty, disabling fracture.

The degeneration and weakening of bones – osteoporosis means literally "porous bone" – has become a virtual epidemic in America. Ten million people have developed the disease.1

Another 18 million have been diagnosed with osteopenia, a condition regarded as the precursor to osteoporosis.

And treating these ailments has become a giant cash cow for Big Pharma and the mainstream medical establishment, who hawk their heavy-duty medications to the masses of America's senior citizens.

Some doctors have even begun prescribing powerful medications to stop or delay the onset of osteoporosis to people as young as in their 30s and 40s.

The side-effects of these drugs can range from hot flashes, leg cramps and nausea to blood clots, strokes and heart attacks.

Some of these drugs have also been linked to breast, uterus and esophagus cancers.2

[Taking these drugs is a direct cause of severe acid reflux disease!]

[Worse, they make your bones denser and heavier BUT also more fragile and likely to break!

Why take something that has both harmful side effects and makes what you are taking it to prevent MORE likely!??]

So instead of putting yourself unnecessarily at risk and lining the pockets of Big Pharma in the process, here's what I tell my patients: You don't need risky drugs to keep your bones strong.

This is not about debate or opinion. It's a fact. Archaeological evidence reveals that average humans 7,000 years ago had skeletons so strong they could make a modern orangutan jealous.

And, amazingly, they achieved this without the help of Big Pharma and risky osteoporosis drugs.

These people were Neolithic hunter-gatherers. They weren't born with bones of steel. But their bones became stronger with age - not weaker.3,4,5

And they developed these near-superhero frames in an environment that would kill most of us today.

Hunters roamed the forests and plains to find and kill game. Sometimes they had to run down their prey.

Sometimes, they attacked them with knives and axes, using the power of their own muscles to take down a wild beast.

At the same time, gatherers searched hills and forests for edible plants and berries. They dug roots with their bare hands. And if wolves attacked, these Neolithic hunter-gatherers either ran or fought.

Their bones grew stronger, and their muscles and tendons become powerful on diets that were high in animal protein and on lifestyles that involved running, jumping, twisting and turning daily. And not one shred of archaeological evidence revealed the presence of osteoporosis in any of these prehistoric populations.

Their lives of daily activity broke down bone cells and replaced them with more and stronger cells. This idea also explains why serious athletes have stronger bones than do weekend warriors.6,7

When farming was invented, it changed everything.

While it helped sustain larger populations, farming didn't challenge bones like hunting or gathering.

The bones of average humans – thanks to the Agricultural Revolution and the advent of diets that were lower in animal proteins and higher in processed cereals – became thinner and more porous than those of their hunter-gatherer ancestors.

Millions of years ago, our primitive ancestors came out of the trees and we evolved to become masterful endurance runners. They could not rival lions or antelopes in terms of speed – but over time, human bodies and bones developed the ability and strength to outrun any animal in their African environment over long distances.

We were "built" to run and jump for long periods. But, today, we mostly sit.

As a result, we have become puny weaklings, compared with our hunter-gatherer ancestors. And our bones are getting weaker and weaker with each generation.

But with the right kind of exercise and the right diet, we can rebuild our bone-strength and we never have to worry about being afflicted with osteoporosis

In the past, I have told you how to stay strong with my anti-aging exercise system. It's called PACE, which stands for Progressively Accelerating Cardiopulmonary Exertion. The system features focused bursts of activity that help you replace many of the challenges that civilization has taken away.

[That style of whole body interval cardio that you start at a very easy level but very gradually increase in intensity to higher levels IS well worth doing.  And, it will help make your bones strong.  But slow rep strength training is far more effective as a bone builder.  The ideal is to do both each week.  (I do my slow rep strength training mostly on Tuesdays and Saturdays and my PACE style exercises on Weds, Fri, and Sunday for example.)]

But you can't depend on exercise alone to keep your bones strong. Your bones will continue to deteriorate as long as you eat the average American's diet.

Big Ag's grains, oils and sweeteners turn your blood into a low-grade acid and your body into a sugar factory.

This dilute acid leaches the calcium from your skeleton faster than your body can replace it.

And all those sugars and refined carbs have made our nation fat, slow and tired, with all accompanying health crises – obesity, diabetes and numerous cancers, to name but a few.

So if you want stronger bones, eat like a caveman.

Here are some dietary tips I give my patients, who worry about their bones or have already developed osteoporosis and want to reverse the condition.

For a start, eat lots of protein. Many nutritionists dislike meat because it can tip the blood's pH to the acidic side.

But hunter-gatherers overcame this problem without realizing it – they wolfed down big slabs of steak along with quantities of fruit and vegetables.

[I added this emphasis. And it’s critical to know that they tended to eat 6 to 10 servings or even more A DAY of mostly vegetables.  Research has shown that eating that many vegetables each day is the most health supporting and health protective single thing you can do!]

Modern humans have essentially messed up nature's plan. Today, we often serve meat with other acid-promoting foods, like white bread, cheese, fries and soda.8,9

The most nutritious protein comes from grass-fed livestock, wild game and wild fish.10

To keep nature's balance, always load up on vegetables with your protein. The alkaline nutrients from these plants balance the acid in the meat.11,12

Our Neolithic ancestors consumed the equivalent of seven to nine servings of organic fruits and vegetables each day. 

Be sure to serve up root plants, like beets, radishes, turnips and rutabagas. By the way, kale and collard greens provide loads of calcium.13,14  [Once again,  I added that bolding!]

Eliminate or cut down acid-makers, like cereal grains, soybeans, oily cheeses, vegetable oils, salts, sugars, syrups, coffee, energy drinks and carbonated soft drinks.

Leave processed and packaged foods off your grocery list. Many of these contain acidifiers, like pesticide-laden, genetically modified foods, trans-fats and hydrogenated fats. They also have saturated fats and omega-6 fatty acids – so my advice is to stay away from them.”

So there you have it.  If you don’t want to get or keep osteoporosis, these are the things to do and not do.

Of course if you have bad osteoporosis, it’s important to avoid broken bones by adding the foods and supplements and STOPPING the things that cause if for a few weeks first.

And, they to use really, really light weights for the slow rep strength training and add weight more slowly at first.

Osteoporosis CAN be prevented -- and unless it’s virtually terminally bad, it can be reversed  albeit slowly at first.

These are the techniques that make that happen.