The Health Blog

Bone density isn’t a thing you can get perfect one time that lasts forever. Bone is a dynamic, living organism, and keeping it in good shape requires a lifetime plan. You’ve got all the pieces in place now, but you have to keep using what you’ve learned if you want your bones to stay strong for as long as you’re using them. The good news is, this program works. With these basic steps, you’ll keep your bones at maximum density. Anyone can do it.

The same areas you’ve been focusing on still apply as you move forward: diet, exercise, supplements, hormones, and, if necessary, medication. To help you stay on top of all the progress you’ve made these six weeks, here’s one last Action Plan to help you organize your strategy for the rest of your life:

Continue on the Bone Density Diet, either going through the cycle of menus provided or picking and choosing from the menus the meals you like and want to use and filling in with your own creations and combinations beyond that.

Continue with the exercise plan you’ve made for yourself, increasing duration, frequency, variety, and/or difficulty as you get more and more fit. Keep scheduling exercise specifically into your calendar at least a month in advance.

Keep up with your supplements, making any necessary adjustments if your circumstances change (e.g., you develop lactose intolerance and stop drinking milk, or you discover calcium carbonate upsets your stomach).

Continue taking whichever hormones, if any, you decided upon, and reevaluate your choice as your situation changes (e.g., you enter menopause, or you develop a health problem affected by hormones, or new research gives you a different perspective). Reevaluating after five years on menopausal HRT is a must.

Keep taking any drug therapies you decided on, and consider adjusting them according to the results of later bone scans. Whether or not you choose a prescription to start with, and no matter which one or ones you use now, reevaluate your plan if your circumstances change (e.g., you go into menopause or start taking a medication that can change bone density).

Check back with your regular doctor about any and all changes you are making to keep him or her up-to-date, and coordinate between the doctor and any other health care professionals you may be working with (nutritionist, physical therapist or personal trainer, endocrinologist, herbalist, etc.). Get follow-up bone scans and NTX measurements as necessary to track your progress.

Keep a diary of all that you are doing—food, exercises, supplements—and review it at the end of two weeks to see if you are meeting your goals. Make any necessary adjustments.

Stay strong and live long!

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Many studies have shown that a lack of some vitamins and or minerals in the diet could be associated with certain types of birth defects, congenital malformations and/or spontaneous abortions.

One trial found that women who were in a high risk group of specific birth defects had a decreased incidence of birth defects including spina bifida and harelip when a multi-vitamin mineral formula was taken.

Research has also shown that the diets of pregnant women in Australia and the USA (as in many other parts of the world) are low in blood zinc levels. A report in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women who had low plasma zinc levels had more complications of pregnancy, including maternal infections and fetal distress. Other reports stated that the recommended dietary intake could not easily be obtained through diet alone. Brewer’s yeast, eggs, and wheat germ are all good sources of zinc. There are many parts of the world, in particular Australia, New Zealand and the USA, where the zinc levels in the soil are poor.

Folic acid

During pregnancy the requirements for folic acid double. Good food sources are egg yolks, pumpkins, deep green vegetables and brewer’s yeast.

Calcium

The need for calcium by the mother and developing baby also doubles during pregnancy. Good food sources are dairy products, blackstrap molasses and sesame seeds.

Recommended supplementation

Naturetime Multi-vitamin

mineral formula

(sustained release)         1 tablet morning with food

calcium                       l,000mg to l,500mg daily

folic acid                       0.8mg daily during pregnancy

red raspberry leaf tea     drink 3 cups daily during the third trimester

evening primrose oil 500 IU 3 times daily

iron phosphate           15mg 3 times daily

magnesium phosphate   500mg daily

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EVERYONE KNOWS that heart disease and cancer are devastating. A diagnosis of diabetes is taken more lightly — but diabetes can be just as devastating. The long-term complications of diabetes are disheartening: blindness, heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, nerve degeneration. Being diabetic puts you at higher risk for:

Heart Attacks And Strokes. The process of atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries due to deposits of cholesterol along their walls) occurs earlier and may be more severe in patients of diabetes. People with insulin resistance also tend to have high levels of triglycerides and low levels of HDL (the high-density lipoprotein or good cholesterol that helps to remove fat from the walls of blood vessels.) Diabetes raises the risk of heart disease and heart attack as much as 400 per cent; of stroke, as much as 600 per cent.

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure). Poor control of diabetes also puts you at higher risk of hypertension because insulin, besides affecting sugar, also has other effects in the body. It stimulates the nervous system to release adrenalin into the bloodstream, which raises blood pressure and heart rate. Insulin also causes the kidneys to retain salt, which again contributes to high blood pressure.

Arteriole Damage. Even more insidiously, prolonged high blood sugar levels can damage the tiny arteries called ‘arterioles’ throughout the body. Scarring of these blood vessels can cause plaque deposits to accumulate, blocking the flow of blood through these tiny but important channels that supply oxygen to the heart muscle cells. As this silent process of damage continues, the heart muscle gets stressed and gives out.

Poor Healing, Recurrent Infections. Long-term, the compromised circulation resulting from diabetes can lead to poor healing of wounds and recurring skin and gum infections.

In advanced stages, diabetes may cause the circulatory blockage of blood in the lower extremities (the legs), with the possible complication of gangrene. An amputation above the  dead tissue may be required as a life-saving measure. The circulatory problems arising from diabetes make it the second leading cause of amputations, after Injuries and trauma.

Impaired Vision. Over a period of time, especially if diabetes

is poorly controlled, there is often a gradual proliferation of new

fragile blood vessels (“neovascularization”). If this occurs on the head of the optic nerve and on the retina, it carries the risk of the new vessels rupturing, causing potentially sight-threatening hemorrhages. About 8 in 10 diabetics have at least some vision loss.

Kidney Disease and Nerve Disease. Besides this, the damage caused by diabetes to the small blood vessels can also bring about kidney disease or diseases of the nerves. About 30 per cent of diabetics develop kidney disease. And diabetes is a leading cause of kidney failure.

The majority of diabetics have some nerve damage. If it is

severe, it can lead to total disability.

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