Help for Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a major problem facing both men and women. The way you can tell it is a big problem is to watch television and see how many commercials you see for a specific ailment and drug to go with it? How many commercials do you see for people to drink more milk? And how they want you to think that milk and calcium is the ultimate cure along with some medication.

The simple facts are this. The United States is one of the leading consumers of dairy products in the world...but we are also the leading consumers, if that is the right way of saying it, of osteoporotic fractures. There are other countries who consume half the amount of dairy and calcium and don't have near the same number of people complaining of osteoporosis.

I'm not the smartest, but I do know when two and two don't add up to four. The prevailing thought that more milk and more calcium will fix the problem is incorrect. It's a great marketing strategy, but it is not the root of the problem.

A major factor that contributes to osteoporosis is the simple fact that we eat too many of the foods that makes our body very acidic. What I mean by that, is at the cellular level, the environment our cells live in should be more alkaline. The more acidic it is the harder or tougher the environment for the cells to thrive in.

I like to equate it to living up in the snowy part of Montana in the winter with only a small jacket versus living in sunny Texas, you can tell I'm a Texan. But the cold temperatures make it harder on us. The same way an acidic environment makes it harder on the cells to thrive and survive.

The way the good Lord designed the body is that when your body becomes very acidic...it will begin to steal calcium and other minerals, from wherever it can, to neutralize the acidity. The body has to take the minerals from somewhere...they just don't magically appear. What happens is that the body will begin to pull or leach calcium from your teeth and bones. The longer and more acidic you stay the more calcium will be leached from your bones and teeth.

What's the biggest contributor to acidity? Diet!  Look at what foods make you acidic and what foods make you alkaline. Most of your fruits and veggies make you alkaline. While grains, meats, processed, refined foods, proteins, coffee and soft drinks make you more acidic. The question I always ask my patients is which one of those two food groups do you eat more of?

To make your body more alkaline and slow down the leaching of your calcium from your bones, you need to eat more fruits and veggies. Not only will it help with osteoporosis, but it will help in so many other ways. I'm a big fan of the various Green drinks that are on the market, because they have lots of fruits, veggies, and grasses (alfalfa, spirulana, chlorela, etc), which means they have a lot of minerals to neutralize the acidity in your body. I like the drinks also because you have to taste it, which activates your body's ability to recognize what is coming down the pipes. A good green drink will not only help you with osteoporosis, but they are great for supporting your body's ability to detoxify and cleanse many of the toxins out of your body.  I use them instead of a multivitamin simply because it can pack so much more than a multi can.

FYI...If you are taking any type of antacid or acid blocker be aware that it reduces your ability to utilize many of the vitamins and minerals in your diet. The good Lord designed the stomach to produce acid and it has a very important role, one of them is that it activates the vitamins and minerals in your diet so that they become absorbable. If you don't have any or enough acid in your stomach due to the pills you are taking you are reducing the utilization of not only your minerals, but also your B-vitamins as well.  Most heartburn and indigestion problems are not too much acid, but rather not enough...will dive into that story another time.

Weight bearing exercise is great for making your bones stronger, but don't forget that the more intense your workout the more ‘lactic' acid you produce which makes you more acidic. Again, if you consume an adequate supply of fruits and veggies you will be fine...the simple fact that most people don't is another reason why supplementing is helpful.

The big rock or the take away to help you overcome this or any problem is that you will probably have to change your diet. How much you change it will determine how much of a change you can expect back. It's not hard, start simple and small. Cut out some of the coffee, soft drinks and refined foods....you don't have to go 100 percent or nothing. Whether you take 3 steps or 33 steps towards your goal...at least you are heading in the right direction. It's your choice to decide how fast you want to get there.  Regualar exercise is important is as vitamin D and the best source of that comes from the sun.

Dr. Len Lopez is a nutrition and fitness expert and author of "To Burn or Not to Burn - Fat is the Question" and "Five STEPS Closer..." as well as the creator of  the new fitness product the Work Horse Trainer. His goal is to help people who are looking for answers on how to stay healthy and fit. To learn more or join his bi-weekly teleseminars visit www.DrLenLopez.com and follow his daily Blog or simply use the online health quizzes.