Osteoporosis is a disease that weakens bones and m
akes them susceptible to fracture. Literally translated, osteoporosis means “bone that is porous” (osteo= bone and porosis= porous). This disease affects both men and women; however, 80% of those affected are women. This may be because women generally have smaller bones than men, and because at menopause women lose their estrogen protection, which is a major contributor to bone strength.
Osteoporosis is a serious health problem. About 28 million people in the United States have the condition. It is responsible for about 1.5 million fractures (broken bones) each year. The most common locations where breaks occur are the hip, spine, and wrist. Fractures due to osteoporosis of the spine usually affect women after the age of 50, while fractures of the hip start later, usually in the 70′s.
Osteoporosis itself is painless. However, the resulting fractures of osteoporosis are painful. Not only can these fractures be associated with pain, but also with limitation in movement. The decrease in mobility that can occur leads to further deconditioning, which in turn further weakens muscles and bones. In addition, the constant pain and reduced mobility caused by these fractures can lead to clinical depression.
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Natural Osteoporosis Plan
When you hear “osteoprosis” the first thing you may think of to combat this disease is calcium. However, on the contrary one of the essential nutrients to reverse or prevent this disease is protein.
Healthy bone tissue is composed primarily of protein, not calcium. Without the protein, all the calcium in the world will not build healthy bones. Therefore, we all need to intake a complete protein (containing all 23 amino acids) each day.
Bone density has more to do with hormone balance than calcium intake.
Bones are living organs, just like your liver or brain, made up of living, breathing, eating, eliminating, bone cells. They are not just sticks of calcium that hold your body together. These living cells simply build an encrustation of calcium around themselves which give the bone its solid-like structure.
But these cells live only for a while and die. The body normally carries the dead bone cell away and eliminates it. In the mean time, new bone cells have been produced — mainly at night while you sleep — to take the place of the dead, dying, or damaged ones that have been removed.
Human growth hormone stimulates this process of generating new bone cells. But in women especially, the steroidal hormones estrogen and progesterone play a vital role in generating the human growth hormone and the new bone cell tissue.
The intake of an adequate amount of good bioavailable calcium — as in the Shaklee OsteoMatrix – is essential to the development of healthy bone tissue, but just taking calcium won’t do it if the hormones are not at sufficient levels or out of balance. And megadosing calcium won’t help.
First, you need adequate complete protein – which is what healthy bone cells are primarily made of. Also, the hormones necessary to make the process happen are made of protein. So drinking your protein DAILY is vitally important.
But then, bringing your hormones into balance is absolutely vital. You can help this by following my hormone balancing program — described below.
NOTE: If you are taking Cummadin or similar blood-thinning drugs, these drugs block the action of vitamin K and thus will CAUSE dramatic bone density loss. You can and should wean yourself off of these kinds of drugs. You don’t need them if you are taking adequate amounts of vitamin E and vitamin C. And they are far more deadly than they are beneficial. I have had people tell me that their “doctor” told them Cummadin didn’t promote bone density loss — which just shows you how little some doctors know about the drugs that they are prescribing.
So this is what I would suggest you take daily:
1. Shaklee protein — either Energizing Soy Protein or Cinch Shake
3. OsteoMatrix – 4 daily
by Stan Pulliam, nutritionist and Shaklee consultant for 32 years
