Joint / Bone & Muscle

Are healthy bones all about calcium?

This weeks blog comes after a conversation with one of my colleagues who just broke her wrist after a fall playing badminton. She has just turned 50 and when I popped into her office she was being harangued to take calcium due to the possibility of developing osteoperosis due to menopause. Everyone can break things if you fall hard or in the wrong way and I think in this case she did both. However, her colleagues were not entirely wrong to suggest checks for osteoporosis or poor bone density.

Known as the silent epidemic many people don’t know they have osteoporosis until they have a fall and bones are broken. Our bones are at maximum density during our 20 – 30’s and then after this they start to decline about 1% per year. The link with menopause is that when the hormone estrogen starts to decline we lose its protective actions against bone degeneration. This means that degeneration after menopause increases to 2 – 7% and can make us more venerable to breaks from brittle bones.

50% of women and around a third of men over the age of 60 are affected by osteoporosis in NZ

The advice “you should take calcium to prevent osteoporosis” seems to be commonly known. However from a vitamins and mineral point of view calcium is important, but it is not the only requirement. Magnesium also supports the facilitatation of calcium into the bones. Then there are other minerals which support bone formation such as vitamin D, boron, manganese, zinc and vitamin K. The mineral silica also helps to strengthen bones and is great for strong teeth, nails and hair too. Looking at bone repair for my colleague I also suggested the homeopathic remedy Symphytum. This comes from the plant comfrey, traditionally known as “knitbone”; need I say more. It helps heal bones fast and can help reduce pain.

Looking at dietary factors for bone health my number 1 would not be dairy as everyone expects, but “greens”. Green leafy vegetables, seaweeds, herbs. Firstly they are rich in minerals such as calcium and magnesium and other trace minerals, so eat plenty of greens (rocket, lettuce, spinach, water cress), brassica family (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, bok choy). Also vitamin K is found in dark green leafy vegetables, such as the ones I mentioned and others like asparagus and stops bone loss. Alfalfa is great as it is rich in calcium, silica and is a plant estrogen, so helps to protect menopausal women with estrogen loss.

The other reason that greens come out on top is that they are alkaline, which helps reduce acidity in the blood. If our blood is too acidic calcium is used to buffer the blood and make is less acidic. This uses up valuable calcium that is needed for the bones, therefore alkaline foods that help to counteract this is very positive. Conversely we should also look to moderate highly acidic foods such as sugar, alcohol, coffee, refined grains (white bread, pasta) and meat.

The other important factor is exercise. Weight bearing exercise causes the body to deposit minerals into the bones especially in the legs, hips and spine. Also lack of exercise accelerates bone density loss. Examples of weight bearing exercise include walking, weights at the gym, running, aerobics and racket sports. So apart from falling over the badminton would have been great.

- Jane Cronin, Naturopath

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