Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis is a disease of low bone mass.

Osteoporosis has no symptoms. Steady bone loss occurs silently over many years until bone fractures.

Deterioration of bone tissue leads to increased bone fragility and fractures. The areas most affected by osteoporosis are the hip, wrist, and spine. 

There are many risk factors associated with osteoporosis, including a family history of the disease, being 65 years of age or older, a tendency to fall, low calcium intake, excessive caffeine or alcohol intake, smoking, early menopause, other medical conditions such as Crohn's disease or celiac disease, to name a few.

If osteoporosis runs in your family, your healthcare provider may recommend a DEXA scan to test for osteoporosis or thinning area of your bones. Screening for osteoporosis is recommended for women who are 65 years old or older and for women who are 50 to 64 and have certain risk factors, such as having a parent who has broken a hip. A DEXA scan is painless and takes just a few minutes. It's a good test to see if you are at risk of a bone fracture in the future.

Prevention and treatment of Osteoporosis require a lifestyle change. This includes quitting smoking, limiting alcohol, exercising daily, and nutrition. 

Consult a doctor if you have any concerns or questions regarding osteoporosis and the use of home remedies.

Home Remedies and Natural Cures for Osteoporosis

  • Increase calcium intake to 1500mg/day. An 8 oz. glass of milk contains 300mg of calcium. Fortified almond milk is rich in calcium and contains 600mg.
  • Increase phosphorous intake.
  • Eat manganese-rich foods- pineapple, nuts, spinach.
  • Eat boron rich foods-apples, pears, grapes.
  • Vitamin K not only prevents cancer, congenital disabilities, and heart trouble, but it also protects against osteoporosis. Vitamin K is found in Brussels sprouts, liver, kale, cereals, milk, cheese, yogurt, and grains.
  • Vitamin D-3 can increase calcium absorption by 30-80%; adults aged 19-50 require 400 IU daily, and adults over 50 need 800 IU daily.
  • Exercise. A minimum of 30 minutes of exercise 3 times a week increases bone density. This includes walking or jogging or water-walking in chest-deep water.
  • Sunlight- Exposure to natural sunlight daily increases vitamin D production and is an effective natural cure for osteoporosis.
  • Dandelion tea helps build bone density.
  • Increase intake of soy products: soy helps balance estrogen levels. The recommended intake is 40 mg of soy isoflavones a day.
  • Black cohosh- studies have shown that this herb may prevent Osteoporosis. It is recommended that 20-40 mg of black cohosh extract be taken twice a day.

Exercise

Whether walking, doing squats or pushups, or working out with weights, weight-bearing exercise will help increase the bones' density. And gives you lots of other health benefits too. The long-term results make exercise well worth doing. Studies even show it increases mental ability and function.

Diet

A healthy diet with limited junk foods is best for your body. A diet that is high in meat and refined carbohydrates, with few greens or fruits, is highly acidic and causes the body to utilize calcium to neutralize the acids produced by digestion.

Stop drinking carbonated soft drinks. Soft drinks are high in phosphoric acid and sugar, making these drinks highly acidic. Calcium is the main mineral utilized by the body to neutralize that acid. Phosphoric acid depletes calcium levels, causing calcium to be pulled from the bones. Calcium is pulled out of the body when this happens, lowering blood calcium levels. To remedy this, the parathyroid gland restores calcium balance in the blood by pulling calcium from your bones. Consequently, anything highly acidic, like soft drinks, can lead to osteoporosis.

A healthy diet and adequate calcium intake are required to fully benefit strong bones. It's not just as simple to take a couple of calcium pills. Add Milk, tofu, fortified soy, almond, or oak milk to your diet to increase calcium. Almonds, cheese, and canned whole fish with bones are other good examples.  

Supplements

Add magnesium to your diet. Take a magnesium product for at least a month before adding calcium to your supplements, so the magnesium will have built up enough for your bones to absorb the calcium. Two parts calcium to three parts magnesium is the normal ratio for optimum bone calcium replenishment.

Additional minerals help to enhance calcium absorption. Much research shows that strontium improves bone density. Vitamin D and Vitamin K are essential to rebuilding bone density and mass.

  • Potassium 50 mg
  • Zinc 5 mg
  • Manganese 1.5 mg
  • Boron .375 mcg
  • Copper 500 mcg
  • Chromium 40 mcg
  • Selenium 38 mcg
  • Iodine 28 mcg
  • Vanadium 30 mcg
  • Lithium 7 mcg
  • Rubidium 30 mcg
  • Silica 8 mg
  • Fulvic acid

DHEA is the master hormone in your body. When your supplies are plentiful, your body can use them to make other hormones. When stress (or a high carbohydrate diet) raises cortisol levels, DHEA levels fall. DHEA has anti-aging properties because it counteracts Cortisol, which cannibalizes our body and causes the destruction of tissues, causing rapid aging and contributing to osteoporosis.