Best calcium for osteoporosis

The best calcium for osteoporosis comes from your choice foods, rather than out of a bottle. There remains considerable debate about the value of dairy-products, with scientists on both side of the fence quite vehement about it.

So we assume that it remains undecided, even amongst the best minds. My take on the subject is that it is totally dependent on what else you are eating; if you are enjoying plenty of alkalising foods it's probably okay.

Written by Dr. Barrie Lewis, DC

Personally, I'm neither for nor against in the debate. We enjoy dairy products, though personally I find yoghurt gives me a frog in the throat. We have not gone back to making our own, but it is dependent on an easy supply of safe, raw milk from a TB tested herd; something for the future.

On that subject, you just cannot do everything; you will only wear yourself out. When it comes to our sustainable living tips, we advocate the simple things. Make sure you are getting plenty of greens and at least a rainbow of coloured foods in your diet.

In an astonishing new development, dated July, 2018, the US Preventive Services Task Force recommends that healthy non-institutionalised elderly folk do not take vitamin D and calcium supplements; further they "discourage the use of this service." The exact statement reads:

The USPSTF recommends against daily supplementation with 400 IU or less of vitamin D and 1000 mg or less of calcium for the primary prevention of fractures in community-dwelling, postmenopausal women.

These findings came after a review of 11 randomised control trials.¹

For now I am in total agreement with the Tufts recommendations in the face of this new conclusion by scientists: "For now, eating healthy foods rich in calcium and vitamin D remains a sensible recommendation for better bone health."

Keeping your omega 3 up and the 6 down is important to prevent inflammation in the body, and lastly I would stress plenty of legumes, gradually replacing red meat, and cutting out all the processed polonies, and so on. The World Health Organisation is adamant that they cause tumours; bacon is for high and holy days only, alas. 

It should come as no surprise that this is where much of the best calcium for osteoporosis is to be found, as we shall see. Remember that the more processed foods have had nearly all the micro-nutrients removed. Fortifying them again with these vitamins and minerals is the same as taking supplements; there's increased risk from kidney stones and cardiovascular disease in this instance. 

For example, your own freshly-squeezed orange juice has twenty times the calcium compared to OJ from a carton. The latter is highly glycemic, read fattening too, but with all the pulp, has little effect on my blood glucose, despite being on the verge of being pre-diabetic.

The readings follow this course: 85, 125, 95, 98 in the two hours after breakfast which includes a full glass of freshly-squeezed citrus.

So freshly-squeezed citrus with the pulp remains an excellent source of the best calcium for osteoporosis. If you are frankly diabetic, then you too should test the effect of the fruit on the blood glucose; it could be different. Always then take a short walk after any starchy meal. 

OJ from a carton remains a junk-food, to be avoided by all who value their health.

Best calcium for osteoporosis

Best calcium for osteoporosis is achieved by eating from a wide range of healthy, unprocessed foods. Make sure you include legumes, seeds and nuts and not surprisingly spinach; so is citrus an excellent source, especially if you include the pulp.

I'm very much against weighing and measuring; it utterly spoils the delight of a healthy attitude to food. Nevertheless for completion, let's have some rough values of your daily need for calcium.

Small child: 500mg

Teenager: 1000mg

Adults: 700mg

Osteoporotic adult: 1200mg.

Don't fuss about these figures. Just make sure that you are eating legumes, whole grains, seeds, nuts, citrus, your organic greens and as many as possible from the entire host of coloured foods. They all have some calcium in them.

And, for best calcium for osteoporosis it would be good to include some dairy products. Feta cheese sprinkled on a spinach salad with a few walnuts, dribbled with olive oil and lemon juice, enjoyed daily would go a long way in preventing this nasty disease.

Ignore all this and you'll be feverishly looking up Fosamax reviews in the years to come; the side effects of the standard treatment for osteoporosis aren't pretty.

Tofu nutrition

Tofu nutrition enjoyed on a regular basis is one of the very best calcium for osteoporosis sources.

Tofu is an extract made from soya milk and rates highest, and astonishingly contains more than four times the calcium in yoghurt or cottage cheese, or a glass of milk.

Best calcium for osteoporosis should certainly include legumes and in particularly tofu nutrition.

The beauty of tofu is how easy it is to prepare; a stir fry, for example, might take five minutes to wash and chop the salads, and another five minutes to cook.

Make sure your dish has some broccoli and spinach, and a generous helping of tofu.

There are some concerns in the minds of some because of the phytic acid in legumes, whole wheat, seeds and nuts; it binds minerals such as calcium reducing their absorption by forming a mineral salt called a phytate. They call it an anti-nutrient.

However, it's misinformed in my humble opinion; chemically added phytic acid does indeed reduce absorption up to 50%, but in natural foods like legumes, soaking and rinsing, cooking and even fermenting greatly reduces the negative influence of this compound. You can read more about this discussion at are phytates bad?

Soya beans for tofu are mostly genetically-modified today; the jury is still out on whether that's bad for us not. You make your decision based on gut feel; we are trying to avoid GM foods. Perhaps it is fake news.

Quick hummus

Quick hummus, shown on your left below, is definitely on the cards for best calcium for osteoporosis; again, do soak and rinse the chickpeas several times to remove the phytic acid. Sprouting them first would further add to their benefits and a reduce the action of so-called antinutrients that inhibit the absorption of minerals.

When you purchase it in the supermarket, or used canned chickpeas, you have no idea whether these best practices have been followed. Make your own hummus; it takes only five minutes once you are in the routine.

A cup of chickpeas contains 80mg of calcium, and the sesame paste another 220 per tablespoon.

Repeated studies have shown that olive oil improves the level of circulating calcium in the blood, and two of the phenols have been shown to increase the bone density in rats. The parsley added to hummus also has small amounts.

It takes me only five minutes to make our quick hummus recipe. Two tablespoons every day with your salad would make a very significant contribution to the health of your bones.

So a spinach salad sprinkled with olive oil and fresh lemon juice, a good dollop of hummus, and sprinkled with freshly cracked nuts would make a very important contribution to the best calcium for osteoporosis; and to prevent it for that matter. 

There is no place for margarine in my diet, not because it has got zero calcium, but due to the trans fatty acids.

Butter is back, and has small amounts of calcium; about 3mg on that slice of low GI bread above.

Flax seeds I believe should be daily in our diet, not so much for the calcium as the lignans and omega-3.

But having said that, they are also rich in calcium, 1 tablespoon containing 18mg. Freshly-ground and sprinkled on your cereal, where it has no taste but adds huge nutritional value, flax seed makes an excellent contribution to your overall wellness.

Refining of flour removes most of the calcium, so manufacturers fortify if with extra, to the extent that it has more than in wholewheat bread.

Just how good the bio-availability in naturally rich 100 percent whole wheat as compared to the synthetically enriched flour, I am unsure. But certainly all unrefined bread makes a significant contribution to the calcium in your diet.

I'm unable to recommend white flour for its higher calcium because of the high glycemic index, and lack of natural fibre, lignans and vitamins. Rather we choose to make our own low GI bread which is fortified with hummus and freshly-ground sesame and flax seeds.

Citrus for calcium

Citrus in its whole state, or freshly squeezed to include the pulp and some pith is rich in calcium. One whole orange for example contains 7% of your needs as an adult, but only 4 percent if you are osteoporotic. For a pre-teenage child, a half would do; citrus for the mineral should certainly be part of the package.

Processing of oranges into OJ unfortunately removes virtually all the available calcium and because its high glycemic index turns it into a junk food, I cannot recommend it.

Avoid OJ but eat oranges, squeeze your own fruit, and use lemon juice freely in your cooking for best calcium for osteoporosis.

The old adage suggests planting a lemon tree first up when moving into a new home; it is good advice with a wonderful scent and beautiful decorative fruit.

Spinach for calcium

Spinach for calcium is definitely should be part of your best minerals for osteoporosis program; broccoli too for that matter. What is fantastic is that they are also rich in magnesium a vital part of the anti arthritis diet.

Osteoporosis and arthritis should not be confused, but they both can cause severe pain when the fractures begin. Spinach for calcium and magnesium addresses both.

80g of spinach contains a massive 130mg of calcium, but remember some will be leached out in the water used for cooking; steam it rather or enjoy the tender young leaves raw. Not all of course will be absorbed in the gut, phytic acid binding with minerals and reducing their absorption by perhaps 15%.

Providing we are enjoying many of these best calcium for osteoporosis foods we need have no concerns from phytates.

Spinach prepared any way remains high on the best calcium for osteoporosis menus.

It's the easiest vegetable to rear in your garden; with added fried onions and garlic the flavour is terrific and the fat increases the absorption of the many hugely beneficial bioflavonoids.

Pilchard fish cakes

Oily fish is not everybody's favourite, but there are a heap of benefits, from the very best calcium for osteoporosis, but also including the omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin D and high quality protein.

If you cannot face it, then make them, bones and all, into pilchard fish cakes, for example.

Omega 3 fatty acids are strong anti inflammatory, with less joint and muscle pain and make up a large part of the brain too.

100g of pilchards, bones and all contains a massive 250mg of calcium.

Tonight, whilst doing a locum in the Netherlands, I'm going to be enjoying half a mackerel; it too is loaded with calcium and omega-3; we cannot get them easily in sunny South Africa.

Sesame tahini for calcium

Sesame seeds are a rich source of calcium, as well as vitamin B and iron; this makes them the perfect spread for women if you grind them. We prefer the nutty flavour of sesame tahini for calcium to peanut butter.

Tahini is normally to be found in Lebanese and Greek shops. You can make it yourself but it's not as tasty for some reason as the roasted paste that the Mediterranean people have perfected in making. Much of it goes into making hummus.

You simply use a blender to crush roasted sesame seeds with a little olive oil. How to make tahini is not difficult but as I say I have decided that from the Greeks is better. It's definitely on the cards for best calcium for osteoporosis. It's also particularly rich in lignans and phytosterols; that is an important part of the cholesterol story. 

• What are phytosterols?

Sesame tahini is certainly a brilliant source of the best calcium for osteoporosis.

Chicken bones bouillon

Chicken bones bouillon is not incidentally particular high in calcium, but does contain large amounts of the collagen supporting structure of bone where the calcium is deposited.

Simply freeze all your chicken bones and then pressure cook them with plenty of water for about half an hour. It produces a delicious gelatinous bouillon for use in all your soups.

Kefir benefits

One of the great kefir benefits is that, because it is a fermented dairy product like yoghurt, just far richer in probiotics, it is a rich source of calcium.

It really has many benefits, providing the colon with a steady source of healthy bacteria and yeast to crowd out the pathogens, and provide you simultaneously with yet another source of best calcium for osteoporosis.

There is much interest, and controversy, amongst researchers currently about starches. It's coming out that Ancel Keys, who promoted carbohydrate in the diet and caused the Western World to move away from saturated fat to polyunsaturates like sunflower oil and refined corn and wheat based products; he actually suppressed certain evidence that was in conflict with his belief that it was butter and red meat that caused heart disease.

This fake news totally altered the American way of life for the worse; obesity and insulin resistance is the result.

Yet, whole grains are a rich source of calcium but, because they form what is known as resistant starch, very often that is not digested in the small intestine forming glucose, but fermented in the large intestine. Kefir benefits will provide the bugs that provide this service in a healthy colon. I personally have a small glass every morning with breakfast; it's so simple to make.

I also add a tablespoon of the curds to our low GI bread that we bake daily; that also takes only five minutes once you are in the groove. Adding yet more protein to the dough further lowers the spike in blood glucose that supermarket bread causes.

Exercise

All the best calcium for osteoporosis without exercise is just blowing in the wind; and plain old fashioned walking is as good as any. Stressing the bones and joints is what causes them to demand nutrients from the blood.

Walking benefits abound.

The lean muscle mass from exercise also gives a "modest but statistically robust" reduction in the risk of Alzheimer's Disease and superior performance on cognitive tasks^[3].

Children and calcium

Unless children build up an adequate baseline of nutrients in their bones, it's already predetermined that they will be needing best calcium for osteoporosis long before they are elderly; our kids and calcium is a hugely under-resourced topic.

If your children don't exercise and eat these foods rich in calcium, then it's already game over. Hip fractures before fifty are now becoming more common since shortsighted governments stopped funding sport in schools.

Make sure your children are exercising and enjoying those foods rich in calcium; prevention is better than a cure.

Chiropractic

Best calcium for osteoporosis and chiropractic obviously go hand in glove. On a daily basis we are urging patients to exercise more, not just for stronger muscles and healthier joints but also for stronger bones.

But one cannot rely on exercise alone; foods rich in calcium like our pilchard fish cakes and tofu nutrition; and 100% wholemeal bread are vital too.

Calcium supplements

Fascinating research, entitled "Calcium Intake From Diet and Supplements and the Risk of Coronary Artery Calcification and its Progression Among Older Adults" reported in the Journal of the American Heart Association⁽¹⁾ has found that supplements of the mineral actually increase the rate of myocardial disease.

But, and this is the important part, high intake of best calcium for osteoporosis from your food actually reduces the risk of heart disease.

“Ingested calcium supplements in the elderly do not make it to the skeleton or get completely excreted in the urine, so they must be accumulating in the body’s soft tissues, (including the blood vessels*),” says Dr John Anderson, professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of North Carolina.

* My addition.

With over half of women over sixty taking calcium supplements for osteoporosis, this is positively dangerous. In short, let your food be your medicine.

There are no safe shortcuts; get your calcium from foods such as those listed above, and take regular exercise. A Task Force review of 20 studies recommends 150 minutes per week of individual routines which could include gardening and a walk, for example; gym classes or physical therapy all have the same benefit.

Real bread

What is today being called 'real bread' made with healthy flour, in contrast to the counterfeit loaf sold in most of our supermarkets, contains all the original parts of the grain in the same proportions; it's rich in the best calcium for osteoporosis, but that pale shadow that you are probably eating has to be fortified and then the mineral ends up not only in your bones but also the coronary vessels.

HRT

There is yet more evidence of the downside to HRT; strong research over twenty years shows there is 24% increased risk of dementia and Alzheimer's Disease^[2]. That is huge. Look rather to the best calcium for osteoporosis and more exercise for strong bones.

Useful links

• Quick hummus
• Flax seed nutrition information