Focus on Healthy Bones

With all the questions about the efficacy of osteoporosis preventing drugs that we’re hearing about now, we begin to wonder if the density of the bone as seen on an x-ray or bone density test really tells us whether that bone is more prone to break easily. And the bigger question – does an x-ray or bone density test tell you if that bone is really healthy.

Perhaps we need to focus more on keeping bones optimally healthy than focusing on preventing osteoporosis. Funny thing about that, if you keep your bones healthy, then the rest of your tissues will most likely be healthy too. It’s called – feeding your body what it really needs to repair and build your tissues.

Ask yourself this question: Are my bones flexible or stiff?

Stiff bones may look dense on a medical test because the calcium has gone into the bones. But that test won’t tell you a thing about whether your bones have that necessary bit of flexibility needed to prevent fractures from low impact stresses like a fall.

Think about chalk made from calcium carbonate. It’s calcium dense, but how easily does it crumble with slight pressure? Now you’re getting the idea about calcium dense but inflexible bones.

So what else do bones require to build an optimally healthy skeletal system that can take some stress?

Calcium is latticed into a network of protein in the bone. So to help build flexibility into your bones eat from good protein sources like animal meat, beans, grains, and vegetables and dairy products if you can tolerate dairy. Don’t worry about protein depleting your calcium stores. Yes calcium is needed to digest protein, but the balance of protein, calcium and other nutrients in your diet determines the health of you and your bones.

Next be sure to eat excellent quality fat which is so necessary for production of hormones and vitamin D needed to assimilate calcium. Nuts, seeds, fish and even the saturated fats in meats in moderation build healthy cells. Be sure to include sources of omega-3 fat in your diet from fish, walnuts, flaxseeds, and pumpkin seeds.

Your bones need a whole myriad of other minerals in addition to the calcium because they all work together to construct healthy bones.

Now you’re thinking what’s the best calcium and mineral supplement to take. And that may be an option that helps, certainly one that I’ve pursued for many years.

However, there may be a better way to ingest your minerals by releasing them from food sources before you eat or drink them. Natural sources of any nutrient performs better in our bodies because they are better assimilated and utilized by our cells.

So here’s my latest adventure into maintaining my bone health. Something our great grandmothers new but most of us have never heard of.

Brew and drink herbal infusions that extract the minerals from the herbs. If you swallow the herbs in a pill your body will not have the same access to the minerals as it does when they’ve been released into the water of an infusion.

Herbalists favor these herbs for making mineral rich infusions:

• oatstraw (Avena sativa)
• nettle (Urtica dioica)
• red clover (Trifolium pratense)
• comfrey leaves (Symphytum uplandica)
• raspberry leaf

How to make an herbal infusion:

Place 1 ounce (30 grams) of the dried herb into a quart glass jar.

Pour 1 quart of boiling water into the jar.

Cover tightly with a lid.

Steep 8 hours for roots and bark, at least 4 hours for leaves, but only 2 hours for flowers.

Strain out the herbs, reserving the liquid.

Drink 2-4 cups per day, but do not keep the infusion longer than 2 days.

Do not mix herbs in the infusion, but you may want to rotate the ones you use from one day to the next. However, you can add flavor by mixing in an aromatic herb like peppermint or another herb of your choice. Vary how you drink it, hot, cold, on ice.

We’ll cover other fun and diverse ways to extract minerals from herbs and vegetables in the next few weeks. In the meantime, have fun making herbal infusions – a lot better for you than making coffee in the morning and takes about the same amount of time.

Of course, bones need exercise to stay nutrient dense and flexible. So have a great walk and before long we’ll also discuss some new information about exercise that goes counter to the conventional wisdom!

Blessings,

Dr. Jo