OSTEOPOROSIS

Conventional wisdom says: Our bones are made of calcium, and adding calcium to our diet through supplements, plenty of milk, and foods to which calcium has been added is the best way to prevent osteoporosis.

Now The Calcium Lie 2 reveals:

Bones are made of at least 12 different minerals, not just calcium – and excess calcium and a lack of other essential minerals can actually lead to an increased risk of fractures. Calcium hardens concrete, not bones. Excess calcium in our bodies has huge metabolic effects leading to a whole host of medical problems.

Here’s some additional information you’ll learn about Osteoporosis by reading The Calcium Lie by Dr. Robert Thompson and Kathleen Barnes.

– Although our grocery store shelves are packed with a seemingly endless variety of items (from orange juice to breakfast cereal) to which calcium has been added, and we’ve been told that consuming additional calcium will help us prevent osteoporosis, consuming these foods and taking calcium supplements won’t help. Instead, all this excess calcium puts us at greater risk of fracturing our bones. This is because our bones are made of at least 12 minerals – not just calcium – and we need these minerals in proper balance.

– By encouraging our children to drink lots of calcium-rich milk, we are actually putting them on a path leading to hardening of their arteries later in life, increased risk of heart disease, hypothyroidism, and obesity.

– In January 2008, the Reuters news service reported on a study published in the British Medical Journal which found that calcium supplements may boost the risk of heart attacks in older women.

– In a study of 122,000 women called The Nurses’ Health Study, which analyzed the risk factors for major chronic diseases, one of the most surprising conclusions related to osteoporosis. The study found that women with the highest calcium consumption from dairy products actually had substantially more fractures than women who drank less milk.

– Our bones are the storehouses of minerals for our bodies, so when any of our trillions of bodily processes is in need of a particular mineral, it goes to the bones for what it needs. You can also think of our bones as our “savings account” for minerals. The earlier you make deposits (ideally between puberty and age 30), the stronger your bones will be throughout your life. If the needed mineral isn’t there, your body may substitute a similar one, but not without consequences.

– Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis (HTMA) is the most effective way to determine mineral imbalances and calcium excess in the body. In treating 2,000 patients in his private practice Dr. Robert Thompson, co-author of The Calcium Lie, has seen evidence that 95% of us are mineral-deficient and more than 90% of us have too much calcium in our bodies. These alarming figures are supported by the HTMA reports prepared by Dr. David Watts over the past 20 years.

– Without enough minerals in the right proportions, your body can’t make enough of the hydroxyapatite crystals that make up bone matrix and build bone strength. Without adequate minerals, bones are weakened, more prone to injury, and unable to supply our body with minerals needed for other functions.

– The American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology recommends that women have a bone density test once they reach the age of 65, unless specific risk factors are identified, but this is too late.

– Commonly accepted bone density tests don’t provide an accurate reading of depleted mineral levels, as these tests are standardized to compare each patient to others the same age. This isn’t helpful when 90 to 95 of us are significantly lacking in many essential minerals.

Find out why declines in mineral levels with aging on PDEXA testing are NOT normal and should never be accepted or tolerated. (Chapter 3)

– In 2002, The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) reported that 44 million Americans had compromised bone density (either osteoporosis or osteopenia, low bone density that often leads to fractures). The organization projected that these figures will skyrocket within the next few years – increasing to 52 million Americans by the year 2010, and to 61 million Americans by the year 2020.

– Excess calcium actually makes bones weaker because it exaggerates our mineral imbalances and deficiencies. Calcium excess causes other minerals to be lost or excreted in the urine.

– Osteoporosis should be a concern not just of women, but men as well. Also, this concern should not be limited only to older individuals. It is estimated that 55% of all people over the age of 50 have some form of bone deterioration, and 20% of those sufferers are men. Today, 2 million men have been diagnosed with osteoporosis and 12 million are at risk

– Instead of consuming “calcium-enhanced” foods, the most effective approach to reducing the risk of osteoporosis and increasing bone strength is to add sea salt and trace minerals to your diet. Taking five or six tablets of sea-salt-derived trace minerals on a daily basis, or two teaspoons of liquid ionic sea-salt-derived trace minerals, will replace the minerals you lose every day. (Pregnant women need even greater amounts of these minerals.) It is possible to correct mineral imbalances and deficiencies with adequate supplementation, but it may take several years of HTMA directed consistent and correct supplementation as well as dietary changes.

– The bone density of some individuals has become so weak that medicines called biophosphonates provide the only option for strengthening the bones and preventing fractures, but this approach, while potentially reducing bone loss, can actually deplete the body’s other tissue mineral levels even further, and there could be other significant long term consequences.

– Prevention of osteoporosis is the best course of action. The more physically active you are early in life (in early teens and even before), the lower your risk of osteoporosis. The more weight bearing exercise you do, at any stage in life, the lower your risk. This means walking, running, cross country skiing, tennis, soccer and any of a wide number of activities that keep you on your feet. Recent research shows that it is never too late to start. Stop taking calcium without knowing if you need it, based on HTMA results, and begin taking adequate amounts of ionic sea salt derived trace minerals today.

To learn more about the correct treatment of Osteoporosis, read The Calcium Lie 2.