Calcium and Osteoporosis
When most people think about what they need to do in order to prevent osteoporosis, they will think of what they know keeps bones strong and healthy. The dairy industry has made us believe that the main thing you need to keep bones healthy is a good intake of calcium; however this can’t be more far from the truth.
There are many areas of nutrition and lifestyle that come into play when looking after the health of your bones; however two of the main causes of bone degenerative diseases such as osteoporosis include a high acidic diet and a lack of exercise/body movement.
It’s unfortunate that we don’t hear much about these two factors as much as we hear about how we should be consuming calcium for bone health through dairy products, or supplements on a daily basis.
A diet that is high in alkaline based foods and low in acidic foods is extremely important for maintaining good bone health. Practically everything we eat, apart from fruits and vegetables are acidic to the body.
When a high acidic meal is consumed the body is forced to leach calcium bicarbonate from the bones in order to neutralise the acidity for the body to stay in balance/homeostasis. The body strives to maintain an optimal balance of homeostasis, a good example of this is when you are cold, the hairs on your arms will stand up and you will get goose bumps; this is your body’s natural way of trying to stay at its desired temperature. The body is happy and healthy when in homeostasis.
Exercise is also an extremely important factor in keeping bones healthy. As there are no blood vessels that go to your bones in order to transport nutrients, the only signal the body has which tells it to provide nutrients to the bones is through movement. It’s the movement of ligaments and muscles surrounding the bones that tell the body that they are being active, when there are demands being placed on the bones they are in need of nutrients in order to stay strong and healthy. Bones are just like the muscles in our body, there is no point the body providing nutrients to them if they aren’t being activated, especially when those nutrients could be used to keep the heart, kidney, or other important organ healthy.
In a previous article titled ‘The Evils of Dairy’, I talked about the many negative health problems dairy products now have on our health due to processing factors. I talked about how modern day processing methods dairy products now go through have significantly altered their nutrient quality, resulting in the end product being more harmful towards our health than beneficial.
Our bodies weren’t designed to consume a large daily intake of calcium; in fact mother’s milk has less calcium per gram than walnuts! And if babies need huge amounts of calcium to grow up strong and healthy, then you would think Mother Nature would have made mothers milk one of the richest sources of calcium.
Mother Nature provides us with what we need to stay healthy; there is a reason why mother’s milk isn’t significantly rich in calcium. As research is showing, too much calcium can actually be detrimental towards the health of our bones, I’m sure the dairy industry won’t be informing you of this information any time soon! However, as with any vitamin, mineral or nutrient, the body only needs so much and any excess will be eliminated from the body; 2ltrs of water cannot fit in a 1ltr bucket. More is not always better.
So how much calcium do we really need to keep our bones healthy? Considering that breast milk should be the only milk we consume as humans, a diet which follows a paleolithic style, rich in fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and a variety or protein sources (specifically sardines, salmon and egg yolks) will not only provide the body with a significant amount of calcium, but will also help keep the body in homeostasis; which will ultimately reduce the amount of calcium bicarbonate removed from the bones causing them to weaken.
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Good article with just one mistake. Egg yolks don’t contain protein. Egg whites are pure protein. Egg yolks are cholesterol, which is not bad, because the only the cholesterol your body creates hurts you. Eating eggs signals your body that it doesn’t have to create cholesterol and that makes you healthier. Lesson learned, eat around 4-8 whole eggs a week for better health. Poached, baked, soft boiled, hard boiled, or fried without fat is best.