Surprising Ways To Prevent Osteoporosis

Your gastrointestinal system is the source of nutrition for your cells daily functioning. If your cells are having trouble absorbing nutrients from the foods you take in, you are at risk for inflammation and osteoporosis.Part of the problem we often have with absorption starts because we don’t have enough of the “good” bacteria that helps in digesting food and absorbing nutrients. Some steps you can take to help keep maintain good levels of gut flora are:

• Get plenty of fiber in your diet. Friendly bacteria love fiber.
• Add foods to your diet like yogurt, kefir, kimchee and sauerkraut. These are “living” foods.
• Try taking a probiotic supplement on a regular basis. This can help restore the natural bacteria in your GI system.

• Try adding extra servings of alkalizing fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and high-quality fats such as: nuts, seeds, omega 3, and coconut oil to your daily diet.
• Try sprouting and cooking foods slowly or simmering. Foods contain more nutrients when they are sprouted and cooked slowly; deep-fried foods are more difficult for our bodies to digest.
• Avoid processed foods and limit refined sugars and grains as these often contain high amounts of additives, artificial colorings, flavorings and preservatives.

Take Gluten Off Your Menu. Research has shown a direct link between gluten reactivity and bone health. Whether you have been diagnosed with celiac disease or just have a mild intolerance to gluten, it sets off an inflammatory process which places your bone health at risk.

It’s much easier to implement a gluten-free diet now that there is such a wide variety of a food available. Many stores have whole sections dedicated to gluten-free foods. There is an extra benefit in eating gluten-free: since many foods which contain gluten are acid-forming, removing these will naturally lead you in the direction of a more alkaline dense diet.

Don’t Forget Your Vitamin K.

While the necessity of Vitamin D to bone health has been recognized, Vitamin K has been somewhat of a mystery until recently. Now it has been discovered that there is a whole family of these K vitamins. We know that they help limit the loss of calcium from the kidneys, and help to retain several of the proteins needed for bone production. Certain plant foods contain vitamin K1, and some traditional fermented foods contain vitamin K2 (sauerkraut, natto and kimchee). Most of us don’t get enough Vitamin K in our diet.

Tired Of Dieting? See How Our Clients Did It…

References:

• Agardh D, Björck S, Agardh CD, Lidfeldt J.Coeliac disease-specific tissue transglutaminase autoantibodies are associated with osteoporosis and related fractures in middle-aged women.Scand J Gastroenterol. 2009;44(5):571-8. doi: 10.1080/00365520902718929.
• Green PHR, Jones R. Celiac Disease: A Hidden Epidemic. Revised edition. New York, NY: HarperCollins; 2010.