Is there a diet to prevent osteoporosis? - Osteoporosis Support

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Is there a diet to prevent osteoporosis?

KMR2 profile image
KMR2
13 Replies

Does anyone have a good diet that provides significant amounts of the vitamins and minerals needed to keep bones from deteriorating more? I have found it impossible to get enough calcium because my reflux prevents me from eating a lot of dairy. And I have been taking 4000 of D3 daily for years to keep my D3 levels up. What about K2 and magnesium and boron?

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KMR2 profile image
KMR2
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13 Replies

I'm afraid Idon't know much about a good diet for OP. But K2, Magnesium and Boron are certainly reccomended. As for Calcium, have you tried calcium from Non dairy milk, The following link might be helpful. healthline.com/nutrition/be...

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS

There is this:

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

although I don't know how reputable the Bentham publications are I'm sure there's some useful information.

Also a study done a few years ago showed that it is possible to improve bone density through diet, etc. I haven't followed this, although I got ideas from it, it would be impossible except in a clinical setting, and they did use strontium I think, which I would definitely avoid. But the idea is good and their results very promising:

hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2...

Mark_ABH profile image
Mark_ABH

Hi KMR2, Here are some articles from American Bone Health to get you started. americanbonehealth.org/nutr...

americanbonehealth.org/nutr...

americanbonehealth.org/nutr...

Met00 profile image
Met00

I think it depends on how old you are and what caused your osteoporosis - diet may not prevent osteoporosis, but poor diet can definitely contribute to it. Sugar, caffeine and too much alcohol are detrimental to bone health, and so is lack of exercise. It has been shown that older people with osteoporosis can benefit from a high protein diet, and we all need lots of calcium and magnesium. Plenty of nuts, seeds, fruit and vegetables are important, together with dairy if you tolerate it, and meat, fish and eggs if you're not vegetarian/vegan. Unfortunately modern farming methods mean that our soil (and therefore our food) has become deplete of nutrients, meaning that we may well need to supplement to compensate - Vit K2, magnesium, boron, silica, Vitamin C and zinc are all supplements that many take. Unless you live near the equator, it's also unlikely you'll make enough Vitamin D from the sun alone, plus we become less efficient at making it as we age, so supplementing with Vitamin D, for some of us quite high dose (only blood tests will tell you what works for you), is also necessary.

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS

One thing the doctors seem to keep telling us is to drink lots of milk. In fact this isn't the best way to get our calcium. Drink milk, but rely on a balanced diet containing fermented dairy (some cheeses, yoghurt, kefir) and plenty of leafy green vegetables. There is calcium in the soft bones of tinned fish (sardines, salmon). And make sure you get enough vitamin D and vitamin K2 (not K1), also magnesium, available in a diet including lots of leafy vegetables as magnesium is to plants what iron is to animals. And, if you feel you need more, magnesium from Epsom salts is absorbed through the skin, so one less pill to take. :)

lawdog profile image
lawdog

I have EoE and if you don't know what that is...GOOD, Means you don't have it. Basically my some of my heavy duty "marine arm forces type" of white blood cells are gathering in my esophagus all the way down to bowels and FIGHTING good food. They gather and don't disapate. I end up choking and vomiting any food containing wheat and/or dairy products. Just started about a year or so ago. I can't tolerate dairy prioducts at all not even ice cream .....My gastrointerologist recommends a low dose antacid in the mornings before any food (guess that means it machine guns any of the wrong white cells from gathering) so my rheumotologist suggested a calcium suppliment but no greater than 1/2 the daily prescribed amount and PREFERS natural foods like some types of greens. (Yuk. I was born. raised and live in south US but I cannot stand boiled collard greens, so a chef showed me how to quickly hot steam them in a skillet a a tiny bit of margarine. They are rather tolerable that way.)

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to lawdog

Another leafy green you could consider, if you prefer them cooked, rather than raw as in kale or lettuce salads, is Savoy cabbage, cut into whatever shape you like, I usually just leave it as a pie shaped chunk out of the sphere of the cabbage, but you may prefer to slice or shred it. Steam (probably the same way as the collards) and serve with salt and butter. My father used to put a few grains of nutmeg on his cabbage, but this has never appealed to me.

Would fermented foods be of any benefit to you? There are many types of fermented vegetables, sauerkraut the most well known but nearly anything can be fermented.

lawdog profile image
lawdog in reply to HeronNS

Thank you! I am very ignorant about "fermented veggies" except that I do not like sauerkraunt....any more info about how to ferment calcium veggies?

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to lawdog

Apparently you can ferment almmost anything. I buy mine, though, from a vendor at our local farmers market. Their most recent innovation is fermented kohlrabi with lemon, but in my fridge at the moment there are also fermented beets and the dregs of a classic sauerkraut. I was not a fan of fermented veggies either. I started with kimchi which I was advised to put into a grilled cheese sandwich. I didn't cook the kimchi, however, the sandwich was mostly grilled (real cheddar not plastic slices) I separated the slices and put a little kimchi in, and ate it that way. I didn't want to kill off the good microbes. Odd that this worked to get me keen on fermented veg as kinchi is very hot spicy. However I haven't really looked back and usually have some every day, just as a little addition to the salad or whatever else is on my plate. I also drink kefir (plain not sweetened in any way), just a small glass with my evening calcium supplement.

Anyone who is not used to consuming fermented foods should start very small, only a spoonful of fermented veg, or a quarter cup of kefir. The gut has to adapt.

Another possible benefit to fermented foods is they may contain some Vitamin K2, and perhaps even enable our own gut to convert some K1 to K2, although I don't think we can rely on getting enough.

lawdog profile image
lawdog in reply to HeronNS

Thank you again for all the info uncluding some important small ones for me...I cannot digest cheese or any dairy product including milk, wheat or gluten....so will try without it and use spinach leaf instead of any bread. Really, thank you. I don't think we have a local green vender as wonderful as yours, but we'll search. tx!tx!, tx!

HeronNS profile image
HeronNS in reply to lawdog

If you're interested apparently you can make kefir without milk. Water or coconut milk can be used. I know if I wanted I could buy the starter from our local health food store and I believe there are now some brands of water kefir commercially available, although I don't know how easy it is to find them, probably still quite limited.

culturesforhealth.com/learn...

Triplebalance3 profile image
Triplebalance3 in reply to HeronNS

After having this at a restaurant I got used to frequently making a grilled tempe (fermented soybean) and sauerkraut sandwich; a fermented "Ruben sandwich."I marinate the tempe in a concoction of my liking first and then fry it in a bit of oil. There are many good Japanese marinating sauces on the market. A good Kombucha drink, and there are many on the market, makes a great fermented lunch.

lawdog profile image
lawdog

Thank you...butter is out as it is a dairy product, but the others would work.

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