Preventing Osteoporosis
September 13, 2020
Too often we don’t consider the health of our bones until a problem occurs. To get ahead of that, two nutritionists discuss what it takes to build and support strong bones and how to avoid (and support) osteoporosis.
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Transcript:
MELANIE: Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. If you have ever bought a house, like I recently did, I heard my realtor say many times this house has good bones. I also heard my husband tell me, "I think this house has really good bones". So, that's what we want in a house.
BRITNI: Absolutely.
MELANIE: We all want that type of framework in our homes, of course, but we also want a sturdy framework in our own body. And that's our skeleton. That is why today, we want to discuss what it takes to build and support strong bones and how to avoid osteoporosis, which is a porous bone. I'm Melanie Beasley, and I'm a registered and licensed dietitian. And I can speak to osteoporosis, both professionally and personally because of my cancer journey and some of the treatments that were required, I had compromised bones. And personally, this topic is very near and dear to me, I've done a lot of research, I'm very passionate about it. And I live a lifestyle that supports the rebuilding of my bones. And joining me this morning as our cohost is Britni Vincent, who will look at this topic from the influence of hormones and what the hormones influence and what they have on our bones. Actually maintaining strong bones throughout your life is really complex and challenging task for many of us.
BRITNI: It is so complex. And if I have a question, you are my go to. You're the resident bone expert.
MELANIE: We love those bones.
BRITNI: Yeah. I absolutely agree with Melanie's statement: maintaining strong bonds throughout your life is so complex, but it's challenging. It's really challenging because there's a lot of pieces to the puzzle. So I wanna share something that Dr. Christiane Northrup wrote in her New York times bestseller *Women's Bodies, Women's Wisdom*. She wrote, "postmenopausal osteoporosis is one of the most common and disabling diseases affecting women in North America today". She went on to say, "studies have shown a two to five percent loss in bone mass per year in women over a five year period during and after menopause." Sounds really scary, but she further stated that a loss of bone in of itself does not necessarily increase a woman's risk of fracture.
MELANIE: And I think that's very, very important is that loss of bone does NOT necessarily increase your risk of fracture. Dr. Northrup continued with, "instead of convincing all women with low bone density that their bones are at risk let's instead focus on what builds healthy bones and what doesn't, because a lot of people don't understand, we can build bone back." Personally, I've been told you can't, but I have so many clients, and I know you do too, that have gone from osteopenia to normal DEXA scans or osteoporosis to osteopenia. So...
BRITNI: Yup, we've seen it. It can happen.
MELANIE: It can happen.
BRITNI: So some of the risk factors for poor bone quality or osteoporosis, let's talk about that. So number one, a diet high in processed carbs. I mean, no surprise there. Too much sugar, flour, pretzels, pasta, cereal. I mean, that will... those foods will leach minerals out of our bones. And then secondly, living on a low calorie, low fat diet, which, you know, we see so many people, especially women that have done that because bones actually need a sufficient amount of that healthy fat for the development of our critical bone mesh and that critical bone mesh is made of fat. And so when you have a healthy mesh, that's where all the minerals are going to bind to and create that strong, dense bone.
MELANIE: And we saw a real rise in osteoporosis in our country through the low fat era. So no surprise there based on what you just told us.
BRITNI: Yeah.
MELANIE: So our bones need a variety of minerals, lots of minerals, such as calcium, magnesium, boron, phosphorus, trace minerals, and a variety of other nutrients like B vitamins and vitamin D. So you have to have the making of the brick to make a brick, right? So in order to make bones, we need all these different components. And here are some eye opening warnings about using aluminum or aluminum foil. Basically, you know, none of our food or our drink really should be cooked or covered in aluminum or aluminum foil. I think I threw a pan out after doing that research that was aluminum because aluminum hampers the body's ability to utilize calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin A as well. So here's another shocking piece of information: impaired memory, motor coordination, and also Alzheimer's disease and osteoporosis have been linked to systemic aluminum toxicity.
BRITNI: Wow.
MELANIE: Too much aluminum in our bodies.
BRITNI: Yeah. And, you know, I know when I was a kid, we would often do foil packs on the grill.
MELANIE: I loved those.
BRITNI: Yeah, easy, delicious. But of course, you know, we weren't aware of the fact that aluminum foil is not good for our brain, our bones. You know, in our Weight & Wellness Cookbook, we actually suggest putting those meat and vegetables in a parchment bag and just cook it in the oven that way. Or you know, there's like a veggie basket for the grill, you could do that instead.
MELANIE: You could even, um, you know, if you're really stuck on that foil packet, you can even do parchment and then foil. As long as it doesn't touch our food.
BRITNI: mmmm. that's a good idea.
MELANIE: Right?
BRITNI: Yup. So your food's still going to be delicious, but then we're not putting ourselves at risk by exposing ourselves to aluminum.
MELANIE: That's important. And here's another startling fact that I came across, in the past, we've been encouraged to drink milk to help build strong bones. I know there's everybody out there is keyed in, right? But because if you have, if you have poor bones, you think I need to start increasing milk because we all have been told that milk is high in calcium. It's interesting to note the countries that have the highest consumption of dairy products, like the U.S., Finland, Britain, and Sweden, and Israel, they have the highest rates of osteoporosis. What is with that? In reality, vegetables are a far better source of available calcium. Again, high consumption of milk is linked to higher rates of osteoporosis. A study conducted in 2011 titled "Milk Intake and the Risk of Hip Fractures in Men and Women found milk to be a poor source of calcium. So I know everybody just is listening. And they're thinking, what in the world am I supposed to eat then?
BRITNI: Yeah. And I hear that a lot. "I have a dairy sensitivity. I can't eat dairy. So should I be taking a calcium supplement?" And the answer is no, not necessarily. If you're eating a variety of vegetables that can be sufficient. And some people also believe that milk is a really good source of vitamin D. I've heard people refer to whole milk as vitamin D milk.
MELANIE: Whoa. Marketing.
BRITNI: Yeah. But the reality is skim milk has no vitamin D and that whole milk only contains trace amounts of vitamin D. So sunlight is really our best source of vitamin D. And so as long as we're talking about dairy products, you know, I mentioned some people are sensitive, but 70% of the world's population cannot digest dairy and dairy can contribute to cancer, autoimmune diseases, even acne. So I see a fair amount of individuals that have acne, especially teenagers.
MELANIE: Adult acne. I'm seeing a lot of that aren't you, Britni?
BRITNI: Yes! And that is often one of my first recommendations is let's have you try to eliminate dairy and see how that clears up your skin. And it does, oftentimes. And I know for myself, that is definitely a trigger. And then of course the sugary beverages is also a contributing factor to that acne.
MELANIE: It's a, it's a double whammy when you eliminate both of those. It's just a recommendation that I always give clients. Soda. Of course we want to eliminate it because of the sugar and then also that dairy. It can be really inflammatory for a lot of people. Myself. You. One of the pieces of information I've shared with young women in my life is that about 50% of women's bone loss over their life occurs long before menopause sets in, which is why I'm always, I always encourage a healthy lifestyle and eating habits. It's sad to realize that as much as 18% of women between the ages of 25 to 35 exhibit abnormal low bone density. So I want to talk some more about that when we come back from break. You are listening to Dishing Up Nutrition brought to you by Nutritional Weight & Wellness. Today we're discussing the role of food and key supplements play in the development of strong bones. A great bone building dinner would be four ounces of salmon, asparagus, and baby red potatoes. And don't forget that butter to make it all tie in and tastes delicious. It's bone building. It's wonderful. We'll be right back.
BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition since it's still not safe to offer in house Nutrition 4 Weight Loss classes, we are offering the next best thing: virtual Zoom Nutrition 4 Weight Loss programs that are available now. So if you live in Northern Minnesota, Utah, Germany, South Korea, Australia, anywhere: you can be a part of our Nutrition 4 Weight Loss program. So we have lots of different dates and times available for you. And this 12 week life-changing program, it starts September 21st, 22nd, 23rd, and the 25th. I'm going to be teaching Wednesday evenings.
MELANIE: I'll be teaching noon.
BRITNI: Okay. And you know, we're both teaching it now and it's very successful. Our participants are loving it and getting just as much out of it as they would I think in person.
MELANIE: I think so too. We have a good time.
BRITNI: Yeah, we do. So you can go to weightandwellness.com or call (651) 699-3438 for class times and how to get started. And then in extra bonuses we're offering $50 off through the end of September for Nutrition 4 Weight Loss.
MELANIE: Screaming steal. Well, before break, I gave a statistic. I want to repeat that: as much as 18% of women between the ages of 25 to 35 exhibit abnormally low bone density. So taking care of your bones should start during childhood. So if you're a mother... this is... a mother or father that's listening, it's important. A great place to start a bone building plan is to begin with changing you or your family's breakfast choices. It's as easy as, uh, you know, changing up that cereal breakfast. That's the American way. Change that out. Pull it out of your cupboard. Many people pour skim milk on it. Let's get rid of that. And then there's the sugar, of course. However, this is NOT a good breakfast to start building bones. As bones are developing in your children or your teen or we're always remodeling our bones, definitely not a breakfast of champions. As a matter of fact, the grains in this cereal, the skim milk, and the sugar deplete your bones have necessary key vitamins minerals that your bones need. Even if it says it's sprayed with vitamins, they're not quality. Our bodies don't absorb those well at all.
BRITNI: Yeah. That's a really good point that they're not providing us minerals and vitamins that we can actually utilize.
MELANIE: No, no.
BRITNI: So a much better breakfast would be an or two cooked in butter. Couple of strips of nitrate-free bacon, a few sweet potato wedges. Easy, delicious, and you can find that that recipe for sweet potato wedges on our website, weightandwellness.com. And I find that's a go-to recipe for a lot of people. Both adults and kids love it. You can make a big batch of it. And then those sweet potato wedges, they supply us with beta carotene. And that is one of the key nutrients for good bone health. About that bag of chips for a snack that a lot of people gravitate to. What about spreading cream cheese on nitrate-free deli meat? You could roll it up. You could stick a pickle in there. You could have a side of red peppers, carrot sticks that you dip in peanut butter, almond butter. And instead of the cream cheese I use mayonnaise and it's just as delicious.
MELANIE: Super good. I do the same thing. I use guacamole.
BRITNI: Ah, yes, that's another good one. And not only do our bones need that healthy fat that we've been talking about, the bones also need sufficient protein to build the stabilizing rods in our bones. We need the key vitamins and minerals for strong bones, of course, and the vegetables supply us with just that. Calcium, potassium, manganese, phosphorus. It's really not all about calcium. Like we hear, right? You're hearing us talk about a variety of vitamins and minerals that are important. So that cream cheese and peanut butter... and peanut butter without sugar I want to note... those are going to supply us with that healthy fat to support a strong bone mesh. So an essential concept to understand is that our bonds are a living tissue and with the correct nutrition, we have the ability to actually regenerate and build a strong, dense framework in our body.
MELANIE: It's important to note that our bones are always turning over. We're breaking down bone, we're building up bone. It's a constant slow process. And about every 10 years, we create a new skeleton in our bodies.
BRITNI: It's crazy to think about.
MELANIE: Isn't it? So it is slow, but it is, it's progressive. And we want to be very cognizant of taking care of our bones because osteoporosis is a silent condition. We don't know we have it until generally a bone breaks or we have a DEXA scan. So I think it's important to understand how we make those strong bones. If any one of us has osteoporosis or the beginning of osteoporosis is called osteopenia. We need a well thought out plan so we can understand what each individual needs to reverse this condition. And yes, you can reverse osteopenia and osteoporosis. And to begin the process of bone formation, bone cells use proteins and other building blocks to produce a substance called collagen. Wow. Collagen is a big word out there right now. The collagen fibers form a mesh that calcium, phosphorus, and other minerals attach to. We could support our bone mesh by making our own homemade bone broth or supplementing with my favorite Key Collagen powder. What I love about Key Collagen powder is it has a component in it, which is very important called Fortibone, which stimulates bone formation. Not all collagens are created equal and that was in the Journal of American Medical Association article. So, I think it's important that we put all those pieces together.
BRITNI: Yeah, it really is. So I want to share with you how easy it is to make bone broth. Take a variety of chicken bones, a couple cups of vegetables, gallon of filtered water, a little salt, teaspoon of vinegar, put it all in my crackpot, let it cook for the next 12 to 24 hours on low and then to get broth high in that collagen, add in chicken feet.
MELANIE: Yes. She said chicken feed my listeners.
BRITNI: I know! haha!
MELANIE: I'll do chicken backs as well.
BRITNI: Chicken backs?
MELANIE: Yeah, chicken backs.
BRITNI: And you know, if I'm too busy, just adding a scoop of that Key Collagen protein in my protein smoothie or my coffee. It's tasteless, so that's another easy way to get it.
MELANIE: I shake it up in my... I use something called Key Greens and I shake it up to flavor it cause I like things flavored. So I love that Berry flavor with my collagen.
BRITNI: That's a great idea. And you know, I wasn't a very healthy eater, you know, when I was a kid, teenager, even into my twenties. So I feel like I need to make up for those many years of poor nutrition. So that's one way I make sure to get that collagen every day.
MELANIE: Yes. I have to tell you the first time I ever used chicken feet, you know, I knew about it. I had spoken to Dar Kvist who's, you know, the owner of our company. She's our boss lady. And she's had told me about the bone broth. And so I was like, okay, I'm going to make this. And I bought the chicken feet and I, you know, it feels so strange. And I had to sorta almost close my eyes and toss it in my crock pot. And I do the same when I dump it in the colander over a big bowl. I don't want to look at it.
BRITNI: I hear ya!
MELANIE: But it is so delicious. It's surprising. It's mother's chicken soup. That's how we use... our mothers, our grandmothers used to make it. So we often often suggest drinking a cup of bone broth with maybe a half an apple and a tablespoon of peanut butter to help with building strong bones. And the benefits of homemade bone broth are just numerous. So healing to the body. The most important reason is it supplies us with a structural collagen protein and the longer it simmers, the more minerals are extracted from the bones. Want to learn more about how to make your own bone broth? We have a video on our website, weightandwellness.com, that you can watch for just simple directions. If you get too busy to make your own collagen rich bone broth, just add a scoop of Key Collagen to your protein shake or coffee. So you're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. Want to give you a heads up about our next Saturday's Dishing Up Nutrition show. Carolyn and Theresa will share information about Foods to Help Kids Focus. This topic is timely as we're going back into the classroom. May be a challenging year and they need to eat real food and leave the candy and soda at home.
BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. If you are looking for a very comprehensive bone building supplement, I would like to recommend Key Osteo Plus. It was not only designed with the very observable calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D. It also contains additional vitamins and minerals to supplement key bone building nutrients, such as strontium and boron. Key Osteo Plus supplements are divided in two really convenient packets: one for the morning, one for the evening. And we find many clients appreciate the ease of having the packets to keep their bone support plan simple and very doable. So Key Osteo Plus takes the guesswork out of what is needed to support your bone health. You can order Key Osteo Plus and any other supplements we recommend today for bone support at weightandwellness.com. I also want to mention that Key Osteo Plus is so comprehensive. It really doubles as a multivitamin too.
MELANIE: All your B vitamins, multivitamins, your magnesium is in there. All the.. it takes about 20 key components to build bone. So we have to make sure that what we're taking is like I mentioned before the components to make those building blocks to remodel our bone, because the bone can't magically remodel. And it, it takes a lot and it takes focus and it takes a plan, but it's, it's doable, very doable. So the Key Osteo Plus is comprehensive. I love that it's two packets: an AM and a PM packet.
BRITNI: You don't have to worry about multiple bottles.
MELANIE: I love that. Keep it simple.
BRITNI: Yep. So, we were talking about collagen before the break and when we realize more women die each year from a fracture than the number of women who die of both uterine and breast cancer each year, we start to realize the importance of maintaining healthy, strong bones. That's really a startling statistic I think.
MELANIE: Yeah, say that again Britni, because I don't want anyone to miss this.
BRITNI: So more women die each year from a fracture than the number of women who die of both uterine and breast cancer.
MELANIE: That's staggering. And it's silent.
BRITNI: Yeah, exactly.
MELANIE: It is silent. So I really encourage my clients over the age of 50, especially if they have risk factors, I really encourage my clients to request a DEXA scan, which measures your bone density. Because once you know where you are, what's your baseline, then three or four years later, we do another one and we can see what are your bones doing? And if we have bone loss, let's say you were in the osteopenia range. They may say, well, what of our risk factors? And let's look at these and let's start eliminating some of these risk factors. Some of it we can't avoid which might be medications, but we can certainly be very, very focused on providing everything that that bone needs to start building back it's density.
BRITNI: I think that's a really good recommendation to get that baseline. And then, you know where you're at and you can come up with a plan from there. So we've been talking about all the different important factors. And I was mentioning protein before the break. So eating protein three to four times a day, it's critical. Not too much, not too little. So about three to four ounces, at least three times a day is usually the sweet spot for most women we find.
MELANIE: And what kind of protein would you recommend?
BRITNI: So we're recommending organic grass fed, free range meats, pasture raised eggs, fish, and a variety of those is really important. So what we're not after is getting our protein from plant based sources. Cause they're not as absorbable to our body.
MELANIE: And sometimes those plant based proteins will bind with other nutrients. It's important that we are eating those proteins that have a face.
BRITNI: Yep.
MELANIE: Or we'll make a face. And, it's easy to do. I mean, I, if you love liver, if you love sardines, if you're kind of a, you know, a little nutrition nerd like me, I don't love liver. I wish I did.
BRITNI: Oh, me too.
MELANIE: I do love sardines. I do love salmon. Chicken. Some, like you said, the free range chicken, free range eggs, you know, and what your budget can supply. So eat the protein. Have that protein. Three to four ounces, three to four times a day. Excellent advice.
BRITNI: And I find that that is... getting the protein in is really difficult for people cause it's not something that you can just grab really quickly. You have to plan ahead to get that protein in.
MELANIE: And that's difficult when you're a busy person, but that's why we're here. We are your team. We will help you figure out how to plan. That's what we do. What else?
BRITNI: So that next important part is eating those natural healthy fats. So butter, olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, seeds, avocado. Avoiding those man made fats. So that's soybean oil, corn oil, cotton seed oil, vegetable oil. And this part gets so confusing I think because there's so many different oils and fats out there. So in a very simple way to think of it is what did that oil or fat come from? If it came from a kernel of corn, corn is not naturally fatty or oily, right? So it's going to be very processed and then very inflammatory. So think of where's it coming from and is that naturally fatty or oily?
MELANIE: Same with a soybean.
BRITNI: Exactly.
MELANIE: It's not fatty or oily
BRITNI: And cotton seeds. I mean, we obviously don't even eat cotton, so that's just craziness.
MELANIE: It's the worst.
BRITNI: And so we're after about six to seven tablespoons of this healthy fat per day. Six to seven tablespoons. So probably more than you're getting and at least five to seven cups of a variety of vegetables a day to get all of those different vitamins and minerals.
MELANIE: So a meal, a simple meal, I'm just thinking of what I had yesterday was I made chili. We've got a great recipe on our website, weightandwellness.com. I made the chili, I put slices because I also have to be dairy free. So I sliced avocado. Put that on top. And the additional fat that I added was olives because I love olives, but had a green salad on the side for additional vegetables. And it was wonderful, easy peasy. And that chili, you can make a whole pot of it. I've got three or four containers frozen in my freezer so that I can pull them out and their lunch sizes so that I can pull them out for a busy week and have them thawed.
BRITNI: That's perfect.
MELANIE: All I have to do is pop them in the microwave. But, that's an easy one. My husband and I made a ribeye last night. Yum. And again, we had a big salad, he put blue cheese on his. So, yeah, so it's, it's not as complicated as it may sound when we list off what you should be eating.
BRITNI: Yeah, exactly. I had a pot roast.. leftover pot roast last night and a side salad. I mean, how easy is it to make a pot roast.
MELANIE: Easy to make a pot roast. And I love additional vegetables in the pot roast, not just your carrots and potatoes, but I put in green beans and turnips and those root vegetables are a good, a good source of vegetables for us. And they're so plentiful right now. Many of us need that extra support though in the form of supplements. Most women understand that they need calcium to support strong bones. This is what we've heard. This is what we've been told, but not all calcium supplements are created equal. Some I would not recommend at all. We want to check the label of your calcium supplement. If it says calcium carbonate or coral calcium it's time to upgrade to a better supplement. Research shows that the best absorbable form of calcium is MicroCrystalline Hydroxyapatite complex, easy for you to say.
BRITNI: That's a mouthful.
MELANIE: It's listed on a lot of labels as MCHC. And that's what that is. So it's a very complicated name, but it's a good calcium.
BRITNI: And then another important factor, you know, we're talking about fortifying food earlier. So orange juice, of course it's very high in sugar, but a lot of people drink that thinking they're getting calcium. So they're fortifying with calcium carbonate. Like Melanie just mentioned, we want to avoid that calcium carbonate. So another beneficial mineral for our bone is magnesium. Sad to say, but research reports three out of four adults in the U.S. are deficient in magnesium. Almost half of the magnesium in our bodies is actually found in our bones.
MELANIE: Yes. So it is important. So you know, I know that we want to talk some more, but I do want to get to our break real quick, just because there's a lot of really good information that we're trying to give you. And we want to make sure that you understand that we have seen clients that have improved their bone density. It is not hopeless. You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. And I have a great story about Jennifer who was diagnosed with osteoporosis at a very young age as a result of overexercising and her fear of eating fat. Can anyone relate to that? After regular nutritional counseling appointments, changing her diet, and consistently taking Key Osteo Plus her last bone density showed that she no longer has osteoporosis or osteopenia.
BRITNI: Amazing!
MELANIE: Yes. She now has normal bone density. Jennifer didn't believe that a normal bone density was even possible. Jennifer was determined and she was committed to improve her bone density. So she made those changes that her nutritionist told her and recommended for her. The key was taking the diet in that was recommended to her and the Key Osteo Plus and the results were more than ever miraculous, wonderful news for her. We have many, many clients who've experienced the same amazing results. If you have been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, we can help. You can give us a call at (651) 699-3438. You can set up a phone or Zoom appointment with one of our dietitians or nutritionists. We would love to be on your team and help you with this journey.
BRITNI: Yes we would.
MELANIE: We'll be right back,
BRITNI: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. If your bone density results were not positive, I encourage you to make an appointment with one of our Nutritional Weight & Wellness, dietitians or nutritionists. We admit that we have not always eaten perfectly and we understand that our own unhealthy lifestyle or eating habits may have affected our bone health as well. But we also know that we have now developed strong bones by following a good eating plan and taking the key supplements that are necessary. So many health insurance companies now support nutrition counseling.
MELANIE: Yay!
BRITNI: Yeah. Long overdue. So call us at (651) 699-3438 and let us help you find the best options for you. And then if your health insurance does not cover, we have some really great package options. So we have a Personalized Wellness Package that includes your initial consultation, which is two hours and then two, one hour follow ups. Through September it's $350 regularly, $485. So many of my new clients do that. It's such a great option. If you are a returning client, we have a support three pack, which is $255, three 1 hour appointment followups and that's regularly $330.
MELANIE: You can buy those and use those, you know, within, I think it's a period of time before they expire. It's not like you have to use them right away. If you think you might need them down the road to kind of put those in your back pocket. When you were talking before we left Britni for break about calcium in the bones, and we can't forget about the role of vitamin D and how it plays in our health, especially with building strong bones. Really every process in our body requires that vitamin D. Vitamin D is a hormone that increases the absorption of calcium from the gastrointestinal tract. Your GI tract. When you have sufficient levels of vitamin D, you're able to absorb the calcium that you get from food and supplements. I've had clients and they've improved their bone density simply by improving their vitamin D status. We recommend having your vitamin D level checked so that you know what your status is. Have it checked yearly. Not only is vitamin D important for your immune function. It also helps with the absorption of that good calcium we were talking about. An optimal blood level of your vitamin D is between 50 and 80. Write that down because if you 1) I want to say, you have to ask for a vitamin D test. It's not something they generally do. 2) I want you to check your level. So if your doctor says, it's fine, check and make sure it's between 50 and 80, because that's optimal. That's what we really want. And most people living in a Northern climate need to take 4,000 to 5,000 international units of vitamin D to maintain that level. Don't forget children and teens often need to supplement with vitamin D, especially this year because so many people work in doors, more than 80% of the us population have insufficient levels. 80%, Britni.
BRITNI: That's a lot. So I wanna, I wanna walk through what the criteria is to make enough vitamin D. So a lot of people think, "oh, it's summer, I'm going to stop taking my vitamin D. I'm outside enough." So ideally you're out in the sun between 10 and two, you have no sunscreen on, you're out there for about 15 to 20 minutes, and most of your body's showing.
MELANIE: You're telling us we need to be naked without sunscreen.
BRITNI: Yep. Sitting outside on our lunch hour. So are you doing that?
MELANIE: Are you and your bikini on your lunch hour?
BRITNI: I am not. I know that. So the reality is, is most people should really be taking a vitamin D. I personally take the same amount all year round.
MELANIE: I do as well.
BRITNI: And also getting your level checked is really important, cause you mentioned 4,000 to 5,000. That's a great general recommendation, but I have many clients that need to take 10,000.
MELANIE: We got to get it up.
BRITNI: I use a day just to maintain that 50 to 80.
MELANIE: Just to maintain. Yes. I've seen that.
BRITNI: Yeah. So getting your level checked is important and then rechecked to making...to find that optimal dosage for you.
MELANIE: You know and all, the more reason to that we want to be eating the foods that provide a lot of broad nutrients in them because we know that we also need vitamin K too for absorption, which comes from food. So we have a supplement that's vitamin D3 K2 combined for those people that have difficulty absorbing and your nutritionist or dietitian can sort of match what you need specifically based on what you've learned from your levels or from your ability to absorb. And I think it's important for us to be aware of not only supplementation, but the food that we eat where we get vitamin D and then where we get that vitamin K.
BRITNI: Yeah. You know, vitamin D, vitamin K, magnesium, calcium: they all have like a synergistic relationship in our body. So those four are really important for our bone health and many other aspects to our health.
MELANIE: So all the more reason we need a broad variety of foods.
BRITNI: So before we end show today, I wanna share some information about the harm of over exercising or following a very low calorie or low fat diet plan and that impact on your bones. So studies have found when women simply do not eat enough and their total body fat drops too low, this can also, this can eventually result in the loss of their menstrual cycle. And then they can end up with early osteopetrosis. So studies have indicated that some female marathon runners who run so many miles each week to the point of losing their period often have the bone density similar to much older women with osteoparosis.
MELANIE: Interesting. I think that was Jennifer… one of Jennifer's situations where she lost her bone. I find many older women have been restricting their fat and calories for years and years and they simply don't eat enough to support good bone density. So if you're looking at yourself and you're thinking, "well, I'm overweight, that's not my situation". Well, it is important for women of all ages and sizes to eat enough, to supply the nutrients...remember it's quality... to keep strong bones. Many of these women should make monthly appointments with a dietitian or nutritionist to simply learn to practice eating enough food to support strong, healthy bones and that can be terrifying is eating enough food when you've been someone who's trying to possibly lose weight. Well, we have to look at other things like digestive health, because if you're someone who experiences heartburn, stomach upset, diarrhea, if you were having digestive problems, you may not be absorbing the nutrients that you need to make those building blocks for good bone.
BRITNI: Great point.
MELANIE: So we've got to, we've got to get that figured out. There's certain medications that we're placed on that can compromise our bone health. And even, you know, the over-exercising is a good point. I wanted to bring up. I have a friend eats very clean, always been a marathon runner, eats very well, but started fracturing small little fractures in her feet and ankles. And so just a little hairline fractures that would cause pain. And so she went and had a DEXA scan and sure enough has osteoporosis. So the reason for that is when we exercise for LONG periods of time, there's just not enough resources from what we ate to supply our muscles and our body to sustain that activity. Because in order for the muscles to fire, we need certain minerals. So the body being efficient mechanism that it is, will pull those minerals from the bone for that sustained long term exercise. So exercise is important. We do want that bone building exercise: a weightlifting, yoga, walking, all excellent forms of exercise because that bone and that muscle are really a unit. And when we trigger the muscle to rebuild or to strengthen, the bone responds by saying, "hey, I better shore up and be strong for this muscle activity." So they're a unit. And so we also want to be site-specific. So if someone has osteoporosis in their hips, they need to do maybe some squats or things that help with our hip strength. So it's all over. We want to be lifting for our arms. We want to be walking because it's important to keep our bodies moving. And our goal...
BRITNI: Thank you for mentioning that.
MELANIE: Yeah! Our goal at Nutritional Weight & Wellness is to keep each and every person experience better health through eating real food. A simple yet powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. Thanks for joining Britni and us today. Be well and be safe.
BRITNI: Thank you!
