The following is excerpted with permission from a book written by Dr. Richard Podell, M.D. This information has been helpful to thousands of people in the past, but is not meant to replace your physician.  Be sure to check with your physician before undergoing any change in diet.    ©1993 The Podell Medical Center, all rights reserved.   May not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission.  (see Podell Medical Center)

As a practicing physician, I spend more time answering questions about estrogen than any other topic. My patients, usually women in their forties or fifties, are trying to decide whether they should take hormone supplements to prevent osteoporosis. The sad part is that, whichever way they decide, most women don't realize that there are also a host of strong nutritional treatments available to prevent thinning bones. In some ways these work even better than estrogen.

Osteoporosis--thin, weak bones--is a major cause of hip fracture and spine deformities for people in their 60s, 70s and 80s, especially women. Losing estrogen at menopause increases their rate of bone loss, a defect which estrogen supplements can partly correct. Susceptibility to osteoporosis is partly inherited and partly based on life-style and nutrition.

Definitely Effective:

Exercise

Probably Effective:

High fruit/vegetable intake
Moderately low meat protein intake
Low sugar, low caffeine, low alcohol
Being overweight

Exercise: Children and teenagers who exercise develop larger, stronger bones as adults. Even in extreme old age, exercise slows or repairs osteoporosis. Sedentary life-style does the opposite, as do periods of bed rest. Exercise does its good work by creating the mechanical stress that promotes new bone formation.

High Fruit/Vegetable Diet: Alkaline-promoting foods (such as fruit and vegetables) reduce calcium loss and improve bone repair. This is because most Americans have an acidic diet, due to  high intake of acid-promoting protein from meat. The body draws bicarbonate, an anti-acid or alkaline chemical out of bone to neutralize this acid, in the process dissolving a bit of bone. Thus, high protein/acid diets work over the years to promote osteoporosis. High fruit and vegetable intake, e.g,. the government's recommended 5 servings a day, should serve as an antidote.

Low blood sugar, caffeine and alcohol promote calcium loss.

Moderately low meat protein:  Acid-promoting foods (such as meat protein, egg yolk and cola drinks) remove calcium from bone. But if a bone fracture has just occurred, a high protein diet encourages healing. Milk, although high in protein, does not promote acid.

Overweight: Fat cells produce estrogen, which lowers the risk of osteoporosis after menopause. This is one of the very few health advantages of being overweight.

Definitely Effective:
Estrogen:    Consult your M.D. (there are pros and cons to estrogen use)
Calcium  500-1200 mg: Supplement dose depends on diet calcium intake

Probably Effective:
Magnesium 300-600 mg:  Magnesium helps retain calcium
Potassium: Consult M.D. Potassium helps retain calcium
Vitamin D 100-400 I.U. Vitamin D helps absorb calcium and deposit it on bone

Possibly Effective:

Progesterone:  Consult your M.D. Some physicians strongly prefer natural to the standard synthetic progesterone    
Boron 1-3 mg: Helps retain calcium; stimulates bone formation
Chromium 50-200 mg: Helps retain calcium
Strontium 0.5-3 mg: Increases bone density
Vitamin C 250-1000 mg: Deficiency promotes osteoporosis
Vitamin K 0.1-0.5 mg: Helps calcium crystals join bone's protein matrix
Zinc 10-30 mg: Required for normal bone formation

Boron: Boron, a mineral found in fruit, vegetables and nuts, increases vitamin D activity, decreases calcium loss and increases new bone formation. However, there have not been any studies to evaluate the effect of boron supplements for osteoporosis.

Calcium: Although most research shows calcium increasing bone mass and reducing fractures, a few studies show little or no benefit. Probably calcium deficiency is an important factor in some people's osteoporosis but not in everyone's. There's much more we can look at for osteoporosis prevention than just calcium and estrogen.

Chromium: Best known for it's blood sugar regulating effects, a recent study showed chromium picolinate at 200 micrograms daily can reduce daily calcium loss from the body by about 25%. However as of this writing, there have not been long-term studies using chromium to prevent osteoporosis.

Estrogen: Estrogen lowers the risk of bone fractures due to osteoporosis by about 50% when it is taken during the first five years of menopause. However, it's potential health hazards aside, estrogen is not a perfect treatment. Estrogen cannot reverse established osteoporosis. Nor is it very good at preventing menopausal osteoporosis once the first five years have passed. One reason: while estrogen slows bone breakdown, it does not promote new bone formation. An advantage of exercise, progesterone, and several nutritional treatments is that they do seem to stimulate the body to lay down new bone.

Magnesium: depletion stops bone growth, allows bone thinning and increases bone fragility. Adding magnesium appears to do the opposite. A recent study from McGill University found that post-menopausal women who took extra magnesium for one year increased their bone density while untreated subjects showed continued bone loss. Magnesium regulates the transport of calcium into bone and also acts to support the protein matrix that provides structure within bone.

Potassium: Taking extra potassium helps the body retain calcium. Potassium depletion causes calcium loss. Fruits and vegetables are the best source of potassium, and potassium supplements might be prescribed by a doctor.

Progesterone: Most people think of progesterone as the hormone we have to give at menopause to block the cancer-promoting side effects from taking too much estrogen. However, progesterone by itself might stimulate new bone formation and have anti-osteoporosis effects.

Dr. John Lee from Sebastopol, California treated 100 post-menopausal women with a skin cream containing a non-prescription natural form of progesterone derived from yam. After 6 to 12 months of progesterone treatment there was a 15.4% average increase in bone mass instead of the expected 4.5% loss. The standard synthetic progesterone might also work, but Dr. Lee prefers the natural form because of its better side-effect profile. As of this writing, no one has yet repeated Dr. Lee's exciting work, so for now we will have to hold our judgment open.

Strontium: I learned about strontium as a child because it was one of the elements released with atomic bomb testing. The great fear was that radioactive strontium would get in our bones and create a life-time of harmful radiation. Probably that's why researchers didn't follow up on a 1950s Mayo Clinic report that eating (non-radioactive) strontium increased bone density and decreased bone pain in patients with osteoporosis. Recently physicians at Montreal's McGill University confirmed that a 600 mg a day strontium supplement increased new bone formation in people with osteoporosis. However, this dose is several hundred times higher than the usual strontium intake--and we lack information about possible toxicity.

Vitamin C: Deficiency of vitamin C causes osteoporosis in animals. The amount needed to prevent this is relatively small-- well within the range of most basic multi-vitamins.

Vitamin D: allows the body to absorb calcium and deposit it in bone. In the southern U.S., most people get enough vitamin D from sunlight. However, in the northern U.S. and Canada vitamin D deficiency in the winter is very common, especially among the elderly. A genetic difference in the ability of individual's to respond to vitamin D may be caused by increased susceptibility to osteoporosis.

Vitamin K: This vitamin's best known function is to maintain the ability of blood to clot. However, vitamin K also helps calcium crystals integrate into bone's protein matrix. However at the time of this writing, no long term studies have been done to judge the benefit or risk from long term vitamin K supplements.

Zinc: Zinc is required for normal bone formation and for the biochemical action of vitamin D. Many Americans, especially older people, eat considerably less zinc than is recommended in the RDA. Moderate zinc supplementation is safe and effective for improving immune function of older persons. As of this writing, no study has been done of its effect on osteoporosis.

RECOMMENDATIONS:

• An HCF-type diet with 5 fruit and vegetable servings daily is the best choice. Encourage "natural estrogen" foods containing soy. Avoid excessive animal source protein.

• Exercise: Do regular, graded exercise as appropriate and tolerated--no matter what your age.

• Weigh the pros and cons of estrogen/progesterone supplementation during the first five years of menopause. If you choose not to take estrogen discuss with your physician the possibility of taking natural progesterone without estrogen, according to the plan of Dr. John Lee.

Nutritional Supplements (daily):

Take a therapeutic-style multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.  Take additional supplements to provide the following dose range for specific nutrients:

* means that these doses can be found in many or most therapeutic-style supplements.

Calcium. 500-1200 mg*
Magnesium 300-600 mg
Vitamin D 100-400 I.U.*
Boron 1-3 mg*
Chromium 50-200 mg*
Strontium 0.5-3mg
Vitamin C 250-1000 mg*
Vitamin K 0.1-0.5 mg
Zinc 10-30 mg*

This information has been helpful to thousands of people in the past, but is not meant to replace your physician.  Be sure to check with your physician before undergoing any change in diet.

We recommend taking the anti-oxidants

The Green Turtle Bay recommends taking the anti-oxidants PowerVites® and PowerMate® and either omega blend Signal369™  or Prinrose Oile