Bone Health, by Jan Roberts
The marvelously varied Mediterranean diet keeps turning up in research and proving its many benefits. Not surprisingly it can positively impact bone health due to an abundance of the nutrients that are crucial for bone building and overall health.
Wondering exactly what constitutes the Mediterranean diet? Think – Spanish, Italian, Greek, Turkish, Middle Eastern. Think – very high in fresh vegetables and fruit (red, orange, purple, green), whole grains, legumes, seafood and mono-unsaturated fats from olive oil, olives and nuts such as walnuts and almonds. Also think – much reduced meat and dairy!
But the Standard Australian Diet (i.e. full of processed foods, sugar, and additives and depleted of quality fats, protein and carbohydrates) leaves your body struggling to properly regenerate bone. So, you need calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, and Vitamins D and K, which come from healthy food grown on healthy soil. But don’t forget water– bones are 1/3 water! These are some of the important building blocks for bone, but there’s more …
Bones need much more than calcium! Hormones are one of the most important, if not the most important aspect of bone health, particularly growth hormone, but also estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Demineralization of bones occurs with a loss of hormones, the reason why many women in their peri and post menopausal years’ experience bone loss. Hormones are critical for building and maintaining bone density as well as building muscle. Estrogen in particular slows the action of osteoclasts, which are the cells that break down bones. So, improving estrogen levels can have a positive impact on slowing the loss of bone. In addition, progesterone and testosterone help to increase osteoblasts or the cells that build bones, so improving or balancing these levels also positively impacts bone density. Positive support for the fluctuating then declining hormone levels of peri and post-menopause means better eating habits and doesnot necessarily involve synthetic hormones.
My favorite hormone, oxytocin, also has the ability to build bone. Released at orgasm but also produced with skin-to-skin contact such as a massage, and in any setting of community, friendship and good will! Researchers recently wrote that oxytocin was "hitherto thought solely to modulate lactation and social bonding, but bones are highly responsive to oxytocin and serotonin.” And there’s a very easy solution to getting more oxytocin on a regular basis!