Many visitors to my site are curious about the successes of the people that I see
in my practice. Let me detail a few real client cases. Some of the write-ups are
long, and some are shorter, but they all demonstrate the power of my approach to
bone health.
Beth’s Case: Halting and Reversing Menopausal Bone Loss
Beth is an athletic looking, fit, “outdoors” type of woman who loves to work in
her garden and is not afraid of hard labor at all. A “country woman” living in rural
upstate NY, she has a two-acre garden, and freezes and cans her own crops. She loves
to be outside and active.
Bone Health Program
She underwent menopause at age 54, before beginning the Better Bones, Better Body®
Program.
Over a three-year period, from the two years before menopause (age 52) to a year
after menopause (age 55) she lost 7.5% bone density in her hip and 8.3% in her spine.
By age 57 (three years after menopause) she was still losing bone and she had lost
7.4% more in the hip and 5.3% more in the spine (a total loss of 14.9% in the hip
and 13.6% in the spine).
As her bone density test continued to worsen, Beth realized that it was time to
take matters into her own hands. She was not a bit interested in taking the Fosamax
her doctor had recommended, and as she had heard that I had helped her sister with
a bone loss problem, she made an appointment to see me.
Step by step we developed an individualized Better Bones, Better Body® Program:
- She willingly took all the 20 key bone nutrients in our recommended doses and still
uses them today more than five years later.
- She obtained a few “osteoporosis work-up tests,” which showed a significant vitamin
D deficiency. We subsequently corrected this.
- She developed an alkaline diet, moving away from grains and using more root crops
like sweet potatoes, yams, potatoes, turnips, and alkalizing vegetables like squashes.
While her urine pH initially was characteristically low at 5.5, by a few months
into the program she had achieved the ideal 6.5 to 7.5 first-morning urine pH level.
- She began drinking lemon water in the summer and ginger tea in the winter to help
alkalize and to aid digestion.
- She made doubly sure she was doing some exercise, at least brisk walking, 30 minutes
a day
- She realized that stress played a role in her life and she made a decision to spend
more time checking in on how she felt, and looking to see how different thoughts
might reduce her stress levels.
By her next bone density, just one year later at age 58, her spinal and hip bone
density had nearly stabilized. Pleased with her progress she continued on the Better
Bones, Better Body® Program.
Her next bone density test, at age 60, two years later, showed that she had not
only halted her bone loss, but actually gained 1.3% spinal bone mass. During this
same time period her hip stabilized.
To this date, 10 years since her first bone density test, she remains happy on the
Better Bones, Better Body® Program taking the nutrients, exercising, checking her
pH balance, and looking forward to her next bone density test.
Digestive Benefit: Corrected Reflux
Beth had very bad reflux when we began seeing her. With a strict elimination diet
and food allergy testing she was able to drop the Prilosec she was taking within
one month of working with me.
Liver Functions Corrected
Beth had high liver enzyme functions that corrected with the Better Bones, Better
Body® Program.
Overall Health
Beth reports her overall health is much better since being on the Better Bones,
Better Body® Program.
Carol’s Case: A Comprehensive Bone Building Program Pays Off
Carol was a thin and somewhat worried woman, the wife of a Cornell university professor
and planning herself to retire from work when she first came to see me. While I
have helped many people halt bone loss and begin to rebuild bone, her case was one
of the most outstanding.
At the age of 55 she had had her first bone density test and was diagnosed with
osteoporosis. As she reports, “I was very surprised and concerned. I had always
been very active and had eaten what I thought to be a wholesome diet, especially
as an adult.” At the time she came to see me she was walking more than a mile each
day, still working at the university and generally happy, but worried. Her major
health concern was irritable bowel syndrome, which later responded well to the Better
Bones, Better Body® Program.
Between the ages of 55 and 61 she lost 7.3 % bone density in her hip and 6.6% in
her spine. Sixteen months before her bone density test at age 61 she came to see
me having been told by her acupuncturist that I could likely help her. She was told
by her physician, on the other hand, that she should use osteoporosis medications,
either Fosamax or Calcitonin; but she felt in her heart there was a better approach.
She was in her late 50s and well into menopause and should have been beyond the
period of accelerated bone loss which commonly occurs the first few years before
and after the last period. Her “menopausal bone loss,” however, seemed to continue
on and on.
Quickly she embraced the full Better Bones, Better Body® Program. Right away she
began to implement the changes:
- Although she had always taken a number of nutritional supplements, she modified
her supplements to meet our requirements for the 20 key bone nutrients.
- She took additional vitamin D as needed both summer and winter.
- She experimented with an elimination diet, avoiding wheat, dairy, and food additives
for a few weeks and found that her irritable bowel syndrome and digestion in general
were much, much better. To this day she uses alternatives to wheat.
- She continued from time to time her acupuncture treatments and use of Chinese herbs.
These life-supporting complementary therapies are always a welcome part of the Better
Bones, Better Body® Program.
- Carol developed our Alkaline for Life® diet, which meant increasing her fruit and
vegetable intake and, in her case, also taking an alkalizing mineral formula. She
also needed to increase her protein intake, which she did. And she greatly reduced
her consumption of desserts and all sugars.
- She continued walking and expanded her exercise routine to include structured weight
training with professional supervision at a local gym.
- On the emotional front, she made considerable changes, which she detailed in a letter
to me. As she wrote, she took five steps to deal with her emotions. She decided
to:
- Show her emotions, “whether positive or negative, with honesty and respect for others
and myself.”
- Know that letting go is better than holding on and repressing emotions.
- On a regular basis, forgive others and herself.
- Get over things that irritate and frustrate rather than let them “get under my skin.”
- Make a conscious effort to balance rest and activity, and gain confidence that she
could indeed rebuild her bone mass.
She also took three steps that she identified as ways to maintain a positive and
peaceful mental outlook. As she writes, she decided to:
- Focus on the positives in her life rather than the negatives.
- Be proactive—concerning herself with only those things she could control and leaving
the rest to God.
- Read positive and wholesome material that educates and edifies.
Carol exemplified my wish that each of us use any bone health crisis as a “window
of opportunity,” as an invitation to re-analyze our lives and make positive changes.
By her next bone density test at age 61 (16 months after she started the Better
Bones, Better Body® Program) Carol had rebuilt 3.2% density in her spine although
she had not yet stabilized the hip. By the following bone density test at age 63
(then three years on the Better Bones, Better Body® Program) she had gained back
a whopping 10.6% in her hip and 6.9% in her spine. Needless to say, Carol is very
grateful and continues on the Better Bones, Better Body® Program to this day. Overall
she feels better on every front. Her irritable bowel has corrected, she has better
energy, feels emotionally fit, and is enjoying the confidence of having been successful
at rebuilding bone mass.
Joan’s Case: Reversing osteoporosis at 65
Joan was 63 when she first came to see me (she was well beyond menopause, which
occurred at age 50). She had heard me lecture and after seeing me, began to exercise
and follow a simple supplement program. She gained, over a two-year period, 5.5%
density in the spine (moving from -2.5T to -2.1T), and 4.2% in the hip. This improvement
was accomplished in the face of Crohn’s Disease.
Maria’s Case: Going off Hormone Replacement Therapy
Maria, in her early 60s, had been on hormone replacement therapy (HRT) for several
years and had gained quite a bit in the spine and hip. She went off HRT and developed
high bone breakdown (NTx was 58). She began our program, went through menopause,
and was able to reduce NTx to 30. No more recent bone density tests have been conducted
yet, but bone resorption changes would suggest she has halted the common bone loss
from HRT cessation.
Margie’s Case: Going off bone drugs, gaining bone density
Margie came to us at the age of 60 with a diagnosis of osteopenia. At this time
she was using a popular bisphosphonate bone drug recommended to her by her physician.
Nevertheless, she was still experiencing ongoing bone loss and a high rate of bone
resorption. In addition to the signs that the bone drug was not working, there was
also the issue that the medication gave Margie gastrointestinal distress. At this
point she decided to drop the bone medication and begin the Better Bones, Better
Body® Program. The program included use of our 20 key nutrients, the development
of an alkaline diet, and modest exercise.
Gradually Margie’s bone resorption normalized and her bone loss was halted. After
four years in our program she was found to have a net gain of 6.5% in hip bone density
and 4.1% in spinal bone density.
Claire’s Case: Postmenopausal Recovery from Osteoporosis
Claire is a Caucasian female who came to the Center for Better Bones at age 64 with
osteoporosis of the spine and hip. She had had a full hysterectomy at age 54, and
was put on hormone replacement therapy (HRT). She went off HRT at the age of 61.
After one year on the Better Bones, Better Body® Program, she increased her bone
density by 1.7% in the spine, and 6.2% in the hip, and was no longer classified
as having osteoporosis.