Osteopenia – Our Natural Program

You may have just joined our Osteopenia webinar (watch the replay) or already read our free- e-guide 9 Facts Your Doctor Never Told You About Osteopenia and are now looking for a solution to rebuild bone. In the next 9 steps, I will guide you through the natural osteopenia solution that I have been using with my clients for more than 3 decades. 

Our Alkaline for Life Diet preserves bone and muscle and enhances mineral intake. 

• Assess the adequacy of your mineral intake by monitoring your first-morning urine pH. 
• Consume and assimilate enough wholesome food daily.
• The body is one single unit; if you lose weight you lose bone. The bone weakening from weight loss before menopause is more easily compensated for than that from weight loss after menopause. 
• Consume adequate protein. Bone by volume is nearly 1/2 protein. Between 60 to 80 grams of protein daily is recommended, depending on your physical activity level.
• Consume a variety of high antioxidant colorful vegetables and fruits every day to reduce bone-damaging inflammation. 
• Weak digestion leads to low nutrient assimilation and paves the way for sub-optimal bone health. If you experience digestive distress on a regular basis consider my suggestions for enhancing digestion.

Obtain optimal doses of all 20+ essential key bone nutrients.  

• Read more about the 20+ key bone-building nutrients and how much you need of each. 

• Consider supplementing with the Better Bones Builder, an all-in-one formula designed to deliver all the key bone nutrients in alkalizing form and correct dosage.

• Test your vitamin D level and supplement with enough vitamin D to reach a 50 to 60 ng blood level all year round. Here’s an article I wrote to help you learn more about vitamin D dosing in the winter time.

Avoid bone-depleting anti-nutrients.

• These include high sugar intake, colas and sodas, fast and processed foods, excessive alcohol, smoking, excessive caffeine, and selected medications.

Exercise to build bone and muscle.  

• It is the force of muscles and tendons tugging on bone that helps build bone. Chronically low muscle mass is associated with low bone mass. Even stronger grip strength and stronger back muscles are associated with higher bone density and less fracture.
• Do more exercise than you are accustomed to doing. As the ancient saying goes, “If you keep going in the same direction you will end up right where you’re headed.”  Search the “Exercise” category of my blogs to find a wealth of information on building bone with exercise. 
•  And just how much exercise? If the strength training is strenuous, 3, or maybe even 2, times a week is enough. Less strenuous exercise should be done on a daily basis. If you like to do strength training using light rather than heavy weights, a new study reports substantial bone-building effect using low loads (low weights) with high repetitions in weight training classes. And doing the classes five days a week. 
• If your spinal bone density is less than ideal, do daily this simple exercise proven effective by the Mayo Clinic.
• If you have been told you have osteopenia in the hip, walk more, hop, do heel drops and jumping if you can. All provide bone-stimulating impact to the hips. Also consider using a weighted vest when walking, which will make each step deliver a greater bone-stimulating impact.

Build digestive strength and enhance assimilation . 

• Even the best foods are of limited value if our digestion is weak.
• Take a look at my 10 Steps to Enhance Digestion. 

Reduce worry and emotional stress. 

• Stress can seriously damage bone. Cultivate a sense of ease and well-being, and work to dial down your stress responses. Reacting to life conditions with worry, stress, anxiety, or even outright fear overwhelms the parasympathetic nervous system and stimulates bone loss.

• Here are more of my thoughts on how fear impacts bone and how to manage stress and create resilience: 
• How Stress Could Be Damaging Your Bones
• 10 Tips for Finding Inner Peace
• Can Stress Lead to Osteoporosis?

Limit exposure to medicines known to weaken bone. 

• Many drugs and medications damage bone and the list seems to expand daily.
• Steroid drugs such as prednisone rank as the top bone-busters, causing roughly 20% of all osteoporosis in the U.S.
• Proton pump inhibitor anti-acids, antidepressants, anti-estrogen drugs, medications for epilepsy, loop diuretics, warfarin, and many other medications cause bone loss.

Monitor the success of your Better Bones Program. 

• The seriousness of one’s bone health concern can vary a great deal from person to person. Every case is different and it’s important that each individual checks to see if their bone-building program is working to stabilize bone.
• While there is currently no best, safe, and effective way to judge bone strength, scientists are working on this. The tests that are used just give a rough idea of what’s happening with bone. These include bone density DEXA tests, which your doctor can do every two years or so and markers of bone breakdown such as the NTx,  CTx, and DPD tests.
• It’s also interesting to note that total body strength and muscle mass really tell us a lot about bone strength. So if you’re maintaining or building muscle strength that’s a very good sign.
• Loss of muscle strength and a tendency to fall are both associated with bone weakness. It’s good to take action on building muscle and improving balance should you notice these concerns cropping up.

Seek medical assistance when necessary. 

• If you have ongoing excessive bone loss as measured either by sequential bone density testing or by a bone breakdown marker such as the NTx, or if you have experienced a low-trauma fracture, steps should be taken to detect hidden causes of this bone weakening.
• My Medical Work-Up for Osteoporosis details the most common tests used to detect hidden secondary causes of bone loss. You might share this document with your health practitioner and see which tests they will do looking for hidden causes of bone loss.  
• Remember, all excessive bone loss has a cause.