It’s “Calcium Balance” That Causes Osteoporosis
10 Dec 2004
Why would I give my wife a new cook book when she’s often threatened to turn the kitchen into a den? I took a calculated risk that I wouldn’t end up stirring the pot. But I believed that she would see the benefits of "The Everyday Calcium Cookbook". It’s loaded with sound advice on calcium-rich nutrition for whole-body health. And why normal amounts of calcium in the blood is causing an epidemic of osteoporosis (brittle bones).
Helen Bishop MacDonald is Assistant Professor at the Universite de Moncton and nutritionist for the Calgary Flames hockey team the year they won the Stanley Cup. She says, "It’s no secret that most Canadians do not get enough calcium for optimum bone health".
TV talk shows, morning programs, and news publications all stress the need for healthy food choices. Yet the vast majority of recommendations for a healthy diet never mention calcium or its major source, milk products. It’s a prime reason why one in four women and one in eight men have osteoporosis.
Patients who are concerned about calcium in the diet ask me, "Can’t you do a blood test to see if I’ve got enough calcium?" This is possible for magnesium, potassium and iron but not for calcium.
The reason is that "calcium balance", the amount of calcium in the blood must always remain the same. So if you haven’t followed mother’s advice to drink three glasses of milk a day the body must rob the needed calcium from bones. This is why you can have normal blood calcium on a diet of coke and twinkles and still break a bone from a trivial injury.
The best way to prevent osteoporosis is to acknowledge early in life that failing to consume sufficient calcium is actually a pediatric disease. Then think like a banker as money and osteoporosis have something in common. Bankers know that clients never become paupers later in life if they have built up reserves they can draw on during retirement. Similarly bones won’t snap like a dry twig if sufficient calcium has been stored early in life to keep aging bones strong.
Vitamin D is also essential to prevent osteoporosis. This vitamin helps to absorb calcium from the intestines. For six months of the years we all get sufficient D from sunlight unless you’re housebound. But during the winter months sunlight cannot penetrate the ozone layer. So unless you drink milk, the only product to which vitamin D is added, and eat fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and tuna, you’re lacking in D.
Many people are crippled by bones that look like Swiss cheese. These "holey" bones cause backache and often result in a fractured hip. We often hear the story that an elderly person fell and broke a hip. But another scenario is that while walking the frail hip joint fractured on its own accord causing the person to fall.
I must at times sound like a broken record to patients. I repeatedly remind them that drinking milk isn’t just for kids, but must become a lifetime habit. It is nature’s most perfect food.. In addition to calcium milk contains ample amounts of B12 and many other nutrients. We now know that deficiencies in vitamin B12 is associated with decreased mental acuity in both adolescents and the elderly.
In the Everyday Calcium Cookbook I found a host of goodies. I’d almost commit
murder for cheesy mashed potatoes. There’s a recipe for overnight cheddar bagel casserole, savory ham and Swiss tartlets, mixed seafood casserole, a variety of calcium rich soups, high performance pasta salads, fresh fruit pizza and strawberry rhubarb cake and many others rich in calcium. The book also provides the number of calories and the amount of calcium in each recipe.
Luckily my wife hasn’t yet renovated the kitchen into a den, nor did she toss the book at me so, I’m now tasting many of these calcium-rich osteoporosis-prevention delights.
The book sells for 24.95. It can be obtained at your local bookstore or by calling the toll-free number 1-800-267-3366
