Osteoporosis kills women and men

It's a well known fact that one out of two women older than age 50 suffers an osteoporosis-related fracture during her lifetime. Complications from these fractures are a major killer of women. 12 to 28 percent of women 65 or older have the disease, and more than 80 percent of the 28 million who are affected are women.

But osteoporosis is not restricted to women. Although osteoporosis research of men remains inadequate and a large number of men remain undiagnosed, it is estimated that osteoporosis affects about two million American men. Another three million men may be at risk due to decreased bone density. One in eight men over age 50 will have an osteoporosis-related fracture in his lifetime. In fact, each year men suffer one third of all the hip fractures that occur, and one third of these men will not survive more than a year. In addition to hip fractures, men also experience painful and debilitating fractures of the spine, wrist, and other bones due to osteoporosis. And older men suffer many more rib fractures than elderly women.¹

Research has shown that a healthy diet, exercise and dietary supplementation can reduce the risk of and help prevent osteoporosis.

The good news is that osteoporosis is preventable … and even after bone mass density is lost, the condition can be reversed with certain minerals and nutrients. Cultivating good eating and exercise habits, and supplementing your diet with a bone-supporting dietary supplement can make all the difference.

What Causes Osteoporosis?

In the human body, there is a constant process of breaking down and remaking of bones. Cross-cultural studies show that, throughout the world, most people lose bone mass as they age.³ After age 40 to 50, men lose 20 to 30 percent of their total bone mass, and women lose as much as 40 to 50 percent.³ Generally, though, the remaining bone is healthy and able to repair itself. This is considered normal aging. When the rate of bone breakdown exceeds that of bone being manufactured it can result in osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis means "porous bones," and is used to describe any disease that reduces bone mass, and results in fragile, thin bones, loss of height, lower back, wrist and spine fractures, or dowager's hump (forward bending of the spine in the upper back). We may notice that our grandparents and our parents are not as tall as they used to be, and eventually we may lose an inch or two ourselves. This is abnormal aging, and according to Susan Brown (Better Bones, Better Body), the major culprit of bone loss mass stems from a lifetime of poor dietary and exercise habits.

The typical American diet promotes osteoporosis

Americans are notorious for consuming large amounts of processed foods, soft drinks, coffee and foods that are high in sodium and sugar. These foods promote osteoporosis by stripping the bones of the calcium they need to stay strong.

Here are some interesting food facts included in Susan Brown's Better Bones, Better Body, that will hopefully make you think twice before the next time you reach for a six-pack of soda pop, bag of cookies or cup of coffee:

• In the past 100 years, our sugar intake has increased over 1000 times! Evidence shows that high sugar intake contributes to a wide range of degenerative diseases, including diabetes, arthritis, tooth decay, heart disease and osteoporosis.⁴⁵ 
• When sugar is combined with caffeine, as in coffee or soft drinks, even more calcium is excreted.⁶ 
• Sugar consumption stimulates the stomach's production of hydrochloric acid. This adds to the overall acidic imbalance of the body, which is a contributing factor to bone loss.⁷
• High salt intake causes the body to excrete calcium in the urine, thus contributing to osteoporosis in both the young and old.⁸⁹¹⁰ 
• An Australian study found that hip bone loss could be halted in women 10 years or more past menopause, by either lowering urine sodium excretion to 2110 mg a day or by increasing calcium intake to 1768 mg per day.¹¹
• Caffeine consumption has been found to lower blood calcium and increase parathyroid hormone, both of which signals the body to draw calcium from the bones.¹¹² In fact, women who drink four cups of coffee a day triple the risk of hip fracture, compared to women who rarely drink coffee.¹³

Why is supplementation important?

Many of us — young and old — suffer from calcium deficiency in our diets. This may show up as arm and leg muscle spasms, back and leg cramps, poor growth, osteoporosis, tooth decay, or depression. Calcium deficiency is most prevalent in women who have had children and have never supplemented their own diets with calcium. Experts believe that 33% of all women will develop osteoporosis severe enough to cause a broken bone.

Most nutrition experts agree that food is our best source of vitamins and minerals. But, because of our hectic lifestyles, it's almost impossible to rely on food for all the nutrition our bodies need to stay healthy and strong. Research has shown that, due to a steady decline in the nutritional quality of our food, even an adequate diet might not enable us to maintain the vitamin and mineral balance required to avoid related health problems.

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