Osteoporosis - A Serious Disease Process Or Just Normal Aging?

It makes sense that as we age, certain "degenerative" changes will happen, such as decreasing eye sight or hearing, arthritis development, skin changes and so on. And it would appear that for a vast majority of women being diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, they may actually just be experiencing normal age changes.

These diagnosis were developed in the 1990's as we made better scanning technology, but much like MRI's now, we may be finding and diagnosing things that we don't truly understand. Scientists are finding out now that bone mineral density does not equate to bone strength. So being told you have low bone density tells you absolutely zero about the strength of your bones.

However this deserves an entire separate conversation, so or now let's address the a small portion of women who do have to take this diagnosis seriously as they may suffer from the symptoms of severe bone mineral loss which can end up resulting in fractures.

Which takes us to another misinterpretation. Loss of bone mineral density is not as simple as a calcium deficiency. If you truly do have weak, porous bones, taking calcium alone will not fix the problem.

And medications are a huge problem, as the majority of them will actually worsen your condition, because all you're doing is fooling your body into producing denser but weaker bone. That's not to mention the two-fold increase risk in esophageal cancer, among many other issues, associated with these drugs.

That's the bad news out of the way, so let's look at what you can do to improve your bone strength.

You must start with weight-bearing exercise above all other things. This is the best way to build bone strength. Try hiking, aerobics, jump rope, walking upstairs, playing tennis or dancing. And if your fitness levels are really poor then start with just fast walking, stair step machines, or low impact aerobics.

Next, you must improve the diet to help our bones. As stated earlier, calcium isn't enough - you also need omega 3 fats, Magnesium, and Vitamins D, C and K2. You also need to avoid processed foods and sodas, while increasing your intake of raw vegetables (try juicing if you can't get it all into a salad). Fermented foods will also help.

So, if you've been diagnosed with osteoporosis or osteopenia, start exercising immediately and get the diet cleaned up. Also question the diagnosis and make sure you really do have weak bones and not just low mineral density. And if you have been prescribed Fosamax or any other medication for it, go and speak to your MD immediately about the game plan to get you off that medication (Never go off a medication without medical supervision). We've personally met multiple women who have suffered severe fractures of their hip because those medications caused their bones to weaken so badly!