Someone has just added a comment to my November 6th post about osteoporisis suggesting that I check out her website which I did, and which turned out to be an advertisement for her book, The Bone Health Revolution. It’s not available on Amazon or any other bookstore I can find, and the publisher is not identified.
Ordinarily I look at this kind of thing with weary cynicism, but this woman sounded so much like me that I ordered her book.
It is by Vivian Goldschmidt, a New York woman with an M.A. in nutrition and whose doctor urged her to start taking Fosamax. Like meshe started to do some research on the subject rather than plunge forward unheeded to follow the advice. Much like me, she uncovered a lot of information that gave her pause, and, also like me, set out to find a natural cure for her thinning bones.
She says she’s found it and has written a book which she is selling for a few cents less than $30 (U.S. currency). I’ve ordered it. Since it has to come to me here in England it may take some time to arrive, but when it’s here, I will read it and give you my assessment.
It will be interesting to compare her claimed route to success with mine.
To see additional posts on osteoporosis, click on “Select Category” in the right-hand column, and select Osteoporosis.
thats for sure, bro
Comment by Tracyjc — March 19, 2008 @ 2:46 pm |
Yes this sounds interesting. Anyone thinking about taking Actonel, Fosamax, or the others for bone health really should give pause and reconsider such a choice. There are just so many problems that if we can find other ways to avoid osteoporosis, I think we’re that much further ahead.
Comment by gerilwalton — December 27, 2008 @ 9:16 pm |
Thank you for your input. I personally am very glad at this point that I have taken the option that I have. But I do have two caveats. The first is that if my regular bone density test showed that my bones were continuing to deteriorate, I would rethink. Frankly, I don’t know what I would do, but I would have to consider that things were going in the wrong direction.
My second reservation is that I have become aware since I have been on this “natural” regime, that it takes a certain amount of daily discipline, and not everybody is willing – or perhaps even able – to accept this. I take calcium and various other supplements to increase its absorption three times a day (because we can’t absorb more than 500 mg at any one time), and do 20-30 minutes of serious exercise at least five days a week. This regime is not draconian, but I am surprised by the number of people who’d rather put their faith in taking a pill.
But for myself, if it works, I’ll keep it up for as long as I’m upright.
Thank you again for your comment. The Other I
Comment by theotheri — December 27, 2008 @ 9:42 pm |
By now, hopefully you will have read the book. I was diagnosed with this illness and am interested in whatever natural means I can take to stop or at least slow down the bone loss. If you have had a chance to read the books, I would be intersted in your thoughts on it.
Thanks, lfuqua
Comment by lfuqua — April 19, 2009 @ 11:43 pm |
If you go to the right column on this website and click on the drop-down menu, one of the categories is “Osteoporosis” If you click on that, the posts on osteoporosis come up. Jan 31, May 30, and June 26 in 2008 are probably the most relevant.
My guess for myself is that three things have made a difference – supplements, nutrition, and exercise.
Specifically, I take 1400 mg calcium, divided into three sub-doses every day along with vitamin D which I am convinced is critical, especially for someone who does not get a lot of exposure to the sun. I also take a number of other supplements which I have read increases calcium absorption. I take that on faith, because I have no way of knowing for myself if they do.
In relation to nutrition, I have generally aimed for a less acidic and more alkaline diet. Broadly, this means more fruit and vegetables and less protein. I have also reduced my caffeine and oxalic acid (mainly in peanuts, rhubarb and spinach) because they inhibit calcium absorption.
Finally, I do take exercise seriously. Well, seriously for me, anyway. My non-negotiable minimum is 20 minutes a day, five days a week devoted specifically to circuit training – a combination of stretching, resistance training and aerobics.
I don’t always find this regime easy, but it’s not a killer either. And so far it has met with success. I strongly suspect that there are a good number of other healthy side effects that also come with it as well.
I hope you find this helpful. And wish you the best in fighting this most modern of our challenges.
Comment by theotheri — April 20, 2009 @ 2:26 pm |
why rely on keeping the pharmicutical industry in business when nature and a sensible diet provide all we need to maintain rude health ?
Comment by lairdglencairn — February 1, 2011 @ 9:04 am |
Sounds to me as if we are pretty much on the same page. I’m not wholesale against modern medicine, but it does seem to me an awful lot of people think doctors can solve all their problems with a pill and don’t seem to think that taking responsibility might be rather important. Mostly, I treat scientific health recommendations as intelligent hypotheses that may or may not last the test of time, and in any case might or might not work with my particular bio-chemistry. My approach is what might be described as hopeful scepticism.
Comment by theotheri — February 1, 2011 @ 12:05 pm |