Health & Fitness News - Osteoporosis, Recipes, and Future Workshops | Week 29

I hope you had a happy, healthy, and productive week and are ready to seize the week ahead (carpe Hebdomadam?).

Weekly News At-a-glance:

• Osteoporosis Overview | New York Times
• Exercise and Osteoporosis
• Recipes | Ginger Soup with Scallops and Shrimp
• Recipes | Mineral-Rich Bone Broth
• Future Workshops & Seminars Coming Soon

Osteoporosis Overview | New York Times

Notice in the article that for calcium and vitamin D sources, natural foods are listed, including liver, dark green vegetables, fish, and egg yolks.

Also notice that "fortified foods" are included in these lists. These should be discarded from the "dietary sources" list. This is no different than suggesting sprinkling a multivitamin into any food or substance of your choice. Would the Times put "calcium-fortified Pepsi" on this list? I think not, so it's misguided to suggest foods in which micronutrients are artificially added to the substance as good nutritional sources of essential vitamins, minerals, and nutrients.

There is also serious question to the validity that protein consumption may interfere with calcium absorption. To the contrary, protein in the diet increases calcium absorption and stimulates the production of hormones that promote new bone formation. This effect is more than sufficient to counter the increased urinary excretion of calcium observed upon increased protein consumption.

Here is an expert from a debate on the topic of protein consumption (click on the link for an in-depth discussion):

"A similar experiment confirmed that elevated dietary protein enhances calcium absorption and thereby counters the increased urinary excretion of calcium (110). Furthermore, a series of recent dietary interventions in humans has shown that high protein, meat based diets do not cause loss of calcium from the skeleton, but actually have a favorable effect upon it by lowering bone resorption (105, 107, 111, 112) and may actually increase bone formation by dietary protein induced increases in IGF-1 (105)."

So we see a compensatory mechanism in which calcium absorption improves by lowering bone resorption (the break down and release of bone) with higher protein intake. In addition, there is an observed increase in anabolic hormones that improve bone health.

Here is a summary regarding nutrition and bone health from Dallas & Mellisa Hartwig: 

• Embrace a diet designed to promote a healthy hormonal response and minimize systemic inflammation.
• Eat a wide range of nutrient-dense foods (specifically dark, leafy greens and bone broths) to ensure adequate intake of all of the vitamins and minerals necessary for bone health.
• Avoid foods (like whole grains and legumes) that contain compounds that limit our body's ability to absorb minerals.
• Eat protein (from animal sources and whey) to aid in calcium absorption.
• Ensure a healthy daily dose of vitamin D3, ideally from sunshine, or via supplementation.
• Consider supplementing with magnesium, an important mineral co-factor in which most Americans are deficient due to dietary habits, depleted soil and fluoridated or filtered water.
• Include adequate dietary fat, to ensure the absorption of bone-building vitamins D3 and K.

Exercise and Osteoporosis

From the Times article:

"Exercise is very important for slowing the progression of osteoporosis. Although mild exercise does not protect bones, moderate exercise (more than 3 days a week for more than a total of 90 minutes a week) reduces the risk for osteoporosis and fracture in both older men and women. Exercise should be regular and life-long.

"Specific exercises may be better than others:

• Weight-bearing exercise applies tension to muscle and bone and, in young people, can increase bone density by as much as 2 - 8% a year. In premenopausal women these exercises are very protective. Careful weight training is also very beneficial for middle-aged and older people, especially women.
• Regular brisk long walks improve bone density and mobility. Most older individuals should avoid high-impact aerobic exercises (step aerobics), which increase the risk for osteoporotic fractures. Although low-impact aerobic exercises such as swimming and bicycling do not increase bone density, they are excellent for cardiovascular fitness and should be part of a regular regimen.
• Exercises specifically targeted to strengthen the back may help prevent fractures later on in life and can be beneficial in improving posture and reducing kyphosis (hunchback), even in people with existing severe conditions.
• Low-impact exercises that improve concentration, balance, and strength, particularly yoga and tai chi, may help to decrease the risk of falling."

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Recipes | Ginger Soup with Scallops and Shrimp

Ingredients

• 6 cups Bone Broth (recipe below!)*
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced, peeled ginger root
• 1-2 portobello mushrooms, sliced
• 8-10 shitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 pound uncooked shrimp, with or without shells
• 4-6 scallops
• 1/2 cup finely chopped green onion
• 1/3 cup finely chopped cilantro, or more to taste

Directions:

• Bring stock to a gentle boil. Add slices of ginger.
• Simmer for five minutes. Remove ginger from broth. Add mushrooms and simmer for five more minutes.
• Add shrimp and simmer for one minute. Add scallops. Simmer for just one minute more then turn off heat. Add green onions and cilantro right before serving.
• The pieces of ginger used to infuse the broth can be saved for another meal. Simply chop the ginger up and sauté it with any combination of meat and vegetables. Once you make the ginger broth, scallops and shrimp aren't the only direction you can go for soup. Instead, try thin strips of chicken or flank steak simmered with vegetables like Swiss chard, spinach or carrots.

Adapted Recipe from Mark's Daily Apple  

Recipes | Mineral-Rich Bone Broth

Ingredients:

• 2 -3 beef bones, organic grass fed or 2 -3 lbs chicken bones, free range or 2 -3 lbs fish bones
• 2 chicken feet (for extra gelatin, a great addition, optional)
• 1 onion, no need to peel just quartered
• 2 carrots, rough cut
• 2 stalks celery, rough cut
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, to help extract minerals from the bones

Optional Ingredients for flavor and minerals: 

• burdock root (optional)
• kombu (optional)
• fresh parsley (optional)
• sea salt (optional)
• black peppercorns (optional)
• green peppercorn (optional)
• garlic (optional)
• bay leaf (optional)
• ginger (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bones on pan and roast for one hour or till browned. Roasting gives rich flavor and depth of color.
• Place roasted bones, remaining ingredients and your optional ingredients in a 6 quart stock pot or crock pot cover with a gallon of filtered water.
• Heat the broth slowly and once the boil begins, reduce heat to its lowest point, so the broth just barely simmers.
• The first few hours of simmering, you'll need to skim the impurities that float to the surface with a fine-mesh skimmer. Discard.
• Do not allow the broth to come to a fast boil, and if more water is needed to keep the bones covered, add only hot water, not cold or lukewarm. The longer you cook the stock, the richer and more flavorful it will be. About 10 minutes before finishing the stock, add fresh herbs like parsley. This will impart additional mineral ions to the broth.
• Beef broth/stock: 48-72 hours.
• Poultry broth/stock: 24 hours.
• Fish broth: 8 hours.
• Remove from heat and let cool. Strain using a strainer to remove all the bits of bone and vegetable. When cool enough, store in a gallon size glass jar in the fridge for up to 5 days, Freeze for later use or can in pressure canner for up to a year.
• Grass-fed broth doesn't need to have the fat - your choice. But I would remove the fat from grain fed broths. Just chill the strained broth and when fat comes to top it will harden then just remove with spoon.
• FYI: You can add water and vinegar to the cooked bones and re-simmer for another 48-72 hours. ;-) The bones are very generous. So generous that you can reuse bones for at least six times. Once the bones disintegrate and gave it their all, start with fresh bones.

Adapted Recipe from Food.com 

For more information on bone broths, read Broth is Beautiful by Sally Fallon at the Weston A. Price Foundation. 

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Future Workshops & Seminars Coming Soon

We had a great seminar in Wellesley last week and I'm looking forward to more seminars soon in Winchester and Wayland. Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming seminars and workshops on Cholesterol, Hormones and Menopause, Fat Loss and Increased Muscle Tone, and of course nutrition, fitness, wellness, and health. 

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Have a great week and remember: "The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your complex overwhelming tasks into manageable tasks, and then starting on the first one." - Mark Twain

Committed to your success,

Bob Kaplan 

Bob Kaplan independently owns and operates six Get In Shape For Women studios in Massachusetts: Bedford, Wayland, Wellesley, Westford, Weston, and Winchester. Bob has a Master of Business Administration (MBA) a Master of Science (MS) in Exercise Physiology, a Bachelors Degree in Nutrition, and is a nationally certified nutrition coach (Precision Nutrition) and personal trainer through the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA-CPT).