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Dr. Weil: 10 Foods to Prevent Osteoporosis
1.Low-fat or non-fat dairy products
2.Canned sardines and canned salmon
3.Dark green vegetables such as broccoli, collard greens and bok choy
4.Tofu
5.Calcium-fortified juices and carrageenan free soy milk
6.Black-eyed peas
7.Blackstrap molasses
8.Poppy seeds and sesame seeds
9.Almonds
10.Figs
Cancer Colorectal cancer Stomach cancer Ovarian cancer Pneumonia Osteopenia Dental health Osteoporosis Heart disease Fractures Allergies Stroke Prostate cancer Diabetes Fosamax Alzheimer's disease Pain Liver cancer Lung cancer Hypothyroidism Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)
KMFDallas I thought they had taken the DES off the market. It would be wonderful if we could get all the hormones out of our food, but I'm afraid The National Dairy and the meat lobbies would be very difficult to fight.
They should not. A black box warning was issued in 1971 but it was continued to be prescribed. It is still available in third world countries and for animals. There are over 10 million in the US dealing with their concerns and millions more in other countries. More research is needed for the 3rd and 4th generations.
The 3 websites suggested for the value of organic milk were WebMd, they are for organic milk. Next, The National Dairy Council, who are the most biased, as having to remove the hormones would seriously cut into their profit margins. Then wikipedia, which my their own definition can be changed by any user. That makes WebMd the only factual and unbiased site mentioned.
To people who want to learn more about (1) hormones in milk or (2) DES sons and daughters:
There are dozens of apparently biased websites on the issue of whether organic milk is or is not healthier for us than non-organic milk. For example, this website advocates organic milk: http://blogs.webmd.com/health-ehome/2009/02/organic-milk-does-body-better.h tml But this website advocates non-organic milk: http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/NationalDairyCouncil/Nutrition/Safety/M ilkAndHormonesFactSheet.htm However, Wikipedia seems to be somewhat more neutral and objective: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bovine_somatotropin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diethylstilbestrol I personally swallow one 600 mg calcium pill daily and eat high-fat fish almost every day. Therefore, I have recently completely stopped consuming all dairy foods except on very special occasions. I don't have any magical solutions for DES sons and daughters or people confused about whether organic milk is worth the extra cost.
KfmDallas,
Thank you for your answer. A lot of my girlfriends and I have been really disturbed by the fact that we have grand-daughters starting menstruating (mine at barely 9) so early. Is DES the drug our mothers took to help with morning sickness? If it is, I had a girlfriend with 7 siblings, 2 boys and 6 girls, All but 3 died before age 50 from cancer and the remaining 3 are still in their 50's. Their mom used DES. They need to get the hormones out of our food supply!! They don't use DES anymore do they?
As a DES daughter and board member of DES Action, we recommend organic milk for the fact that you made - to stay away from the stimulants used in milk production.
KFMDallas,
I buy a lot of organic foods, especially greens(off season, as I grow my own) dairy and meat. I can definitely tell a difference in organic meat and to some point dairy. My son can definitely tell the difference in organic milk. He won't even drink the other. My question is that I've heard a lot of talk that the reason our girls are entering puberty younger and younger is because of all the hormones in non-organic milk and meat. What is your opinion?
My Dr. told me fish oil pills are just fine. Some people just don't like seafood all that much.
According to numerous scientific studies, people who already have osteoporosis have a much higher risk of death from cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, Alzheimer's disease, pneumonia, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, and COPD than people who don't already have osteoporosis. However, people who can successfully maintain a low risk of developing cardiovascular disease (by maintaining low levels of serum homocysteine, serum high-sensitivity C-reactive protein, serum LDL-bad cholesterol, serum total cholesterol, etc.) will also enjoy a much, much lower risk of suffering from osteoporotic bone fractures. I therefore strongly urge everybody with osteopenia or osteoporosis to greatly increase their consumption of the omega-3 fatty acids, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), from high-fat fish, fish oil pills, and/or krill oil pills because scientific studies have shown that they greatly reduce our risk of not only heart disease, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease but also virtually all cancers and numerous other human diseases.
I can't see where they would hurt but as for actually building new bone, I don't think that foods will do it. It would hurt me to eat boiled Salmon. YUCK!! I know we all die from something. It's the only thing we can be sure of. I would like to enjoy my life, so I won't be eating boiled fish.
Dear marfakid:
Yes, all foods that help prevent bone loss for people who have good bone health also help maintain bone density and help prevent fractures for people with severe osteoporosis. However, it may very likely be too late for people with severe osteoporosis to rely on dietary changes alone to try to prevent future fractures.
What if you already have osteoporosis, do these foods still help?
Dear sharo:
Yes, canned salmon is moderately healthy for us to eat because it is (1) high in omega-3 fatty acids, (2) high in astaxanthin, (3) high in vitamin D, (4) low in PCBs if the canned salmon is wild-caught, and (5) does not contain any trans fat. However, canned salmon is not as healthy for us as frozen salmon filets, which can be boiled without any salt added. The salt in the canned salmon makes it taste better but it also increases our risk of developing cancer, heart disease, stroke, impaired kidney function, and osteoporosis. Interestingly, when I crush those little round bones in canned salmon, I think of what could happen to my spine (vertebral compression fractures) if I don't minimize my consumption of the foods known to increase osteoporosis risk such as cola drinks, which are high in phosphoric acid and caffeine, or grilled, broiled, barbecued, smoked, fried, and processed meats, which are all high in osteoblast-oxidizing free radicals.
I like those little round bones in canned salmon. I guess they are the salmon's spinal discs. That's what they look like anyway. How Ironic!!
Canned salmon is recommended because the bones are cooked and eating them is encouraged.
Dear SusanRae:
Thanks for sharing with us your thoughts on condensed (canned) milk. Here in Hawaii where I live, none of the large supermarkets carries fat-free canned milk. They all carry canned milk with fat. I talked to the largest supermarket in Hawaii (Safeway) and they told me that the fat-free canned milk does exist but would need to be special ordered. Since I would have to pay shipping charges, the cost per can might end up being about twice the cost per can of canned milk with fat. Also, there would be inconvenience in having to repeatedly order it.
In fairness to the dairy industry, I would like to mention that dairy protein is not as harmful to our bone health as animal-source protein from grilled, broiled, barbecued, smoked, fried, or processed meats because most dairy foods do not contain much if any osteoblast-oxidizing free radicals. Most of the osteoblast-oxidizing free radicals in the typical U.S. diet are created when we cook or process our meats. Also, please do not be frightened by the omega-7 trans fatty acid, trans vaccenic acid, which is created by the bacteria in the cow's stomach and present in very small quantities in all dairy foods. According to Udo Erasmus, the author of the best-selling book, "Fats That Heal, Fats That Kill," one gram of the omega-7 trans fat (trans vaccenic acid) in dairy foods is not any more harmful to our health than one gram of the saturated fat in dairy foods. However, Mr. Erasmus says that one gram of the trans fat created when we fry foods in vegetable oil is much, much, much more harmful to our health than one gram of saturated fat.
The only complaint I have for our dairy industry is that the consumer who only wants to buy a small quantity of milk can't get milk that tastes as good as the consumer who is willing to buy a large quantity of milk. The high-quality plastic milk containers are only offered in the one gallon and half gallon sizes. People who only want to buy the quart size or pint size of milk must buy their milk in the old-fashioned, low-quality, paper containers. Milk purchased in paper containers doesn't taste as good, partly because it spoils more quickly but more because the glue used to seal the paper containers gets into the milk. I have seen the quart size of milk offered in high-quality plastic containers only in one supermarket (Foodland) and only at a very high price because it was "Organic." But it tasted good. I suspect that Organic milk has more fat in it than they claim that it has because it does taste better, even when compared against the non-organic milk in the high-quality plastic containers. Anyhow, I've decided to stop consuming dairy products completely, except on very special occasions, partly because I can't buy just a small quantity of the best-tasting nonfat milk at a reasonable price.
Actually, you can easily find BOTH canned fat-free sweetened condensed milk and canned fat-free evaporated milk. I would agree with Rmchavin that canned condensed milk is not good for us, but because of the sugar content, not the fat (if you buy the fat-free version). I've bought both national brands and generic brands for use in cooking.
According to recipezaar.com, "Unsweetened condensed milk is referred to as evaporated milk. A substitution for condensed milk would be 1/3 cup evaporated fat-free milk + 3/4 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons butter." Definitely not something you want to consume a lot of.
http://www.recipezaar.com/library/getentry.zsp?id=146
That's all . . .
Re. food allergies; I have greatly improved my day to day existence (no more pain meds at all) with the anti-inflammatory diet. I suggest people research this; it's just a simple way to find out what seems to bother a person -- i.e nuts, vinegar, citrus, tomatoes, wheat, eggplant and other foods. I eliminated all suggested foods and slowly introduced them after a month- the results were interesting - my headaches returned when I added wheat and other things back into my diet. I supplement with vit. c and others that I don't get from foods. Check it out --
Dear MotherGoose:
You are correct that nonfat (skim) milk is the least harmful way of drinking milk. Undernourished people, who tend to be deficient in calcium and protein, can greatly improve their bone health by adding 1 or even 2 cups of nonfat milk to their daily diet. Higher-fat milk products may taste better but they contain lots of artery-clogging saturated fat and a very small amount of trans vaccenic acid, a natural trans fat created by the bacteria in the cow's stomach. Even the nonfat milk contains a small amount of fat (about one-tenth as much fat as 2% reduced fat milk). I also want to remind everybody that canned condensed milk is not healthy for us because it is never sold as nonfat. The least healthy form of milk is powdered milk - even the nonfat powdered milk. Why? Mainly because powdered milk tends to contain cancer-causing nitrosamines. Powdered milk also contains a very small amount of trans fat and acrylamide but they are not as bad as the nitrosamines.
Dear huessysignoret:
All seafood is not good for your bone health because seafood is animal-source protein. The Inuit (Eskimos) of Greenland have a very high osteoporosis rate - even higher than the U.S. - because they eat mostly just fish and the meat of marine mammals that eat fish and/or krill. The Greenland Inuit don't eat much fruit or vegetables. They also have a high consumption of salt, alcohol, and are heavy cigarette smokers. Yet, their total cancer rate is only half that of the U.S. and cardiovascular disease is almost non-existent among the Greenland Inuit. They also have a low rate of Alzheimer's disease. Thus, eating high-fat fish is extremely healthy for you in preventing heart attacks, strokes, most cancers, pneumonia, and Alzheimer's disease because of the omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and selenium that are plentiful in high-fat fish. But osteoporosis gets worse when you don't increase your consumption of fruits and vegetables to buffer the acid created in your blood by any animal-source protein. The healthiest way to eat salmon is to boil the frozen filets. The wild salmon is more expensive but has a better omega-6 to omega-3 ratio, less PCBs, more vitamin D, and more astaxanthin than the farmed salmon. However, the farmed salmon has just as much total omega-3 fatty acids as the wild salmon. (The farmed salmon is higher in total fat and total calories than the wild salmon). Both the wild and the farmed salmon are much healthier for you than beef, pork, lamb, chicken, turkey, eggs, cheese, milk, etc. Canned salmon has no trans fat but it contains salt so it is not as healthy for you as the frozen wild salmon filets or fresh farmed salmon with no salt added. Smoked salmon is high in cancer-causing nitrosamines so it should be eaten only on extremely rare occasions.
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