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How much can we do naturally to help our bones?

Posted , 6 users are following.

kathleen65757
kathleen65757

the more I read the more I find there is actually quite a lot we can do to help our bones without resorting to biphosphonates or Prolia or any of the other drugs offered.

Stress is on the list of things that can affect our bones which makes sense as stress affects everything. So, setting out to relieve stress is beneficial for our overall health.

Exercise, especially weight bearing exercise, is now being listed of something positive to do for your bones. Walking is probably the easiesr way to achieve this. My new resolution is to do something everyday either a few short walks or using some weights or other simple weight bearing exercises that I can manage.

Eating healthily is common sense but actually including the recommended items into our diets is deliberate. Prunes, believe it or not, are on the list of things to help our bones. Avocados are also good. Leafy greens, yoghurt and cheese are also recommended.

Then there are the vitamin supplements like vitamin D3, magnesium, vitamin K2 and calcium if your diet does not cover four serves a day need.

What is everyone else doing for their bones?  What have I missed?

 

1 like, 37 replies

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  • Aristotle13
    Aristotle13 kathleen65757

    Posted

    Hi Kathleen, me again - Totally agree with what you are doing but do add apples to your diet list. Apples contain a variety of good things which all help the bones. I hope eventually to follow down the road that you've taken.  Decided after evaluation of knowledge gained and after I sort out my diet again, I'll have a chat with the MD and then have to decide when to come off AA.  The temptation is to stay on for the full year to get a final scan (six months almost upbut MD won't sanction scan until a year has passed) but more side effects may make the final decision for me.
    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Aristotle13

      Posted

      Thanks for the reminder about the apples. I think any fresh fruit or vegetable must help us in one way or another. 

      I thought the stress thing was interesting. We probably worry about our health and now we should try to relax, laugh and have some fun.

      Thanks Aristotle.

  • Soozib
    Soozib kathleen65757

    Posted

    Don't forget that IPA beer is also good for bones - or so I've read!  That keeps the stress in check. I am determined not to take bisphosphonates. I eat lots of fruit, vegetables, fish and dairy and get out in the sunshine as often as possible. I was pleased that recent blood tests showed I did not need to take supplements so I must be doing something well. I'm working on exercise but that has been tough because of my broken leg.  Nice to know that prunes are on the list. I really like thosebiggrin
    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Soozib

      Posted

      I hate beer lol but thanks for the reminder. 

      Are you having vitamin K2? It is useful because it puts the calcium onto the bones.

      The fresh fruit and vegetables can only do us good!

  • Anhaga
    Anhaga kathleen65757

    Posted

    Well, Kathleen, you likely know all that I'm doing, but just for the benefit of others who may follow this thread....  I'll emphasize the importance of exercise.  In my case I walk every day, and try to achieve a minimum of 10,000 steps as measured by a pedometer (includes all my daily activity not just a planned walk or two), plus I do a number of exercises - physio, yoga, tai chi - and I wear a weighted walking vest several times during the week.

    On a less scientific basis I am a believer that visualzation can help heal. For years I imagined my plump self as thin.  Well, that worked too well and now I'm scrawny.  But now when I start to have that thought I catch myself and imagine my bones as being strong and flexible like young trees!  I also try a breathing exercise when I am out in the fresh air.  Breath in through the nose, hold the breath and concentrate on healing preferably choosing a specific area.  Breath out through the mouth, and imagine the toxins escaping through one's lips.  Do this a few times, when out for a walk perhaps.  I also just breathe without specific visualization, just thinking of general health and wellbeing throughout my body.  I was doing this one day, actually, and a woman who had been approaching me stopped me when I got to her and asked me if I was healthy.  (At the time I was on about 8 mg prednisone for PMR.)  She said from a distance she thought that there was illness around me, but as I got closer she felt that I was "all right".  I laughed and said I was on medication, but felt well, and went on my way.  I've kicked myself ever since for not asking her exactly what she saw, because I had been practicing that Inhaling health/exhaling toxins technique as we approached each other.

    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Anhaga

      Posted

      That is very interesting about the breathing. I can't walk as far as that yet. I am walking around outside the house but only six minutes at a time. I am hopeful the Bowen therapy has helped with my lower back.

      The exercise information helping our bones came from you so that is to your credit.

      I think the weight vest is individual and I won't be doing that. I am overweight so that can be my vest lol.

       

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga kathleen65757

      Posted

      You do know that the less fit you are, the more beneficial even a tiny bit of exercise is.  Six minutes at a time is better than three minutes, and one day you will surprise yourself and find you can do ten!
    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Anhaga

      Posted

      Yes, I am trying to build it up. I have to stop if my back feels like it is being affected. It is from the bulging discs down into the sacroiliac where the trouble lies.

      It is not connected to the osteoporosis.

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga kathleen65757

      Posted

      Aa my stepmother was fond of saying, old age is not for the faint-hearted.  She also told me to never get old rolleyes
    • Aristotle13
      Aristotle13 Anhaga

      Posted

      I really like the idea that you can think your way back to good health, I'm sure that the scientific/medical community will probably pooh-pooh this but It's really no different from giving a placebo and telling the recipient that it is the real thing. Your brain does most of the work. All you have to do is convince yourself that what you are doing will work. I did a similar thing to stop smoking 40 years ago and 10 years ago to lose 4 stones and it seemed to work then, so why not for OP. Now all I have to do is work out a method of applying this to me. The breathing is actually a good start and then it's just a matter of psyching oneself up sufficiently so that your body reacts correctly. It'll be wonderful if it works - I'll give it a try for a few weeks and see what happens.
    • Anhaga
      Anhaga Aristotle13

      Posted

      Modern physics has revealed to us a universe even more wondrous than we thought.  And we human beings are really not simply individual little pouches of matter and electricity.  We are part of a universe made of vibrations.  Some people are more attuned to this than others.  I've an intellectual understanding of it, with only the occasional glimpse of what lies behind the curtain of the material world.  The human brain remains the most complicated thing we know about in the universe, but we need to discover how to harness its power, as many in fact over the centuries have done. idea

      Two things which have been helping me heal from PMR are light treatment, and heat.  

      Here is a "Grook" by Piet Hein:

      THE MIRACLE OF SPRING

      We glibly talk

      of nature's laws

      but do things

      have a natural cause?

      Black earth turned into

      yellow crocus

      is undiluted

      hocus-pocus.   🌷

  • kathleen65757
    kathleen65757

    Posted

    I have read about another supplement we can take to help our bones today.  It is zinc. It is found in meat and some fruits and vegetables but we seem to not be getting enough of this one like so many others. 

    Our environment seems to be letting us down or we have damaged it so much that is does not give us the goodness in our foods we used to get unfortunately!

    • Aristotle13
      Aristotle13 kathleen65757

      Posted

      I am ploughing my way through the book and I have reached the section where it looks at all the various items that affect our bones. It was with some dismay that I read the paragraphs on caffeine and discovered that both tea and coffee cause small amounts of cacium to be leached from the bones. Over some years, the amount leached becomes quite significant and contributes directly to helping cause OP. So far, the only sustitute that I can have that doesn't cause other problems, is water. Maybe I should put less coffee in the mix. Bye-bye to wake-up shots that give you a good hit.

      Not reading any more today!

    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Aristotle13

      Posted

      Not giving up my cup of tea! I have had to give up so many things that it is one I shall keep! 

      Now I cannot have nuts or seeds due to diverticulitis.

      I love my cuppa!

    • Anhaga
      Anhaga Aristotle13

      Posted

      I'm not giving up tea either, and I think the benefits outweigh any bad effects, if any.  In fact green tea may be actively helpful for the bones.
    • kathleen65757
      kathleen65757 Anhaga

      Posted

      There is a limit. My quality of life has been kicked enough without my tea being taken off me! 
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