Your Secret Weapon for Healthy Bones

Happy World Osteoporosis Day!  Happy in that it’s raising awareness, and that’s a good thing.  Worldwide, Osteoporosis affects one in three women and one in five men over the age of fifty, but it’s not exclusive to the over 50s.  Known as a ‘silent disease’, oftentimes people are unaware of their bone density loss until they suffer a fracture. 

Throughout childhood dem bones dem bones really do need calcium as well as vitamin D to help us absorb it, enabling us to reach peak bone density by the age of 25 – 30. These micronutrients are essential for the prevention and treatment of osteoporosis as is weight-bearing exercise. From the macronutrient family, protein is an important body cell reparation and builder.  Other bone friendly nutrients include vitamin K, manganese and potassium all of which are contained with within prunes.

Let's shine the spotlight on prunes...When I think of prunes I think of that big bowl in the hotel buffet, which people under the age of not-caring avoid like the plague as helping yourself to a bowl of them would be the equivalent of standing on a chair and shouting ‘I have an announcement to make – I am constipated!’.

Digestive system benefits aside, prunes are becoming known for their bone building benefits. For the last twenty years, Dr. Bahram H. Arjmandi has been at the forefront of research into prunes or ‘dried plums’ as he calls them (I see where you’re going here doc - nice try).  Chairman of the Department of Nutrition, Food and Exercise Sciences at Florida State University, his studies show that in conjunction with sufficient calcium and vitamin D, may help prevent and even reverse bone loss.

He claims that during his career he has tested numerous fruits and none of them have come close to having the positive effect on bone density that prunes have.  In 2011, over a twelve month period two groups of osteopenic (precursor to osteoporosis) women were studied. Along with calcium and vitamin D supplements, one group consumed 100g of prunes per day while the other consumed 75g of dried apple a day. The prune ladies after a year had ‘significantly’ higher bone mineral density compared to the dried apple ladies.

While the original the recommendation was to consume 10 – 12 prunes a day, following a further study, this has been revised down to the more achievable 5 – 6 prunes.  Channel 4’s ‘Superfoods: The Real Story’ recently included a feature on prunes and an interview with Dr. Arjmandi. They also revealed that prunes are highly recommended for astronauts who suffer bone loss due to floating around space stations for six or so months at a time.  Now that’s a bit more sexy.

Where do you find all these bone friendly nutrients?

Calcium – milk, cheese, yogurt, spinach, kale, collards, soya beans, whitebeans, tinned salmon, sardines, figs, whey protein, fortified cereals.

Vitamin D – sunshine! Tuna, mackerel, salmon, fortified foods and drinks, egg yolks. In countries that get a little less sunshine a Vitamin D supplement is recommended.

Protein – eggs, fish, chicken, beef (ideally go for lean), turkey, dairy products, beans, legumes, nuts, seeds, tofu, quinoa, soya, spinach.

Vitamin K – spinach, cabbage, brussel sprouts,cauliflower, kale, liver, asparagus, broccoli, beans, soya beans, eggs, strawberries, prunes.

Manganese – beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, unrefined grains, prunes.

Weight-bearing exercise can include walking, hiking, running, body weight exercises, weight training, training with dynabands and general muscle strengthening exercises including Pilates. If you do have osteoporosis however and are attending a fitness class or a gym, it’s important to let the instructor know so they can offer you advice on modifications.

To Coffee Or Not To Coffee?

I was reading yet another study today (while drinking my coffee) that drinking coffee ‘might’ add years to your life.  As a confirmed coffee lover I’m always drawn to read these articles.  Today’s article started with the quote "Our findings suggest that drinking four cups of coffee each day can be part of a healthy diet in healthy people".  This wasn’t quite the earth-shattering conclusion I’d hoped for.

 I’m studying with Precision Nutrition at the moment and found the following coffee information nugget particularly interesting when I happened upon it recently.  Do you know we all have a gene in our liver for making a particular enzyme that breaks down caffeine?  But because of small genetic differences, some of us have the enzyme that breaks down caffeine quickly, while some have the enzyme that breaks it down slowly. 

In people with the fast version of this enzyme, caffeine is processed and eliminated quickly leaving behind the antioxidants found in coffee which can help protect against free radicals.

For people with the slow enzyme the caffeine lingers longer, which can cause health problems.

Now straight off I can think of a friend with the slow version of that enzyme.  If she drinks a coffee in the morning she will have the caffeine jitters all day and subsequently will be lying awake all night – no doubt asking herself why she had that coffee. Whereas I can happily have 3 cups before midday without any ill effects and still get a good night’s sleep.

So it would seem with these studies which say x amount of cups a coffee a day or healthy or maybe not healthy – it really depends on the individual.

If you’d like to read a little more about the highs and lows of coffee have a look at Precision Nutrition’s ‘All About Coffee’ article by Brian St. Pierre http://www.precisionnutrition.com/all-about-coffee