Osteoporosis OA is caused by a depletion in bone density, called "porous bones" so that they become weak and brittle with age, resulting in fractures. However, if there are adequate nutrients to support their structure and repair as well as favourable environmental conditions for the bone formation and restructure, your bones will provide enough strength and support throughout your life. The foundations of your bones are laid down early in life but they are being constantly remodelled all the time and it is never too early to start taking preventative steps. Post-menopausal women are at higher risk of OA due to the hormone changes but there is much that can be done to prevent excessive loss if healthy changes are made early enough.

Diet & Sunshine

Vitamin D is one of the most important nutrients for bone formation. Make sure you have a blood test with your doctor to check your levels (at least 100mmol/L) as I find many clients today are deficient as they are either working inside all day, are overly conscientious in avoiding the sun or live at a latitude where there simply is not enough sunlight exposure. The Vitamin D producing UVB rays are absent all day in winter at latitudes south of 35 degree which is everything south of Canberra! Being a fat soluble vitamin, food sources include cod liver oil, butter, oily fish eg. sardines, mackerel, salmon and milk. Most people are not consuming enough though so you will need sunlight exposure everyday in the morning without sunscreen or sunglasses or to supplement. The recommended dosage is 1000 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day but if you are already deficient, then this maintenance dose will need to be increased.

Calcium sources include soups made with bones, seaweeds, full fat dairy (you need the fat to absorb the calcium properly), vegetables like kale and broccoli, almonds, tahini and oily fish mushed up with the bones eg. sardines or salmon. The recommended dosage is at least 1,000 milligrams (mg) of elemental calcium (1500mg for post-menopausal women) every day. You need other minerals as well which work with the calcium which come from a broad healthy diet with lots of vegetables and salads.

Soft drinks, especially Coke, coffee, sugar, sweeteners, diruetics, alcohol and cigarettes all leech calcium and minerals out of the body. Research shows that junk food and carbonated drinks in teenage years are a primary cause of osteoporosis.

Exercise

Weight bearing exercise is essential to deposit the minerals into the bones. This includes walking with hand weights, jogging, squats, lunges, push ups, resistance exercises, yoga but does not include swimming unfortunately! Our bodies are made to move every day so include some exercise into your daily routine with duration being more important than intensity.

Stress  

Stress hormones strip the body of vital minerals and create acidity in the body which accelerates bone demineralisation. In our stress-driven modern world, relaxation is vital for everyone. Relaxation is different to sleep and uses different brain waves. Choose a method that suits you and make a commitment to yourself to spend to spend some time every day practicing relaxation. eg. meditation, drink chamomile tea, stretching, yoga, gardening, spend time in nature, remember to breathe, counselling, massage, creativity: writing, art, cooking, singing - especially in the shower, dancing - even around the room for 10 minutes is a great release!

To boost your mental power and speed up your memory recall, include these foods in your diet:

In the 1980s, the San Antonio Heart Study examined consumers of artificially sweetened drinks who gained about 8kg/year and had greater rises in the body mass index than the controls. The weight gain correlated with dosage.
Artificial sweeteners, as they are 200 times sweeter than normal sugar, encourage sugar craving and sugar dependence. Repeated exposure trains flavour preferences.

Gout is caused by excess uric acid levels in your body forming needle-like crystals that deposit in your feet, causing pain and potential immobility. Over the past three decades there has been a 250 per cent increase in the rates of gout, which has been linked to an increased consumption of fructose-rich drinks such as soft drinks and orange juice. Women who had one 180mL serving of soft drink per day were 74 per cent more likely to develop gout than women who consumed one per month or less. Women who had 180mL of orange juice per day were 41 per cent more likely to develop gout.

Source: Journal of the American Medical Association

A new study showed that after having beetroot juice there was an increase in blood flow to white matter in the frontal lobes of the brains. These are the areas of the brain associated with dementia and loss of other mental functions. The reason beetroot juice has this effect is its high nitrate content. In your mouth, good bacteria convert nitrate to nitrite and nitrites help open up blood vessels in your body.

Source: Nitric Oxide: Biology and Biochemistry

There’s growing concern among experts that the proliferation of glowing gadgets like computers may fool your brain into thinking that it’s still daytime after the sun has gone down, which can disturb sleep patterns and exacerbate insomnia.

Such concerns are not new – Thomas Edison may have created these problems when he invented the light bulb. But the problem has grown worse thanks to the popularity of Apple’s new slate computer, the iPad.

Many consumers use and iPad to read at night, and paper books or e-book readers like the Amazon Kindle, which does not emit its own light, the iPad’s screen shines light directly into your eyes from a relatively close distance.

According to CNN: “What makes the iPad & laptops more likely to disrupt sleep patterns than, say, a television sitting across the bedroom or a lamp that illuminates a paper book, is that these shoot far less light straight into the eye, researchers said.”

When light receptors in your eyes are triggered, they signal your brain to ‘stay awake’. To do that, your brain stops secreting melatonin, which is both a hormone and a potent antioxidant against cancer.

Normally, your brain starts secreting melatonin around 9 or 10 pm, which makes you sleepy. These regularly occurring secretions thus help regulate your sleep cycle. However, if you regularly trick your brain into altering this cycle, sleep disturbances are not far behind. It can even create a state of permanent “jet leg”.

• There are big differences in the types of alcohol you consume. For example, a cocktail can often contain between 2-5 standard drinks. A healthier option is to monitor and limit your amount of standard drinks throughout an event.
• It is not just the alcohol but also what you mix with it. A humble cocktail can often contain between 68-340 calories per drink just for the alcohol. Now imagine if it contained lemonade, cream and other goodies…
• Hydrate, hydrate and then hydrate some more. Hydration is calculated based on a person’s weight—i.e. 30ml per kg body weight. Then, additional re-hydration is required for every glass of coffee, tea, alcohol or soft drink drunk. When you add this all together some time people need to drink as much as 3.5L per day. The old rule of one alcoholic drink followed by a glass of water in between is a good general recommendation. Remember—most hangovers are often simply caused by dehydration.
• Replenish what is lost. Alcohol depletes our reserves of key vitamins and minerals. The most important group that are lost are B vitamins. A quick tip is to take a B complex before you head out and then an additional one during the night. It reduces the incidence of hangovers markedly, provides valuable nutrients for your liver so it can process the alcohol and keeps your mood (and your wits) positive so helps you have a better night. Food sources are tricky as the alcohol is likely to destroy them through digestion so supplementation is the most realistic.
• Protect your liver. Another important prescription is the wonderful herbal medicine called St Mary's Thistle (Silybum marianum). Taking this herb before the big night can make a huge impact on your recovery and your enjoyment of the evening - well worth investing! Additionally, it helps to protect our liver in the long term so reduces long term effects and damage.
• It's too late, the big night is over already...The best approach is to hydrate with pure water and obviously be gentle with your body. Expecting it to run a marathon is simply stupid; expecting your poor and overworked liver to process a 'fry up' is also a bad idea.
• Extract taken from The Food Coach Newsletter: www.thefoodcoach.com.au
  

You’ve heard the saying “eat your leafy greens”? Well, here they are, all blended up and ready to drink in a glass.

To create a green smoothie I use as a green base, spinach, parsley, mint and basil. It’s important to rotate the green base, so sometimes I use carrot tops, bok choy, beetroot leaves, purple leaf lettuce, broccoli, spinach, chard, or kale. Then for flavor to make it palatable I add what ever fruits I have in the house – apples, pineapple, banana, lime, watermelon, coconut, rockmelon, avocado etc. Then finally to liquify it you need to add 2 glasses of water. One important thing you need is a very powerful blender. Not all blenders have a high enough rev count to break this down into a drink.

Leafy greens are full of minerals and nutrients like folic acid, niacin, vit A, B, C, D, E & K. They are high in calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc & selenium.

By blending the greens and not juicing them we are ingesting high levels of fibre. This fibre acts as a giant sponge, soaking up lots of toxins in the alimentary canal, cleansing the body.

The green smoothie is very alkalising for the body. Acidity has been found to contribute to the development of cancers and many other serious ailments. It’s been proven that leafy greens have very high pH levels, which is essential for a balanced alkalised body.

Extract taken from: Effortless Meditation Newsletter www.effortlessmeditation.com.au

Apple cider vinegar has had many significant supporters. In 400 BC Hippocrates was known to use it as a health tonic. American soldiers were said to have found it useful in combating scurvy, indigestion and pneumonia.

Since then numerous studies have been done on apple cider vinegar with suggested cures for indigestion allergies, sinus infections, acne, high cholesterol, flu, chronic fatigue, candida, acid reflux, sore throats, contact dermatitis, arthritis, and gout. Apple Cider Vinegar also breaks down fat and is widely used to lose weight. It has also been reported that a daily dose of apple cider vinegar in water has high blood pressure under control in two weeks!

Apple cider vinegar also alkalises your body and balances your pH levels. Drink 1tsp-1tb in a glass of water before your meal or use it on salads as a dressing. Use organic unfiltered apple cider vinegars.

Extract taken from Effortless Meditation Newsletter: www.effortlessmeditation.com.au