Tag Archives: strength

The Truth About Maintaining Strong Bones

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Would you rather be getting a hip replacement or doing hip thrusters when you’re 80?

The secret to maintaining healthy, strong bones is not just taking a calcium supplement.

Here’s a little secret I’d like to let you in on, almost everyone actually gets enough calcium… they are just missing the cofactors (helpers) that allow the body to use it!

There are 103 known minerals and at least 18 that are essential to the body. We cannot produce them so we must get them for food. While they only compose 4% of our body they play many important roles!

Roles of minerals

  • Cofactor molecules for biological activities like enzyme reactions
  • Maintain the pH balance in the body
  • Help transport nutrients in and out of cells
  • Maintain proper nerve conduction
  • Contract and relax muscles
  • Control tissue growth
  • Provide structural support (bones!)

Our mineral supply is concentrated heavily in the skeletal system (99% calcium). Minerals are a primary factor in healthy bones, which are just hard, calcified connective tissue. Bones form at birth and continue to rebuild and repair after. Calcium is the most well known mineral and, come a certain age, the doctor will recommend people start to supplement with it, especially women. We think at a certain age we’ll just have to take them for the rest of our lives. But we don’t need to spend the money on calcium supplements, instead we need to focus on balancing the cofactors!

Calcium cofactors:

Systemic pH- Healthy bodies keep maintain themselves at a certain pH level (7.4). When blood is too acidic it pulls calcium from the tissues, when it’s too alkaline calcium separates and excess can be deposited in inappropriate tissues.

Proper hormonal functions- Certain hormones help regulate calcium like thyroid, adrenal, sex and parathyroid hormones.

Hydration- Being properly hydrated allows blood to be fluid enough to transport calcium throughout body.

Presence of other minerals- Calcium needs manganese, boron, copper and zinc for proper use.

Vitamins- Vitamin D helps increase level of calcium in blood and decreases loss in urine.

Fatty acids- Transport calcium across cell membrane into the cell and helps increase calcium levels in tissues.

Functioning digestion- Calcium is only absorbed in an acid environment, so it needs the stomach to produce enough hydrochloric acid at the right level for this task.

Tips for maintaining bone health:

Get in vitamins A,D & K2 - Eat liver, egg yolks, grassfed butter or ghee, fermented veggies and get sun exposure by going outside midday and working up to 15 mins without sunblock before getting into shade.

Vitamin C- Helps with collagen formation. Eat fresh fruits and veggies or supplement if needed.

Supplement with magnesium- This mineral is missing from the standard diet due to soil degradation and is very important in bone strength among other things. There are different types of magnesium supplements, most of which are fine, except magnesium oxide which doesn’t absorb as well.

Eat healthy fats to decrease inflammation.

Avoid foods you may be sensitive to. Whenever we eat foods that produce an immune response it means there will be system inflammation.

Have full fat, grass fed (raw if possible) diary, but only if tolerated!

Eat collagen- This means consuming bone broth and gelatin. You can add collagen powder to smoothies, coffees or water and experiment with making jello.

Exercise- Get in some walking every day. Weight bearing exercises, like weight lifting, has shown to increase bone density especially in postmenopausal women.

Get proper sleep- Try to go to sleep at the same time each night for a balanced circadian rhythm. Limit light exposure at night especially blue light. Try to get 8 hours of quality sleep in a dark room each night.

Manage stress- Cortisol blocks calcium absorption which decreases bone cell growth. Try yoga, meditation, being with friends or any other form of distressing you like.

 

Getting into these practices now will mean strong, healthy bones well into the future so you can keep doing what you love!

 

 

Exercise vs Movement

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Exercise vs. Movement: You may be exercising, but you’re not moving.

Humans and movement. We used to do a lot of it. Picture how much you would move if you didn’t have a car, escalators, grocery stores, TVs, telephones, strollers, water bottles, pre-made sheds from home depot, spices already ground up and bottled, washer and dryers or desk jobs.

Think of all that movement humans previously experienced on a daily basis that we now have outsourced to to other objects! While they are time saving and convenient, we’re now realizing how malnourished (of movement nutrients) our bodies have become.

The effect of sitting, or not moving the majority of our day, is now evident in how tight all the muscles going up the back of our body has become, in our gait, in our posture, in our neck with our head constantly jutting forward looking at a computer or looking down at a phone. We see people with knee pain, back pain, shoulder pain, which become bigger issues as we age like heart disease, digestive issues, pelvic floor disorder, osteoarthritis, and joint replacements. We are now seeing that our bodies are actually starving for movement!

But, I go to the gym!

Right, but think about the amount of time you spend at the gym? An hour a day equals 7 hours a week of movement and then the rest of the hours we are mostly in the same position, this is what I mean by actively sedentary. Think about what you are doing when you are not exercising? Are you sitting in a car? Sitting at a desk or standing at a counter? Sitting on the couch? Doing a repetitive motion of some sort? Our movement variety is low and we are essentially starving our cells. Just like how our cells need different food micronutrients they also need different movement micronutrients. We can’t just eat carrots all day and be healthy, we need a variety of food. It’s the same with movement.

If you go to a CrossFit class you are at least getting a constantly varied work out, but instead of considering that your movement for the day, consider exercise as just one of the types of movements. Movement isn’t just push presses, deadlifts and rowing but can also be blinking, fidgeting, walking, gazing into the distance, reaching up to change a lightbulb, squatting and even getting goosebumps.

Our hunter-gatherer ancestors moved 10x more than we do, humans evolved to move! We are starving our muscles, bones and cells…Lets begin to get a bigger variety of movements into our day and feed our cells!

Ok, so I know many of us probably need our cars.

But try looking for different ways to add movement in. Make it like a game and start to think about different ways you can add in more nutritious movement into your day!

  • Walk more. 10,000 steps, or about 5 miles, is the minimum recommendation. Try parking further away or doing laps around the store before you begin shopping. There are many ways to get more walking into your day!
  • Get audiobooks so the time you spend sitting and reading you can be walking and reading.
  • Sit on the floor more. When we sit on the floor we naturally move around in different positions. You can even get a Japanese style table and eat on the floor!
  • Think about food prep. Instead of using all those kitchen gadgets, use some muscle power. Squat down and peel your veggies instead of standing at the counter, or get a mortar and pestle and grind your own spices.
  • Carry things. Instead of using a cart, carry your bags (if you don’t have too many, or enlist the whole family!) or carry your kids instead of a stroller.
  • Fidget. Moving around, sitting in different positions and getting up from your desk all count as movement!
  • Squat more. While brushing your teeth or waiting for copies do some squats.
  • Climb and swing more. Use your arms for something other than typing!
  • Distance gaze. Every half hour or so take a break from your screen and look out the window or as far away as you can. Remember the eyes have muscles too!
  • Walk on more diverse terrain. We walk on flat surface all day! Roads, sidewalks, floors in houses and other buildings are all hard and flat but our feet and ankles are made for a variety of terrain.

Awareness is its own nutrient. Now that I’ve put these ideas in your head you will find yourself thinking about how to get up and move more!

For more information on all things movement check out the book Move Your DNA by Katy Bowman.