Ask the average person for their top osteoporosis prevention tips and chances are they’d have but one to offer you: drink milk.
It’s a message we’ve all had drilled into us, but since you’re reading this, I’m going to assume you already know just how false it is.
So false, in fact, that the higher the dairy consumption in any given country, the higher its osteoporosis rates are likely to be – and vice versa.
In Top 10 Raw Food Rips for Osteoporosis, seasoned raw and living foods expert Max Tuck outlines exactly why that is: pasteurised dairy products give a “triple whammy in favour of bone degeneration” – they’re highly acidic, too high in protein, and block assimilation of minerals essential for bone health.
As the author also explains, when it comes to maintaining bone density, calcium is a lot less important than we’ve been led to think. Far more important is magnesium, though she also covers seven other minerals, including some little-discussed ones, that are essential for bone health.
The chapter in question is entitled, ‘The forgotten minerals – why green is the new white’ because, as the author writes, “The best raw diet for strong bones is always going to be that based on greens, greens and more greens”. Anyone who started this book “sceptical that the adult human can survive, nay thrive, without the incorporation of the mammary secretions of a large ruminant in their diet,” will no longer be so by this chapter.
However, Tuck suggests going easy on certain other raw foods, including fruit – “Overconsumption of fruit is one of the fastest ways in which to aggravate bone loss,” she cautions. This is because today’s commercially produced fruit is often hybridised, and picked long before it’s ripe, making it both high in sugar and low in minerals: two leading aggravating factors for osteoporosis.
Another big no-no is ‘raw’ chocolate. This is sold as a health food due to its high level of antioxidants but the author clarifies that, “the fact that it also contains caffeine, and is often used in combination with sugar and fat, renders it a bone demineralising food.”
The first seven of the ten tips cover what to eat and what not to eat, and in the eighth the author outlines the supplements she recommends and why, as well as those you should never consider taking, and why (in this category come conventional calcium pills, “generally made of chalk and therefore not in the slightest bioavailable”.)
The ninth chapter opens by outlining the link between stress and osteoporosis, which is basically and shockingly that it, “can rot your bones faster than a can of fizzy drink.” The chapter segues into the best overview I’ve ever read of the link between the six sex hormones and osteoporosis – a key part of the puzzle given that women have 10 times the rate of osteoporosis men do.
The last chapter of the book covers exercise and its importance in osteoporosis prevention, and overall health, with the author writing that, “75% of the benefits derived from the raw and living foods diet are lost if you don’t exercise.” In this chapter she reveals the exercise that can increase bone strength by over 10% in just 12 weeks.
At just over 100 pages and with its clear, easy and engaging style, this is a book you can easily sail through in a couple of hours. As well as being the best and most comprehensive guide I’ve personally ever read to maintaining strong bones, it is also a great little treatise on why raw vegan is best for every aspect of health.
Follow this 10-point plan for preventing (or reversing) osteoporosis and at the same time you’ll be preventing (or reversing) every other chronic illness in existence.
As the author writes in the chapter entitled ‘Why raw food?’, “For longevity, well being and reversal of disease states, the raw and living foods dietary regimes have been demonstrated to give unparalleled results. The correct raw diet can rebuild your failing structural elements. It’s time to love your bones and think of them as living, breathing entities, rather than just boring inert scaffolding. They deserve as much attention as your heart, liver, skin and brain. Feed them well and they will support you forever.”
Top 10 Raw Food Tips for Osteoporosis is available in both book and ebook format from the author’s website, The Raw Food Scientist.
Go here to read a recent article by the author on living foods for optimum physical and spiritual health.
