Low Carb, Osteoporosis, and Calcium by Tanya Zilberter How to get enough calcium on a low carb diet

Low Carb, Osteoporosis, and Calcium

First, let me address the worries about osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a condition in which the amount of bone tissue isso low that bones fracture easily in response to minimal stress or force.It affects more than 25 million Americans, 80 percent of whom are women.At higher risks are white or Asian women who are in the early stages of menopause.

Certain lifestyle factors will increase the risk: smoking, drinkingalcohol in excess, exercising too little, and not taking enough calcium withfood or supplements. There also are some medications that can rob your bodyof calcium.

You can see that though it is true that calcium intakeis very important for prevention of osteoporosis, there are many other thingsyou can do to prevent it:

1. Eat a proper diet, one that is rich not only in calcium but in all essential vitamins and minerals.
2. Exercise three to five times a week. Find a workout that fits your lifestyle;one that you enjoy and therefore, will stick with. Weight training has beenproven to greatly reduce the risk of osteoporosis.
3. If you’re a smoker, quit now. It will reduce your risk of osteoporosis — not to mention heart disease, stroke, lung cancer and a host of other illnesses.
4. True, wine can be good for you, if you know when to say when. The recommended intake is one to two glasses a day.

While it’s a good idea to cut back on dairy products, you needn’t givethem up all together, which brings me to the second question:

How much is too much?

The table below shows you that there's no serious reason why you should give up on cheese altogether.

You can also see that one of the best cheeses considering the carb-to-calcium ratio is Gouda; the worst — and possibly the most surprising — is the long-timedieters’ favourite, cottage cheese.

There are other sources of calciumbesides diary products. Though the carb-to-calcium ratio in dark green leafyvegetables is not as good as it is in cheeses, these veggies are a good sourcefor very valuable nutrients, phytochemicals and fiber, so put them in yoursalad! The table below lists just a few of the calcium-rich greens you canadd to your menu.

One more important note about diary products: Some doctors thinkthat even though milk is relatively high in carbohydrates (about 11 gramsper cup,) "friendly" bacteria eat these carbs up during fermentation. Theauthors of the low-carb GO-diet, Jack Goldberg and Karen O'Mara, advise tohave at least an eight-ounce cup of yogurt or kefir (WHAT’S KEFIR?) a day,without worrying about the carb grams.

A few more notes about osteoporosis prevention:

Adequate dietary calcium intake and maintaining a physically activelifestyle in late decades of life could reduce in the risk of osteoporosisand hence improve the quality and perhaps quantity of life in the elderlypopulation.

-Journal of Bone & Mineral Research. 15(2):322-31, 2000

Sufficient calcium supplementation for all calcium intakes is above 1,000 mg a day.

-Annals of Internal Medicine, 130(11):897-904, 1999

Results suggests that lobster-shell powder could be a valuable source of dietary calcium in increasing bone mineral density.

-Journal of Nutritional Science & Vitaminology, 38(6):555-63, 1992

Prevention efforts need to be directed toward education related tothe need for adequate dietary calcium and the need for weight-bearing exercise.

-AAOHN Journal, 46(4):181-91; quiz 192-3, 1998

Research studies have documented that both aerobic exercise and weight training can be effective in the maintenance and building of bone mineral density in postmenopausal women.