[quote]Angelbutt wrote:
Whisper9999 wrote:
Really!?! What I have read is misleading. What the author was attacking was our societies’ belief that consuming massive amounts of Calcium would solve our osteoporosis problem.
The author’s right in that calcium isn’t the only requirement for strong bones.
The chief materials that give bones their structure are collagen and calcium phosphate. Therefore, we need protein, calcium, and phosphorus in the the diet to provide the bare essentials of bone tissue.
We also need vitamin D, which acts as a hormone to promote calcium absorption, vitamin A for bone remodeling, and vitamin C for collagen synthesis and the formation of mature bone cells (osteocytes). To a lesser extent, we also need vitamin K and B12 for collagen synthesis and magnesium and potassium for the maintenence of bone density.
There’s currently some question if high-salt diets contribute to osteoperosis, too, since sodium causes calcium excretion if consumed in high amounts. Potassium seems to counteract this.
Bone formation is also regulated by hormones, specifically estrogen and testosterone in adulthood. Children use thyroid hormones and insulinlike growth factors. Then when they reach puberty the sex hormones kick in, and they get a growth spurt. You can see the importance of sex hormones for bones in post-menopausal women and females with amenhorrea who both lose bone tissue at rapid rates.
Increased calcium consumption is touted by health professional more than the other nutrients because calcium is typically lacking, whereas protein and phosporous are not as problematic. Vitamin C is also considered a “problem nutrient” like calcium (That’s why both must be listed on food labels), but my guess as to why it’s not encouraged as much as calcium is because it is needed in lesser amounts. They’re all still important, however.[/quote]
Wow! You’re a walking encyclopedia! I appreciate all the info.
What interested me about what you said above is that it does not explain why Western societies (in general) have much worse osteoporosis than the great majority of other cultures (or so I have read). I think the average Joanna Doe gets sufficient Ca, protein, Vit C, etc. Somehow the American diet accelerates this process and the acidosis theory seems pretty reasonable. Or, based on what you said, it could be hormonal. Perhaps our diets tweak our hormones in a negative way?