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How A Man Lived in Three Centuries - The complete guide to Natural Health
Based on the story of a foundation member of the Natural Health Society who achieved exceptional health and longevity, this book spells out the the principles and practices of the Natural Health lifestyle.
Can’t Lose Weight? You could have Syndrome X
A truly masterful account of how to lose weight, especially valuable for those people who have tried ‘everything’ and their excess refuses to budge.
Reboundoz Health Bounce: Package 1
The Reboundoz is a good quality Rebounder, with Package One comprising the Half-fold Rebounder, Carry Bag and Power Pack DVD.
Osteoporosis – Healthy Bones for Life
One of the most rapidly increasing diseases in the Western world is osteoporosis. Osteo means ’bone’ and porous means ’thinning’, thus it is a disease of thinning of bones. As they become thin, they weaken and become prone to fracture. The resulting fractures occur most commonly in the hips, lower back and wrists.
Below, naturopath and osteopath, Greg Fitzgerald, summarises how you can have healthy bones for life.
1. Consume fresh vegetables and fresh fruits liberally and daily. The veges can be as salads or lightly cooked. You don’t necessarily need to eat vegetarian, but it is critical to eat much more of these plant-based foods than is advised by dieticians and government health departments.
Fruits and vegetables are alkali-forming and are the most important foods to provide the nutrients to support your immune system. They are the protective foods. Enjoy the different colours and eat them raw, lightly cooked, juiced and in soups. Also include potatoes, sweet potato, pumpkin and avocados. Potatoes are a very healthy food despite being much maligned because of their high GI (GI = glycaemic index).
Osteoporosis is the result of an acidic condition of the system as a result of too few of these alkali-forming veges and fruits being consumed.
2. Minimise animal foods–red meat, chicken, fish, eggs and, of course, dairy foods. If you do want to eat red and white meats, the recommended limit is small quantities two to three times a week for otherwise healthy people, balanced on the plate by fresh vegetables – and have at least six different veges.
3. Get active! This is particularly critical for bone health. There are two types of activity – aerobic and anaerobic – both beneficial for bone health.
I recommend regular walking as the best aerobic activity. Walk four to six times a week, 30 to 60 minutes per session. Walk briskly if possible, otherwise walk slowly if you are unfit, very overweight or lacking your usual energy. If you are exhausted for whatever reason, do not walk or exercise at all, but rest.
Other good forms of aerobic activity are running (not on concrete or bitumen), rowing, swimming, bike riding and rebounding.
Anaerobic – or resistance – exercise helps strengthen bones by strengthening the muscles and their tendons and ligaments. This form of exercise is a very powerful antidote to premature ageing and cannot be recommended highly enough. Try weight training, gardening or even vigorous housework.
4. Don’t smoke! Smoking reduces the effectiveness of cells called osteoblasts that build new bone. It also increases calcium excretion via the urine.
5. Avoid coffee, tea, soft drinks and refined carbohydrates. Caffeine and other methyl-xanthine compounds in coffee and tea cause a strong acidic effect which facilitates bone-mineral resorption. In other words, minerals including calcium are taken from the bones and into the bloodstream (resorbed).
Soft drinks are also highly acidic (due to phosphoric acid), as are processed carbohydrates. Processed carbs are white sugar, white flour, corn starch including high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and other sugar derivatives like dextrose, maltose, etc.
6. Avoid alcohol. Alcohol also inhibits the formation of new bone.
7. Have adequate sunshine! The sun provides vitamin D for the body, yet it is an established fact that many elderly people and young females are deficient in vitamin D.
8. Avoid drugs as much as possible. There are many drugs which, through one mechanism or another, leach calcium from the bones; they include anti-epileptic drugs, laxatives, antacids, the contraceptive pill, and so on, but the worst are corticosteroids (cortisone, etc).
Bones are living tissue. They need nothing special in order to remain strong and healthy.
Follow the above recommendations and you will be rewarded with exceptional health and strong bones that last a lifetime.
For Greg Fitzgerald’s complete article go to Osteoporosis – the Truth Behind the Myths.
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