Home from the Hospital Struggling to Restore Bone Health

I wanted to make the title FU, Big Pharma but that seemed inappropriate although it is becoming increasingly clear that pharmaceutical companies mix well with mainstream doctors and unnecessary drugs are pushed on us regardless of their side effects.  So, here we are, finally home with only two more actual chemo weeks to go and Perry is perking back up after her most recent week in the hospital.  But, now that she is eating well but lost even more weight (which frankly seemed impossible at her already extremely low weight, less than 50 pounds), I really need to get some nutrients back into her depleted body.  She has a Mark Hyman, MD appointment in early June and maybe a new supplement plan will help as well.

For now, she needs to improve her bone strength after breaking her wrist in a fall there is concern about brittle thin bones.  Annemarie Colbin's book on bone health is my favorite, but, alas, I lent it out...must buy it again. She founded the Natural Gourmet Institute, a cooking school here in New York and she lectures and writes about diet and nutrition extensively.  She spoke at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition when I was a student there and since then I have dabbled in a few cooking classes offered at Natural Gourmet. I think she agrees with me that calcium absorption matters significantly more than calcium intake.  So, nasty animal products that are acidic are probably not the best route.  However, a lower acid cheese that can be less protein but high in calcium might be a possibility.  A glass of skim milk is absolutely out of the question with high protein content, yikes. (Calcium leaves with your urine if you eat a lot of meat and milk, thus the western world osteoporosis epidemic vs the unheard of osteoporosis in many parts of the world.)  Osteoporosis rates are distinctly less in societies where people eat little or no dairy. "For every gram of protein you eat, you lose 1 to 2 milligrams of calcium in your urine." (Willcox, Bradley and Craig, and Makoto Suzuki, The Okinawa Program referring to Weisener, R.L., and C.L. Ksumdieck. 2000. Dairy Foods and Bone Health: examination of the Evidence. Am J Clin Nutr 72:681-89; Heaney, R.P. 1993. Protein Intake and the Calcium Economy. J Am Diet Assoc 93(11):1259-60.)

The other thing out of the question is any medicine that prevents the blood / heart from pulling calcium out of the bones to do its job maintaining a proper balance elsewhere in the body.  Those medicines are linked to heart attacks and other potentially fatal problems although heck, maybe some people prefer to go out with highly calcified bones...in our family, we are not willing to sacrifice the health of one body part for another.  (With the huge exception of using chemo on the cancer and even that is something we still question). It does not work that way in nature, but it sure does in our Big Pharma new world.

Flavonoids and Vitamin D also play an important role in long term bone health.  The flavonoids in soy are bone strengthening so a healthy source of soy is welcome but somewhat hard to find since genetically modified soy is spreading rampantly.  So, Vitamin D...I am still hugely big on it. I am even considering allowing one that tastes good, a D3 gummy of a respectable brand. Sunshine is a great source of D so overdoing sunscreen can really hurt your health.

So, here it is, our bone health diet which is in fact consistent with overall health.  We will start with lots of greens with highly absorbable calcium content.  Kale, already a mainstay in our household, is a great source of calcium and many other nutrients.  Other vegetables with high calcium content include turnip greens, beet greens, collard greens, bok choy, cabbage and other cruciferous plants such as broccoli.  Also, seaweed is a huge source of calcium and brings with it fucoidan and a plethora of other antioxidants and is generally a known superfood.

Black sesame seeds, with about twice the calcium of white, are my other favorite source of high calcium intensely delivered and delicious.  I will sometimes roll tofu (also high calcium) in it and bake for a crunchy entree, and the kids will devour the Mrs. May's black sesame seed little chunks of what I call candy but some may refer to as a healthy snack.  I have been known to allow a Bissinger's black sesame crunch, a dark chocolate covered delicious dessert on occasion as well. Four small pieces contain 20 per cent of the RDA of calcium.  And, I can sprinkle black sesame seeds onto salad, fruit salad and stir fried vegetables.  Also, tahini (with regular sesame seeds) is a good source and I can throw it into a smoothie or hummus or even use it in granola.

Blackstrap molasses is my calcium fall back.  It is high in iron too so watch out if you are already high in iron especially from animal products.  Anyway if you get the deepest blackest brands you can get 20 per cent of the RDA in a tablespoon.  We love it with peanut butter on a spoon or a corn thin, yum.  I also use it to sweeten granola or other baked goods.

Soy is a good calcium source (as well as being high in flavonoids), even edamame has some while tofu is usually processed with a natural calcium.  I once in a while get organic local tofu homemade by a family that grows soy and sells tofu and vegetables at the farmer's market.  Tempeh is also a good source but I generally try not to overdo soy and I am careful to see where it grew.  I am not a huge believer that the phytoestrogens are bad for you (I think they are good) but I am a believer that genetically modified soy or any product that breaks soy down and uses soy protein isolate is more harmful than helpful.  I will not go for large amounts of fortified soy milk to drink or anything like that.

So, we aim to repair Perry's bones and everything else that the chemo has wiped out and we will look into some alternative cancer remedies to keep working on her recovery and rehabilitation. And, for now, we will do our best to incorporate a natural approach to healing no matter what the objections of our mainstream team of doctors are.