Beyond Calcium Bone is not static; but a living tissue made of a protein scaffold onto which hard minerals such as calcium are deposited, like bricks being cemented on to a framework of steel. Both the protein framework and minerals are continuously undergoing a process of remodelling. Which is why the huge emphasis on munching the mineral calcium is says Katherine Tucker, associate professor of nutrition at Tufts University in Boston, USA, detracting from the real issues when it comes to bone health. Issues like how much of the calcium we eat is actually available to the bone and whether we are getting enough of the whole raft of other nutrients that new research shows are vitally importance in maintaining a sturdy skeleton. When it comes to calcium absorption it is common knowledge that vitamin D in oily fish like herrings, eggs and whole milk is needed to carry calcium across the intestinal wall. Only recently though has it been discovered that however busily you are consuming both calcium and vitamin D, if you have a cola drink, the phosphoric acid in the cola may trap calcium and block its absorption. This means there is little point in patting yourself on the back for a having a salmon sandwich supplying vitamin D and calcium rich yoghurt for lunch if you wash it down with a cola, diet or otherwise. The yoghurts valuable calcium gets bound to the phosphoric acid and passes out via your urine. The other problem with cola is that it is an 'acid-forming food' which means its phosphoric acid makes our blood more acidic. In a desperate bid to buffer this raised acidity some research appears to indicate that the body whips calcium which is alkaline from bones to restore the bloods pH. Which all in all potentially makes cola a bone crumbler. And even if this research does not bear out in future studies, one thing is for sure, all the time you're guzzling cola, you are less likely to be having drinks that could do your bones some good. Drinks like carbonated mineral water for example. Unlike cola, carbonated mineral waters are an 'alkali-forming food' because they are rich in alkali forming bicarbonate. This attribute according to new a study from Complutense University, Madrid in Spain, makes it a bone builder. The research showed that when women drank a litre of carbonated mineral water a day they lost less calcium in their urine than when drinking still mineral water. By helping to buffer blood acidity, the fizzy water appears to keep calcium safely locked away in the bones. Anyone following a high protein style diet would be especially well advised to accompany meals with a bottle of sparkling water. This is because protein foods like fish, meat, chicken, turkey and game, like cola, are acid-forming foods. Although essential for bone health because the very framework of bones is protein based and they are virtually the only foods rich in vitamin B12 a lack of which is associated with higher levels of osteoporosis, too much protein may have a calcium depleting effect on the bone. Slurping down plenty of carbonated mineral water will help to buffer the acid-forming effect of such foods. San Pellegrino makes an especially good choice since this particular water is also one of the richest in calcium and boasts a reasonable slug of silica, a trace mineral which scientists are also just recognising to be another vital ingredient in the nutritional cocktail required to create a hardy bone. Another of these crucial cocktail ingredients is vitamin K, making it especially important that we gobble up our greens, and the greener our greens are the better. Spinach and broccoli are the absolute blockbusters in the vitamin K stakes but dark green leaves of lettuce and cabbage along with Brussels sprouts all come in with respectable 'K' credentials. Like silica, vitamin K is necessary for creating a strong bone superstructure onto which the minerals such as calcium are then deposited. Vegetable oils contain vitamin K, but the hardening process called 'hydrogenation' they undergo to make them into margarine and cooking fats changes vitamins Ks structure for the worse. Research by the US Department of Agriculture has discovered that hydrogenated vitamin K is not only robbed of its bone-strengthening properties but also appears to block the body's ability to absorb natural, unprocessed vitamin K. Hydrogenated fats are found in many fast and convenience foods. Giving up these calorie-loaded foods may therefore not only benefit your waistline but also your bones. Especially since jettisoning such foods could also lower salt intakes and high salt diets have been shown in short-term studies to increase calcium losses from our body. Our bones could also benefit from giving sweets the dietary heave ho according to Harvard University scientists. Investigating the eating habits of 900 people they discovered those getting the highest proportion of their calories from sweets (around a fifth of their calories in total), had much lower bone density than those with a low sweet intake who got a third of their calories from fruit and vegetables. The bone building benefits of fruits and vegetables remained even when peoples' calcium intakes were not quite up to scratch. This could in part be because fruit and vegetables boosted intakes of vitamin K, but also because they boost other nutrients like the minerals potassium and magnesium and vitamin C also rose. All are increasingly being recognised as essential for accumulating and maintaining good bone density. And like carbonated mineral water, fruit and vegetables are 'alkaline-forming' foods. Certain vegetables like the soybeans and lentils have one further advantage. They are also rich in isoflavones, oestrogen-like supernutrients. Preliminary research from China just presented at an International Symposium in Orlando, Florida in the USA showed that eating soy foods daily - for example soybeans, soymilk and tofu, was linked with higher bone density in the hips of women. For those wishing to take a totally holistic approach to whipping bones into optimum health then perhaps the very best advice is to a 'Tom and Barbara' and adopt the 'Goodlife'. Why? Because scientists from the University of Arkansas have discovered that the moves involved in heavy-duty gardening are as effective as any strengthening exercises you could do in your local gym. It is well documented that such physical activity improves bone density, which means that you can benefit from all that pruning and digging as well as quite literally chomping on the fruits - and vegetables - of these labours. Cut Out and Keep
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