Increasing Calcium in diet for Osteoporosis

MOnica I'm a little confused. Your DEXA scan will give you a T score. If you haven't received your results, you can request them. The letter I received also had my FRAX results, which gave me my risk of suffering an osteoporotic fracture. Whoever subscribed you medication will have received those results and will know how frail you are.

You've obviously looked at the ROS site, which gives you all the information you need. There are suggested exercises and guidelines about nutrition and other lifestyle changes. What other advice do you think you could be given?

Incidentally, you do tick a box which predisposes you to osteoporosis - your age.

Did you have a hospital DEXA scan or was it only the Biobank one?

Monica, is it worth asking to speak to your GP about this and ask for some clarity?
I find it strange that you have had no follow up appointment.
My GP always contacts me after receiving a letter advising of new medication.

growstuff I know absolutely nothing about osteoporosis that I have not found out for myself.

As I have said I haven't seen a doctor or nurse and my minimal contact with the hospital has been two short conversations, clearly with a doctor with a long list of calls to make and wanting to get through them as quickly as possible. In them, all I was told was that I had osteoporosis and they were putting me on medication for life, thank you and good bye, you will not be hearing from us again.

I was surprised to discover I had the problem because, apart from anything else, I fall over regularly. I have a weak ankle and dyspraxia, and despite some quite bad falls, I have never broken anything, except the recently discovered fractured vertibrae, which I trace back to a fall 12 years ago, when I slipped on a wet grassy bank and landed with a thump on my back.

As I said I was surprised by the diagnosis as I tick none of the boxes that predispose me to the problem, but my real complaint has been about the casual way the hospital has treated me. I have been given none of the information you have received. As no one has seen me, beyond the DEXA scan, those dealing with me have no idea how fit or frail I am, have no idea what my exercise level is, no idea whether I I would benefit from seeing a physiotherapist or specialised nurse. In fact they know absolutely nothing about me apart from a DEXA scan and a date of birth.

I have just been given a pill and dismissed to sink or swim.

I just used this FRAX tool to calculate my risk over the next 10 years.

frax.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/tool.aspx?country=19

I'm 68, but then changed my age to 80.

My risk of a major osteoporotic incident changed from 15% to 36%. My risk of a hip fracture changed from 3.6% to 26%. There is absolutely nothing I can do about getting older - in fact, I'd prefer to get older than the alternative.

MOnica The important risk number for you is your future risk of breaking a bone after a minor fall.

Presumably, you know your T score, which can then be used in addition to other risk factors, using FRAX, to calculate your risk of having a fracture.

I was given all my data after I had a DXA scan. I have osteopenia and my 10 year risk is 15%.

Optimal levels of calcium, Vit D and exercise might help. I understand you were taking part in a UK Biobank study when this was all discovered. You probably know that Biobank has a vast data bank and is currently trying to find links between genetics, environment and lifestyle. It could be that there are risk factors which haven't yet been discovered.

The information will be helpful at a national or global level. At an individual level, there's nothing anybody can do about their genes, environment or past lifestyle history. I've had breast cancer, a heart attack and was diagnosed as T2 diabetic in my mid 30s. A risk tool wouldn't have shown that I was at particularly high risk of any of them _ I guess I just drew some short straws. That doesn't mean I don't do what I can to reduce my risk for the future (although I wish people would stop trying to sell snake oil).

Shwez

Hi you need to take K2 along with D3 . The K2 takes the calcium and puts it in your bones

I tried vitamin K and had a very bad experience. Ended up with gastritis which took 4 months to clear.

*amount of calcium in a pint of milk is unchanged whether you drink whole milk or skimmed milk.*

I understood that skimmed milk has slightly more calcium? In any case that's the only kind I drink as I don't really like the taste.

M0nica

which I have every reason to assume I did.

I appreciate the ROS questionnaire is not for those already diagnosed, but had I done it this time last year...........

You can't know that after all these years.

which I have every reason to assume I did.

I appreciate the ROS questionnaire is not for those already diagnosed, but had I done it this time last year...........

As I've explained before, your risk was established decades ago. Everybody loses bone mineral density, so the trick is to build up a high level when you're young and bone is still being formed.

Calculating risk in your case is irrelevant MOnica. You already know the risk. If you read the notes about the risk checker, it says that it's not for people with already-diagnosed osteoporosis.

I answered the general probability of getting osteoporosis questionnaire on the Royal Osteoporosis Society site and was reckoned a low risk for the disease, but I have it, which just goes to prove what I always say, that if only one in a million people might get something, someones got to be the one in a million and it could be you. And in this case it was me!

Several people in my family have osteoporosis but they are a very different body type to me, and certainly eat less have a more restricted diet.
I have milky coffee, porridge made with milk, a multivitamin with minerals, omega oil capsule, two eggs and a slice of toast for breakfast. I figure that there is enough calcium in that to see me through the day together with the additional nutrients to enable my body to absorb it!

On a more realistic note, my mother had ostdoporosis and was on a drug trial at Harwell some years ago. I don't know the name of the drug but the trial was successful and she was prescribed it until she died. She had a restricted diet as she was coeliac and I'm guessing that is why she was selected for the trial.

Unfortunately I do not like porridge, and cannot face milk in any form. So I will continue with my babybels.

We are in France at the moment and I have found a wide variety of babybels here; edam, cheddar and emmental. I have done a check on the UK and they are not available there, so I will back to England loaded up with them to put in the freezer and eat over the next month or so.

doubly436

Osteoporosis requires attention and ofcourse a calcium intake is required.. curcuminoids helps in improving your calcium and boost immunity.

Do you have any peer-reviewed scientific studies on this?

Osteoporosis requires attention and ofcourse a calcium intake is required.. curcuminoids helps in improving your calcium and boost immunity.

The calcium thing for women is both confusing and scary, although most everyone tries to ingest in some form. First of all I do not have osteoporosis, but I try to keep as much calcium in my diet as possible.

I do NOT take calcium tablets and never will. I tried them once and immediately *stopped them for this reason - they completely blocked me up!* It was as misery. There is medical information that shows calcium intake is for some is harmful. (Several links by posters.)

Vitamin D is a MUST! Many foods are good sources of calcium. Look online. Sunshine is an excellent source of Vit D which helps your body to process the calcium you take in. And daily exercise is also good for bones!

Don’t panic and don’t overtake too many calcium tabs.
USA Gundy

A bowl of Ready Brek will give you 60% of your daily requirements of calcium even more if you add plant milk. A lovely and easy way to take care of your bones. It was on a list of calcium rich foods provided by my hospital. Who would have thought it!!

Just to say Greek ‘style’ yoghurt is not the best. Choose Greek yoghurt, not style.

Thanks for that link MOnica. Unfortunately, it's not really conclusive. It's a meta-analysis, so includes a number of studies, but the conclusion is:

"Animal and cell studies suggest that dried plums and/or their extracts enhance bone formation and inhibit bone resorption through their actions on cell signaling pathways that influence osteoblast and osteoclast differentiation. These studies are consistent with clinical studies that show that dried plums may exert beneficial effects on bone mineral density (BMD). Long-term prospective cohort studies using fractures and BMD as primary endpoints are needed to confirm the effects of smaller clinical, animal and mechanistic studies."

In other words, they won't do you any harm, but only may exert beneficial effects on bone mineral density.

The problem I have with prunes is that they contain a lot of carbs for the other benefits they provide. Six prunes (90g) contain 34g of carbs and 144 calories. I could eat 140g of strawberries (which provide the same amount of fibre) and only eat 9g of carbs and 42 calories.

growstuff here is the reference. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28422064/

But there do not seem to be any comparative studies with other fruit, such as oranges, apples etc. , which for all we know may be just as efficacious as prunes.

Jumblygran

Apparently having 5 to 6 prunes a day helps to reduce bone loss and increase bone density. They are anti inflammatory.

Do you have a reliable source for that claim?

Apparently having 5 to 6 prunes a day helps to reduce bone loss and increase bone density. They are anti inflammatory.

Polly7

My understanding is you need magnesium to absorb it and send it to correct place not arteries
But please ask Google
Mag comes in oil or spray or tabs etc even Epsom salts for foot soak Iv read many get very low in it
There's more to osteoporosis it seems
Many have osteopenia from 40
My friend is diagnosed osteoporosis she still runs miles and has no symptoms of it. She is very thin indeed

No, the body does not need magnesium to absorb calcium, but ideally the calcium/magnesium ratio should be in balance, especially if people are taking too much calcium.

Lady I knew had once-a-month calcium infusions. Rheumatologist did this because she did not absorb calcium through the digestive tract. She also came to work very early in order to walk for an hour around office corridors. At any rate, Doctor said it was impossible to ingest enough calcium to help,

I love fresh figs but they are not available very often. I have a fig tree but the possums beat me to it re the figs ! Little beasts even remove the nets. Sorely tempted to let the cats out at night one night but dead possums don’t appeal and they are protected in Australia. Not in New Zealand, though.