The Bone Density Program: 6 Weeks to Strong Bones and a Healthy Body

A diet program designed to improve bone density and strength features a bone density questionnaire, a twenty-one-day meal plan with easy-to-prepare recipes, not-too-strenuous exercises, and an overall six-week plan for improving physical health. Originally published as The Bone Density Diet. Reprint. 30,000 first printing.

Chapter 1
The Importance
of Being Dense
Maria always watches what she eats, but she's concerned more with
nutritional quality than with calories. Until recently,
she never had to pay attention to her weight, but ever since she passed
40, it seems to creep up on her if she's not careful. She's probably out
buying organic baby spinach and portobello mushrooms and free-range
chicken for dinner tonight--if she's done with her three-mile walk--and
picking the right wine to go with it. She took a multivitamin this morning
that also contains several trace minerals, and before bed tonight she'll
take a calcium and magnesium capsule. Her new doctor helped her cut down
on the amount of thyroid hormone she was taking to counteract her
underactive gland--and her energy level redoubled. Her colleagues at the
university are always saying they would mistake her for a student if they
didn't know better, and although she always dismisses that as pure
flattery, inside she feels no different from how she did in her younger
days. Last weekend she wallpapered the nursery at her very pregnant
younger sister's house, then went hiking with her old graduate school
buddies.

Sheila finally kicked a long-standing fatty-food habit a few years back,
after taking a good look at the photos from her surprise 50th-birthday
party. She remains a confirmed red-meat eater, but now with smaller
servings only a couple of times a week. Just don't ask her to give up
cheese! Once she cut out most of the sugary snacks she used to live on,
she no longer felt lethargic after she ate, and she never got the
uncomfortable sense of fullness that had taken away some of the pleasure
of a nice piece of steak. Petite and "fine boned" (as her mother, who gave
her daughter her peaches-and-cream complexion, always said), Sheila
certainly stands out among many of the employees (who tend to be male and
muscular) at the construction firm she founded. She was a devoted jogger
for years when that was all the rage, but these days she prefers her
ballet classes or swimming laps, even though some days she just can't get
to either. But it's not like her company can run itself!

Althea, an African-American accountant--and grandmother of three--recently
reached a personal best on the chest press machine at the gym, and was
delighted to watch the man following her take the weight down a notch. She
became a vegetarian many years ago, partly to keep her large frame healthy
despite what the actuarial tables say is a few too many pounds for a woman
of her height. These days, she is eating more vegan meals, though she does
occasionally eat fish. After she switched from dairy milk to soymilk
(calcium fortified)--except in her coffee, where nothing but cream will
do--she noticed her on-and-off bouts of indigestion were more off than on.
Then she read in a magazine about the heart-healthy and estrogenic effects
of soy products, and began to think that maybe all those tofu stir-fries
had something to do with her low cholesterol levels and why she never had
menopausal symptoms. That's when she got some of that soy protein powder
from the gourmet/organic food store in her neighborhood. She liked that
store, even though the produce can't really compare with what she grows in
her own large garden.
WHAT DOES A HEALTHY WOMAN LOOK LIKE?
Just like you. We are told so often and so much about "female problems"
and the many ways women's bodies break down, especially as they age, that
sometimes we lose sight of the fact that being healthy should be the
norm--in fact, is the norm. The vibrant, dynamic women described above are
all at different stages of their lives--early 40s, perimenopausal with no
symptoms; early 50s, experiencing menopause with no symptoms; and mid-60s,
finished with menopause and none the worse for wear.

Each has strong, healthy bones providing the foundation
for strong, healthy lives and can expect to keep them. As health-conscious
women and intelligent consumers, they are aware of the dangers of
osteoporosis--literally "porous bones" (bones with holes) so brittle they
can fracture from the force of nothing more than a sneeze--and the
associated conditions of osteomalacia (soft bones) and osteopenia (low
bone mass). But they haven't surrendered to the hype that makes it seem
like a coming plague from which there is no escape (except for the
salvation of harsh chemicals), nor the complacency that this simply,
inevitably, is a part of growing older. Rather, they've put their energy
into strategies much like the ones recommended in this book and have
radiant health to show for it.

None of it is an accident. There may be some benefit from "good genes,"
but each of these women is health conscious and aware of her body and its
needs, and takes care to do what is good for it and what feels good. But
none has taken quite the same approach to wellness, and not all of them
follow a specific plan. They've each made changes and adjustments,
particularly at times of shifting hormones, but mostly they are busy
living their lives, enjoying their work and their families, their homes
and their friends, playing and resting and juggling many demands.

Just like you. Whatever your current situation, whatever your age,
whatever your bones look like right now, if you know the right things to
do for your body, you too can have the same healthy, active lifestyle as
any of these women--and keep it for the rest of your life. You may need to
do something differently from what they have, and you may want to try
things they haven't. Your body may react differently to whatever tack you
do take. But you can learn from them, and the people whose stories are
told throughout this book, as well as from the facts and figures laid out
here, and work out strategies for yourself to get and keep your bones
strong for a lifetime.
USE WHAT WORKS
To do that, you'll want to access every variety of medicine, traditional
and "alternative," preventive and therapeutic, pharmacologic and
physiologic, cutting-edge and tried-and-true. That's just the wide
spectrum I've brought to this book, and the six-week program walks you
through all of them so you won't get lost in a tangle of conflicting
information, but rather will leave with the best each has to offer.

As an osteopathic physician (more on just what that means in a minute),
it's my life's work to integrate all these areas into one system of total
wellness, uprooting any problems at their source, rather than focusing on
fighting disease or reducing symptoms. In my practice, I work closely with
a variety of practitioners, from
orthopedic surgeons, endocrinologists, and neurologists to nutritionists,
qi gong instructors, herbalists, acupuncturists, stress-
reduction counselors, and physical therapists. I didn't learn much in
medical school about nutrition or exercise, and certainly nothing about
the benefits of tai chi or acupuncture or meditation. But now that I've
learned--from colleagues and patients--how to integrate all these methods
into my practice, I see my patients getting better and stronger in every
way.

This integrative approach means that everything you do with and to your
body has a role in how your body feels and performs on a day-to-day basis.
What you eat (and don't eat), how you sleep, how and how much you move and
which parts of your body you use, what work you do, which people you spend
time with--all this makes a profound difference in your health. There is no
magic bullet or prescription for a pill you can take to "fix" your bones.
Too many doctors are pushing hormone...