by Lawrence Wilson, MD

HEALTHY BONES

by Dr. Lawrence Wilson

All information in this article is for educational purposes only. It is not for the diagnosis, treatment, prescription or cure of any disease or health condition.

The bones are among the most interesting and important structures in the human body. They are light-weight, yet extremely strong when they are well-nourished. They not only support your weight, but they contain the marrow where blood is formed.

STRUCTURE OF THE BONES

The bones consist of:

1. A matrix or infrastructure made of protein. This holds the calcium, phosphorus and other minerals in the bones.

2. Minerals such as calcium and phosphorus deposit in the matrix.

3. The marrow, a specialized tissue.

4. A covering on the bones called the periosteum.

Understanding this structure is very important because problems with the bones can be due to mineral deficiencies, but also to problems of the protein matrix.

FUNCTIONS OF THE BONES

1. Support of the body.

2. Storage of vital minerals.

3. Storage of toxic metals out of the way to some extent, where they will do a little less damage.

4. Blood cell formation in the marrow or central part of the bones.

MEDICAL FAILURE

Mainstream medicine does a very poor job of helping people maintain their bones. As a result, tooth decay (even among babies), osteoporosis and osteopenia are rampant all over the world. This is quite a horror, especially for women, most all of whom end up with osteoporosis later in life. Many will suffer and perhaps die due to hip or other fractures. The reasons for this failure are false ideas that are common about the bones.

COMMON FALLACIES ABOUT THE BONES

1. One can protect and rebuild the bones with medical drugs. NO. This does not work.

2. Diet is not that important for the bones. NO. Diet is extremely important and a key to bone health.

3. Fluoride added to drinking water helps your bones. No, again. The research proves this is not true, but when the research is presented, the negative research is often omitted. Many nations have stopped the toxic practice of adding fluoride to drinking water, but it is still done in parts of the United States and Great Britain. For details, read Water Fluoridation.

4. The bones just require calcium. NO. The bones require a wide range of nutrients to be healthy because one must also rebuild and strengthen the protein matrix, and one must get rid of toxic metals that weaken the bones.

5. Fruit is a good food for the bones. NO. Fruit ruins the teeth due to its sugar content and its content of fruit acids.

6. Just exercise if you want healthy bones. NO. Exercise without proper nutrition is not that effective, although some gentle exercise is helpful. Nutrition, however, is far more important.

BONE DISORDERS

Nutritional deficiencies and excesses of toxic metals cause:

1. Deformities such as bowed legs, narrow dental arches and narrow faces. Many people also have twists in the bones due to weakness of the bones, mainly.

2. Fractures.

3. Osteopenia and osteoporosis. These are similar, except osteoporosis is a more advanced stage of bone demineralization.

4. Bone cancer.

5. Bone cysts.

6. Arthritis and other diseases.

7. Bone spurs.

8. Infections, called osteomyelitis.

9. Blood disorders, due to problems with the marrow, which is special tissue capable of forming red blood cells and other blood cells.

These are also often due to toxic metal poisoning, in our experience, and can improve when the toxic metals are removed.

10. Impaired healing of bones. This usually clears up easily with a development program.

11. Congenital weak bones. See the section below for a discussion of this subject.

CONGENITAL WEAK BONES

A very common problem today is that many, if not most babies are born with weak bone matrices and inadequate calcification. This is not a genetic condition. It is due to mineral deficiencies and toxic metal excess in their mothers. This condition is called congenital, which means present at birth, but not genetic.

This is the cause of tooth decay, even of the baby teeth, for example, which is common today. It also causes thin bones and a poorly developed bone structure, which is also common today. It can cause orthodontic problems (tooth alignment), a narrowed dental arch and narrow hips, along with twists in the bones.

Weston A. Price, DDS researched these problems and wrote about them in his book, Nutrition And Physical Degeneration. We highly recommend this book, but we do not recommend the diet recommended by the Weston A. Price Foundation. For details, read The Weston Price Diet.

CORRECTION OF BONE PROBLEMS

A development program will correct most bone problems. Bones will begin to remineralize within a few weeks. The protein matrix will also become healthier fairly fast. Bones that have fractured and won’t heal properly also often heal fairly rapidly.

However, correcting twists in the bones and correcting a thin or weak bone structure takes some years on a complete program.

Quality chiropractic or osteopathic manipulative care can be very important to maintain correct bone alignment.

Healing of bone infections takes longer than healing many other types of infection, but definitely can be done, in most cases.

RELATED TOPICS

CALCIUM DEFICIENCY IS AN ENORMOUS PROBLEM TODAY IN AMERICA AND AROUND THE WORLD

A critical cause of bone problems of many kinds is that most people today do not obtain nearly enough calcium in a readily available form.

Pasteurization is evil. One reason for calcium deficiency is the pasteurization of milk. This damages the calcium so that it is poorly utilized, in our experience. It also damages the milk in many other subtle ways.

Pasteurization was important 100 years ago, perhaps, when infections in milk were common and conditions of cleanliness at dairies were a problem. Today, however, what are called certified dairies are very clean and no illness results from the use of raw, certified dairy products, which are used the world over.

The pernicious practice of pasteurization ought to be outlawed due to the damage it causes to milk. Instead, raw certified milk is illegal in most American states and in some other entire nations. This is due, in part, to greed on the part of the large dairies that do not want to clean up their milk and they do not want competition from the small dairies.

Milk is a live and very delicate food. When it is heated during pasteurization, and then further damaged through homogenization, the calcium in the milk is rendered much less boavailable. As a result, one can drink milk and eat cheese, yogurt, kefir and other milk-based products, but the calcium is not as well utilized, in our experience.

Other sources of calcium. Excellent bioavailable sources of calcium besides raw certified milks are carrot juice, kelp, seeds such as sesame when made into tahini or sesame butter, and a little calcium is found in cooked green vegetables and a few fruits. For this reason, we recommend that everyone drink 10-12 ounces of fresh or even bottled carrot juice daily. To make carrot juice, use a juicer, not a blender. The blender does not seem to release nearly enough of the calcium from the carrots. For more on this, read the article entitled Carrot Juice.

Calcium supplements. Everyone on a development program receives a supplement of calcium. This is because calcium is difficult to obtain from the diet in adequate quantity. Good supplements include calcium chelate, citrate, and hexaniacinate.

Calcium carbonate is found in many calcium supplements, and it works but it is very alkaline, which can interfere with stomach acidity, so it is not quite as good as a supplement. It is also not quite as well absorbed as the other forms.

At times, we recommend an excellent product called MCHC or micro-crystalline hydroxyapetite crystals. This is a bone extract that contains some of these trace minerals, which can help restore and maintain the bones.

Bone broth. In addition to a calcium supplement, we recommend a few ounces of beef bone broth daily for all adults and a little less for children. You can buy bone broth, but homemade is a little better. For details and the recipe, read Bone Broth.

For more about calcium metabolism, read Calcium and Biounavailable Calcium.

TOXIC METALS THAT PARTICULARLY AFFECT THE BONES

Most people today have weakened bones from the time they are children. In addition to calcium deficiencies, another critical reason for this is the presence of toxic metals in the environment.

Toxic metals can replace calcium in the bones, to some degree. Let us discuss this in more detail.

Lead. In most cases of osteoporosis, we find the bones contain too much lead. This will not be revealed on x-rays or bone scans, however. In fact, lead in your bones can make your bones look very strong or opaque on an x-ray.

It only becomes apparent as it is eliminated, when it is often eventually revealed on hair mineral analyses. This usually will only occur when a person is diligently following a development program.

Chelation, however, does not penetrate into the bones enough to remove the lead from the bones. The body will remove it all by itself, however, as the body becomes better nourished and comes into a better overall biochemical balance. This may take a number of years to accomplish, however.

Aluminum. Aluminum toxicity damages the bones and is common, today. Aluminum is very widely distributed in the environment of most nations because it is added to tap water and to table salt. It is also used in many industrial applications. Some soils are naturally high in aluminum, so it finds its way into the food supply easily.

Copper. Copper toxicity, which is very common, especially among women, weakens the protein matrix of the bones.

Cadmium. Cadmium can accumulate in the periosteum or covering of the bones, where is can cause deep ‘bone pain’. Other toxic metals can also settle in and around the bones.

OTHER NUTRIENTS AND YOUR BONES

Phosphorus. Bones are rich in phosphorus. This is found mainly in meats, eggs, and whole grains. Phosphorus, as phosphoric acid found in soda pop, is not helpful at all, however.

Manganese, zinc, copper and other trace minerals such as boron and vanadium. The bones actually require a wide variety of trace minerals. If these minerals are deficient or biounavailable, as happens often today, this will affect the health of the bones.

Vitamin D is needed for calcium absorption and utilization. Low levels are very widespread due to the pasteurization and homogenization of milk, and for other reasons that are not clear to me or to medical science, as far as I know. Most people today need to supplement their diet with about 4000-5000 iu of vitamin D3 each day. Children need less and children under age 5 or so do not seem to need a vitamin D supplement and it is harmful for them.

Vitamin D has many other benefits besides helping to keep the bones strong and healthy, so it is a very important supplement for everyone today. Sunshine and other sources are not sufficient. For details, read Vitamin D.

Other vitamins required for the bones. These include vitamins A, B-complex, C and E. All are needed, and many of these are deficient in children and adults today because their diets are of poor quality. Also, their eating habits prevent them from absorbing all the nutrients in their foods.

OTHER FACTORS NEEDED FOR BONE HEALTH

These may include:

1. Some exercise, though it need not be vigorous to be effective.

2. Good attitudes. This may sound strange, but discouragement, for example, tends to harm the bones. Bones are your support, and when you do not feel supported, it can affect the bones.

3. Making the body more yang in macrobiotic terminology. We do this using nutrition, mainly. This is important for the bones, which are very yang structures.

4. Resolving and clearing traumas is very helpful for bone health.

5. A balanced oxidation rate is very helpful for strong bones. This factor is explained in the osteoporosis article below.

6. As mentioned earlier, removing metals like lead and aluminum is imperative as well. Chelation will not remove them deeply enough. I don’t know of any way to do it as well as with a development program.

DEVELOPMENT AND THE BONES

The amazing process called Development on this website requires healthy bones. Subtle energy must pass easily through the bones for rapid development. This is a problem for some people, today.

Especially important for this are hard-to-find compounds of selenium and zinc found only in certain cooked vegetables, in blue corn products, and perhaps in a few other grains. To get enough to speed up development usually requires several years on a complete development program.

CHIROPRACTIC AND OSTEOPATHY

These healing arts focus on moving the bones so that they are properly aligned. These sciences are very real and important. However, they are not taught in medical schools and many doctors disparage and make fun of them. This is unfortunate and another failure of the medical profession.

For more on osteoporosis, read Osteoporosis.

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