A frank interview with a German rheumatologist after working in Russia for Russia Today
Dr. Klaus Maier
Head of the Department of Joint Surgery at the Clinic for Traumatology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Bonn
Read the interview
“Russian medicine is a mystery to me. They treat joints for years instead of 3 weeks and reject new effective remedies!” Click the “Read interview” button
Symptoms
The danger of osteoporosis is that its earliest symptoms are “masked” as widespread manifestations of osteochondrosis, arthrosis and other chronic sluggish diseases of the spine, bones and joints. Most often, doctors make the diagnosis of “osteoporosis” based on the fact that fractures have already occurred. Therefore, it is important to pay attention to the early signs of osteoporosis:
- Changing your posture
- Brittle hair and nails
- Tooth decay, gum problems
- Night cramps in the legs
- Long-term constant back pain
By consulting a doctor in time, you can avoid such serious consequences of osteoporosis as fractures of the vertebral bodies, femoral neck, and radius bones.
Indications
vitamin D deficiency , in old age (after 65 years), in menopause , with a family history, fragility of bones and a tendency to fractures (a history of bone fractures) , during pregnancy , with diseases of the gastrointestinal tract and joints, hypoparathyroidism , psoriasis , with endocrine diseases, spasmophilia , with high physical and psychological stress.
Why does it happen?
The main cause of osteoporosis is a disturbance in the metabolism of calcium and phosphorus.
Calcium is an element that the body constantly needs to maintain its vital functions, and if for some reason it is lacking (it is not supplied in the required quantity with food or the absorption of calcium in the intestines is impaired), then it begins to be extracted from the main calcium depot - bone tissue. As a result, the bones lose their hardness, become loose and brittle.
The protein collagen plays an important role in maintaining bone strength . It is collagen fibers that give bones elasticity. Protein deficiency in the diet or impaired absorption is an equally significant cause of the development of osteoporosis, along with a violation of calcium-phosphorus metabolism.
Vitamin D is the most important factor influencing the absorption of calcium. The lack of this vitamin also affects the development of the disease.
The risk of developing osteoporosis is significantly higher in:
- Smokers (nicotine promotes leaching of calcium from bones)
- Fans of salty foods (excess sodium accelerates the removal of calcium from the body)
- People suffering from intestinal diseases (impaired absorption of important nutrients, including calcium, vitamin D and protein)
Not the least role in the occurrence of osteoporosis is played by:
- Hereditary predisposition
- Elderly age
- Hormonal factors (menopause in women, hormonal imbalances)
- Diseases of the endocrine system (diabetes mellitus, thyroid disease)
- Long-term use of certain medications (hormonal and anticonvulsant drugs, immunosuppressants)
- Sedentary lifestyle, low physical activity
- Arterial hypertension
- Unbalanced diet
- Low body weight
The importance of nutrition in osteoporosis
Diet for osteoporosis is a prerequisite for successful treatment. We can get almost all the substances necessary for bone health only from food. The exception is vitamin D, which can also be synthesized in human skin under the influence of sunlight.
However, it is worth remembering that with age this ability of the body decreases and in older people it is practically absent. Therefore, their diet must contain foods containing vitamin D, which is an indispensable condition for the absorption of calcium.
Proper nutrition for osteoporosis can slow down the progression of bone destruction, improve the condition of bone tissue, and significantly reduce the risk of fractures.
The use of medications, vitamin and mineral complexes, as well as various dietary supplements is possible only after consultation with a doctor.
Advantages and disadvantages
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How to eat with osteoporosis
Proper nutrition for osteoporosis is balanced and varied, where special attention is paid to the consumption of foods containing calcium, vitamin D and complete, easily digestible protein .
It is better to eat regularly, often, but in small portions. Last meal no later than 2-3 hours before bedtime. It is advisable to steam, stew, bake or boil food.
In the diet for osteoporosis, the amount of dairy products necessarily increases, since only in them the ratio of calcium and phosphorus is ideal for the human body.
Inclusion of other foods containing calcium is also recommended. It is important to ensure a sufficient intake of microelements from food, primarily phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, as well as vitamins K and C. For this purpose, vegetables, fruits, and cereals are widely used in the menu.
Cooking recipes
Once diagnosed with osteoporosis, you don't have to give up your favorite foods. It is necessary to make some adjustments to the process of their preparation. For example, vegetables for borscht should not be fried, but placed fresh in boiling broth. Here are some useful recipes for patients with osteoporosis:
- carrot salad. Grate 2 large fresh carrots, add a pinch of salt, a few raisins, season with low-fat sour cream;
- braised cabbage. Chop a small head of cabbage, cut bell peppers, onions, carrots, and tomatoes into strips. Simmer with the addition of a tablespoon of vegetable oil and any herbs;
- chicken with vegetables. Cut the chicken into large pieces, add peeled whole potatoes, a few cloves of carrots and bell peppers, a couple of cloves of unpeeled garlic, 2-3 sprigs of parsley. Add salt, place in a baking bag, and keep in the oven for about an hour at 200°.
Above is a sample menu for the week. Nutritionists allow changes to be made to it, cooking meat more often, replacing rice with corn porridge, and green tea with lightly salted mineral water.
Menu for osteoporosis
A variety of dairy products, fish, greens, cabbage, and nuts will be useful for osteoporosis. Food sources of vitamin D are fatty fish and egg yolk. The diet should contain a sufficient amount of complete protein containing all the amino acids necessary for the body. The optimal daily amount of protein is from 1 to 1.5 g per kg of body weight.
Be sure to limit foods that help leaching calcium from bones: oatmeal and semolina, coffee (no more than two cups per day with added milk), chocolate, confectionery, processed meats, fatty and fried foods, smoked meats and pickles, alcohol. Sweet carbonated drinks, margarines, spreads and mayonnaise are prohibited. Salt intake is reduced to 5 g per day.
Grocery list
The best sources of bioavailable calcium are dairy products:
- Milk
- Kefir, yogurt
- Cottage cheese
- Hard and processed cheese
- Sour cream
- Cream or milk ice cream
Calcium from plant foods is not so well absorbed by the body, but there are foods recommended for consumption for osteoporosis:
- White cabbage
- Broccoli
- Turnip
- Legumes, nuts
- Soy products (soy milk, tofu)
The best food sources of vitamin D are:
- Fatty fish
- Fish liver and roe
- Butter
- Eggs
They should be consumed in moderation.
What foods should your diet consist of?
Diet for osteoporosis is one of the foundations of proper nutrition. The menu is made up of only healthy products, and the most gentle methods are used when preparing dishes. To preserve vitamins and microelements as much as possible.
A frank interview with a German rheumatologist after working in Russia for Russia Today
Dr. Klaus Maier
Head of the Department of Joint Surgery at the Clinic for Traumatology, Orthopedics and Sports Medicine Bonn
Read the interview
“Russian medicine is a mystery to me. They treat joints for years instead of 3 weeks and reject new effective remedies!” Click the “Read interview” button
List of permitted products:
- Dairy products, cheeses, cottage cheese. It is better to give preference to products with medium and low fat content. If fresh milk is poorly tolerated, preference is given to fermented milk products.
- Fish: sardine, salmon, herring, tuna, pike perch, cod, pike. Sea and river fish contain different microelements. Therefore, when creating a menu, it is necessary to introduce different fish.
- Seafood. Be sure to include seaweed in your diet, which, in addition to iodine, contains a high concentration of calcium (193 mg).
- Meat: lean beef, chicken, rabbit, turkey.
- Vegetables: all types of root vegetables, tomatoes, cabbage, zucchini, pumpkin.
- Greens and leafy vegetables. Parsley and celery are rich in calcium.
- Mushrooms of all types, the leader in calcium content are white ones.
- Fruits and berries of all kinds. Fresh, frozen, dried. Dried apricots and raisins are especially useful.
- Chicken and quail eggs.
- Nuts: walnuts, peanuts, almonds.
- Pumpkin and sunflower seeds.
- Legumes: peas, beans, lentils, soybeans.
- Cereals and grains: buckwheat, oatmeal, rice, rolled oats, millet, pearl barley.
- It is better to choose baked goods from low-grade flour, rye or with the addition of bran.
- Oils: refined vegetable, sesame.
Arrests of doctors: rheumatologists deprived patients of the most effective remedy for joint pain!
Bubnovsky Sergey Mikhailovich
leading rheumatologist of the country, deputy. Chairman, 1st Deputy Director of the Federal State Budgetary Institution NIIR named after. V. A. Nasonova
Find out more...
What is happening is what our law enforcement agencies should have done a long time ago - arrest this entire mafia. Just think about these numbers - more than 1 million crippled lives in 12 years! People, most of them pensioners, turned to doctors for help. And instead of treating, they profited from people’s suffering, knowing in advance that the remedies they prescribed would not help. And this practice was widespread not only in commercial ones, but also, worst of all, in public clinics.
- Pasta.
Products from all groups are allowed. The main thing is to exclude fatty, salty and ready-made foods. It is advisable to eat home-cooked food, and if this is not possible, then snack on dairy products, nuts, fruits and vegetables.
The Importance of Protein in Osteoporosis
It has been proven that the amount of protein in the diet directly affects the absorption of calcium. Thus, with sufficient protein intake, the absorption of calcium from food reaches 15%. With a deficiency of protein in the diet, calcium absorption drops to 5%.
A sufficient amount of protein from food significantly reduces the risk of fractures. This ensures continuous synthesis and renewal of the main protein of bone tissue - collagen. Collagen forms thin but very strong scaffold-like fibers that give bones elasticity, preventing fractures.
It turns out that protein has a positive effect on both factors of bone strength - hardness, improving calcium absorption, and elasticity, providing bone tissue with collagen.
Protein mixtures in nutrition
Osteoporosis most often affects older people, one of whose problems is disruption of food digestion and deterioration in the absorption of nutrients.
This is especially true for proteins from traditional foods. With age, the digestive system processes and absorbs such proteins worse and worse.
Therefore, the diet must contain proteins, on the one hand, complete and balanced in amino acid composition, and on the other hand, easy to digest and assimilate. The Nutrimun protein mixture contains just such proteins, and without harmful animal fats and cholesterol.
Remember not to self-medicate!
Timely consultation with a doctor is the key to successful treatment and a speedy recovery. Although it is completely impossible to cure osteoporosis, modern medicine is quite capable of significantly reducing the progression of the process, improving a person’s well-being and quality of life.
Only by following the doctor's recommendations on drug treatment of osteoporosis, therapeutic and preventive nutrition, can complications, often leading to disability, be avoided. A healthy lifestyle, proper balanced nutrition, feasible physical activity - all this is an effective prevention of osteoporosis.
