Food was my cure!
We have written in these blogs a lot about how “food is medicine”. It is easy to write these glib sayings of as fashionable phrases or something to hashtags on an Instagram post. The truth is though that this is my reality and recently I had the proof of how food was my cure.
About 4 years ago my GP asked me to have a bone density scan as I was nearing that age (don’t you love it when Doctors say these things) where we should look out for bone health. Reluctantly, I took the paperwork, booked a bone scan in and turned up for the appointment. Scan away I said to the technician, as I laid there thinking smugly, you won’t find anything wrong with these bones! They are rock solid! I WAS WRONG!
Imagine my face when I had the call back from the Doctor to tell me I had oestopenia, which is low bone density and is the precursor to oestporosis, which is when your bones become thin, weak and you are much more prone to brake them. The causes of oesteopenia include a low-calcium diet, smoking, age related hormone changes, certain diseases (including Coeliac Disease, which I was diagnosed with as a child) and some medications. So my Doctor advised me to drink milk and eat cheese.
I rarely drink milk and although I do occasionally eat cheese, I knew that the quantities that were required to reverse this diagnosis would mean I would be scoffing mountains of the stuff. So I had to find an alternative in my diet as I wanted to avoid long term supplement usage. So the research began. I investigated every food that was high in calcium and what amount I required to eat daily in order that my body was getting the necessary amounts to get my bones back to full strength.
For my age, height and gender I needed a daily intake of around 1,000 to 1,200mg and the foods that were highest in calcium where on my daily intake. Sardines, canned salmon, kale and all collard greens, became a prerequisite before I even thought about what was going on the dinner table. I have never been a big cereal eater so having sardines on paleo bread, with tomato and spinach was a regular breakfast meal, my green smoothie was packed with kale and I started to also add bok choy and chai seeds as well as unhulled sesame seeds, which are all high in calcium.
This become my normal with variations on the high calcium theme. Almonds, figs and broccoli are always a favourite for me so eating my way to stronger bones, was done without even thinking about it until recently. I had to have a specific scan for something totally unrelated to bone density and didn’t even think twice about it until a specialist mentioned how good my bone density was. FACT!
Over the course of a couple of years I had reversed a diagnosis that had the potential to impact my life as I advance in years. It is common knowledge that when the elderly break bones, they find it incredibly difficult to recover from these breaks and in my own family my mother had a fall, broke a bone and within 3 months she had passed away. That break was the beginning of a decline for her, so I had experienced it first hand.
Along with loading my diet with calcium rich foods I started to use weights more regularly during exercise routines and now incorporate them 3 times a week. The more weight baring you do, the stronger your bones become in response. It has been a whole approach to the problem and I’m grateful today to say that I have reversed my oestopenia and I’ll keep eating my calcium rich foods, lifting those weight, taking the dog for good brisk walks and enjoy the good health that food can provide.
I still ensure that I am having my bone broth, my prebiotic fibre (GOS) and my collagen build (as I lift weights and its great for muscle tone and repair) as this way I am guaranteeing that my healthy gut works efficiently in absorbing all the wonderful nutrients, like calcium, that I need to stay strong and healthy. Healthy gut, healthy life!
Yes I could have just gone the supplement route, but I know that food can cure, food can be the answer and food can be medicine. It’s an informed choice I made to eat so my bones became strong once more, and I stand firmly on those strong bones today and say food was my cure!
Stay Gut Happy!
The Gut Happy Girls
xxx