Most people who suffer from unbalanced pH are acidic. This condition forces the body to borrow minerals — including calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium — from vital organs and bones to buffer (neutralize) the acid and safely remove it from the body. Because of this strain, the body can suffer severe and prolonged damage due to high acidity — a condition that may go undetected for years.

A recent study conducted at the University of California-San Francisco on 9,704 postmenopausal women showed that those who have higher acidity levels (also called chronic acidosis) from a diet rich in animal foods are at greater risk for lower bone density levels than those who have “normal” pH levels. The researchers who carried out this study hypothesized that many of the hip fractures prevalent among older women correlated to higher acidity from a diet rich in animal foods and low in vegetables. The body apparently borrows calcium from the bones in order to balance pH, and this calcium borrowing may result in a decrease in bone density.

Urinary pH levels can indicate how well your body is assimilating minerals, especially calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium. These are called the “acid buffers” because they are used by the body to control acid levels. When acid levels begin to increase, the body becomes less capable of excreting acid. It must either store the acid in body tissues, or buffer it-that is, borrow minerals from organs, bones, etc., in order to neutralize the increase in acidity. Urinary pH should fluctuate between 6.0-6.4 in the morning and 6.4-7.0 in the evening.

You will also want to test the pH of your saliva. The results of saliva testing can indicate the activity of digestive enzymes in your body, especially the activity of the liver and the stomach.

This reveals the flow of enzymes running through your body and shows their effect on all the body systems and your tissues. Some people will have acidic pH readings from both urine and saliva-this is referred to as “double acid.” Salivary pH should stay between 6.4 and 6.8.



Thanks to Steffen A.Hall for contributing this article to our Osteoporosis blog:

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Osteoporosis is a condition in which there is a loss of density in the skeletal system.

One of the earliest symptoms of osteoporosis that you might see are unexplained bone fractures. Oftentimes with fractures such as these it seems that the injury does not match the extent of the fracture.

With osteoporosis, the bones become porous losing calcium, proteins and collagen. As the bones become more porous there is a much higher risk for fracture, particularly fractures related to a minor injury.

In fact, osteoporosis can result in fractures from the most simple of task. Often patients may not even be aware that they are suffering from osteoporosis symptoms until they experience a fracture. At that time medical tests can certainly began to tell the story.

Osteoporosis symptoms may also be quickly identified when a fracture occurs during the course of normal daily activities. A fracture for which there is no obvious explanation.

Now these fractures should certainly be suspicious.

The fractures located in the spine can cause severe back pain that radiates around from big back to the sides.

Often times compression fractures off the back are easily related to osteoporosis symptoms and are often discovered during treatment for back pain.

Those suffering from osteoporosis may also experience a loss of height or even a curvature of the spine which creates the hunched back appearance.

Osteoporosis symptoms may also be identified when a hip fracture occurs as a result of a fall.

Again, fractures occur as a result of a very minor fall. The fall does not match the extent of the fracture. This should be investigated for the possible diagnosis of osteoporosis. Hip fractures are often very difficult to heal because of the location of the fracture as well as the poor bone quality.

Osteoporosis symptoms can be easily identify particularly if you take the time to sit down with your health care provider and explained the whole story.

When your health care provider takes the time to review your medical chart and begins to put the pieces of the puzzle together then the osteoporosis symptoms will begin to make sense.

It is important that you receive an early diagnosis of osteoporosis so that aggressive treatment can be a part of your life to prevent further disability.



Thanks to Jeff Foster for contributing this article to our Osteoporosis blog:

Latest Treatment For Osteoporosis

Vitamin D and osteoporosis are an osteoporosis treatment combination that many healthcare practitioners closely follow.

The body requires adequate calcium intake as well as an adequate intake of vitamin D in order to maintain strong, dense and healthy bones.

Vitamin D alone is not sufficient for the treatment of osteoporosis. Nor are vitamin D and calcium alone and adequate treatment choice.

But vitamin D is an important component in the treatment of osteoporosis for many reasons. It helps with the absorption of calcium from the intestines.

Without adequate absorption of calcium, the calcium is unable to be metabolized as the body needs and so it sits there in the gut and is completely ineffective. When you have an insufficient amount of vitamin D in your body, bones that are already weakened become even more so.

Vitamin D comes from both your diet and from exposure to the sunlight. People living in sunny areas of the country don’t seem to have any problem producing the majority of the vitamin D that they need from the sunlight.

But if you look at the folks that live in the less sunny regions, then they seem to struggle with an adequate production of vitamin D. This is particularly true among the elderly who live in these less sunny regions. It puts them at even higher risk for osteoporotic fractures.

The Institute of Medicine has recommendations as to an adequate vitamin intake D regardless of whether you are battling osteoporosis or not.

Men and women aged 19 to 50 should take 200 IU per day. Men and women from the ages of 51 to 70 years old should take a 400 IU of vitamin D per day.

While men and women 71 years of age and older should ingest 600 IU per day. But the catch is, if you already have osteoporosis then you should take 400 IU two times per day.

Vitamin D and osteoporosis are important to manage appropriately since chronic overuse of vitamin D, especially above 2000 units per day, can cause toxic levels of vitamin D, excessively high calcium levels in the urine and blood, and even the development of kidney stones.

It’s like you are trading one problem for another one, not necessarily the smartest thing to do. It is important to talk with your physician prior to the initiation of vitamin D into your daily routine.



Thanks to Jeff Foster for contributing this article to our Osteoporosis blog:

Exercises To Prevent Osteoporosis

Can you answer Kelly H’s question about Osteoporosis?:

I have been cooking whole fryers for my dogs in my pressure cooker. If you cook them an hour and a half or more the bones are safe to feed. I’m wondering how much calcium is in a whole four pound fryer with bones?

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Can you answer odonche’s question about Osteoporosis?:

I’m a 42 years old man with HIV under ARV treatment, and I have severe osteoporosis. It seems very mysterious to me, and to most of my doctors. Can anyone help?

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