Recently a friend of mine was diagnosed with osteoporosis. She was shocked. "But I've been taking calcium supplements my whole life!" she exclaimed. Indeed her blood levels of calcium and even Vitamin D were within the normal range.

What many people don't realize is that osteoporosis is not a problem of calcium deficiency, but rather of calcium absorption and assimilation . What even fewer people realize is that while some folks benefit from calcium supplements, there are others who can actually cause themselves harm. It has to do with biochemical individuality, what an individual's particular metabolic type is, and how foods and supplements affect that individual's blood pH.

My mentor Dr. Kristal used to explain in seminars that if you give 100 people calcium citrate, about half will become more alkaline, while the other half will become more acidic. For the half that become more acidic, in an attempt to stay alkaline, the body will draw minerals from its bones to rebalance the blood pH. So instead of the calcium supplement contributing to bone health, for these people, the calcium supplement has a negative effect.

Aside from this blood pH issue, there are many people who take too much supplemental calcium and not enough magnesium and/or Vitamins D & K to balance it out. The body will not get the message to send the calcium to the bones and responds by storing the calcium in inappropriate and potentially troublesome areas such as the insides of the arteries or around the joints.

To build and protect healthy, strong bones, it is important to maintain an ideal blood pH. In order to do this, you should know your metabolic type, and what foods you should emphasize to keep you in balance. There is currently much misunderstanding on how to "alkalize" one's system. Alkaline water, more green foods, raw foods and "special" supplements are bogus unless you know how your individual system responds to them. In other words, a particular product may make you more acidic and your neighbor more alkaline because your metabolisms are working differently. For more reading on this subject, please refer to The Nutrition Solution, by Dr. Harold Kristal and James Haig.

In addition to maintaining proper pH, engaging in regular weight bearing exercise, rebounding on a mini trampoline, and salivary hormone testing (low estrogen can lead to weak bones), are all part of the equation for healthy bones.

I have been using Dr. Kristal's in-office testing protocol  for metabolic type testing that looks at urine, saliva, and blood in order to determine an individual's metabolic type for the last 8 years and have seen tremendous results. The body does not lie! To learn more about this unique process, please contact me: sylvie@realfoodnutrition.com or call me at 510-421-3214.

Yours in Health,

Sylvie Nalezny, MA, CNE
www.realfoodnutrition.com