Georgetown Back Pain Sufferers May Benefit from Fiber to Improve Nutrient Absorption
“Youth is wasted on the young.” Have you heard that saying? Dr. Butwell supposes that there is a bit of truth in that for all of us - and especially our Georgetown spines - as we age. When we are young, our bodies need8 our attention more than we gave. Our youthful bones and spines and bodies need good nutrition so that our older bones and spine and bodies are fit when we want to live our lives less painfully and more fully. Dr. Butwell reveals what Georgetown chiropractic patients can do now to tackle bone mineral density (BMD) issues, regardless of their current age.
BMD AND OSTEOPOROSIS: BUILD BMD WHILE YOUNG
Elevating peak bone mass early in life may decrease osteoporosis risk later in life. A recent report wrote that Vitamin D and calcium in females positively affected bone mineral density into young adulthood. Intakes of phosphorous and the calcium:phosphorous ratio at adolescence for females negatively influenced BMD in young adulthood. Calcium intake in adolescent males strongly negatively influenced BMD in the lumbar spine at young adulthood. Other influential factors were body weight at adolescence and young adulthood which positively affected BMD. (1) Dr. Butwell can’t stress enough just how important nutrition is for their future health.
BENEFITS OF IMPROVED NUTRITION BEYOND BETTER BONE MINERAL DENSITY
Osteoporosis is a disease of older people that stems from youthful (in)attention. Low serum levels of vitamin D in osteoporotic women have a tendency to have an increased chance of having any type of cancer and breast cancer. (2) Calcium intake during the teen years of life is important to reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Teen girls absorb calcium more effectively: 326mg in teenage girls versus just 73mg in older women of 1332 mg taken daily. Even more problematic is that teen girls’ daily consumption of calcium is way below what it should be. Boosting bone mass by just 5% reduces the risk of fracture by 40%. (3) Achieving healthy bones depends on more than just calcium and vitamin D though. Deficiencies of vitamins B, C, E, and K as well as retinol disrupt the health of bone. (4) Dr. Butwell presents these statistics to encourage us all to boost intake of nutrients to build bone mass early and support it later to keep it healthy.
IMPROVE ABSORPTION OF NUTRIENTS
Dr. Butwell understands that kids and their families want to be sure that their nutritional efforts will pay off. TIP: Dietary fiber may raise the body’s absorption of calcium but does it in different ways for older men and women. Greater intake of dietary fiber and fruit fiber was protective against bone loss in men but not women. Fiber from vegetables was protective against spine bone loss in women but not men. Cereal fiber or nut and legume fiber increases didn’t relate to bone loss in either men or women. Higher dietary fiber may decrease bone loss in men. (5) Who would have thought that fiber would have anything to do with bone mineral density? Dr. Butwell supposes that many of our Georgetown chiropractic patients would not have!
FIBER’S DEFENSE OF MEN’S BMD
Fortunately, there are some intensely observant researchers and doctors around! They discovered that fiber intake was a protective factor of lumbar spine BMD in men aged 18 and 45 years old but not in females. In men over 65 years, nutrient intake indicated no effect on BMD. In women between 18 and 45, fiber didn’t show a significant change to BMD, but daily fat intake did significantly. (6) An interesting side note: Some thought that bone mineral density may be a risk factor for lumbar disc herniation in young persons, but a recent study debunked that idea. (7) However, there is evidence in the medical literature that emphasizes the general value of nutrition - and now fiber intake in men - on the health of the body, its bones and its spine.
CONTACT Dr. Butwell
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Nike Taylor on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she helps a patients with chronic low back pain with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your next Georgetown chiropractic appointment with Dr. Butwell where your spine, body and its bones are well understood in their current age whether they were treated well in their youth or not!
