Osteoporosis is a medical condition where bones become brittle and fragile from loss of tissue, typically as a result of vitamin D deficiency, hormonal changes or a lack of calcium. So how do you avoid it? Let’s deal with the easy part first: get out in the sun and make sure you are not deficient in vitamin D, or if that’s not possible, start topping up your levels with a supplement. One of the main hormonal changes that triggers osteoporosis is an increase in insulin levels. And as you are fully aware by now, to reduce insulin levels you need to eat primally, severely restricting CARBS and substituting them with healthy fats and proteins. The deficiency of calcium is actually linked to insulin too. You see, when insulin levels are too high the body often excretes the stress hormone cortisol. The two hormones then work together to leech calcium from our bones. In addition, women who do a lot of long intense cardio sessions put themselves at higher risk as this also causes cortisol levels to rise significantly.
Many people who suffer with osteoporosis are also at a high risk of cardiovascular disease. The reason for this is that when bones start to leach calcium, while some of it exits the body in urine, a high proportion becomes stuck to the lining of the arteries.
Can living primally and eating the same diet that our ancestors ate in the Stone Age reverse osteoporosis? While most of our bones completely replace themselves every 10 years or so, as we get older the rate of replacement dramatically slows down. So if we are aware of the disease at an early age and if we truly live primally, it is possible to cure the disease, as we will by regenerating our bones through the presence of the right levels of vitamin D and calcium.
