Michael Miller Pilates Blog Entries Vol I

Sometimes a picture really is worth a thousand words. This approach can reduce your perception of fatigue because your brain, which has very few energy reserves of its own, needs a steady supply of nutrients. Some people begin feeling sluggish, headachy, or light-headed after just a few hours without food. Smaller is especially better at lunch. Researchers have observed that the circadian rhythms of people who eat a lot at lunch typically show a more pronounced afternoon slump.

The reasons for this are unclear, but it may reflect the increase in blood sugar after eating, which is followed by a drop in energy later. If you need to lose weight, do so gradually, without skimping on essential nutrients or starving yourself of the calories you need for energy. Poor nutrition and inadequate calorie intake can cause fatigue. Your brain needs a steady supply of glucose from food. Use caffeine to your advantage. Caffeine can increase or decrease your energy level, depending on when and how much of it you consume.

Caffeine does help increase alertness for an hour or two after consumption, so having a cup of coffee before going to a meeting or starting on a project can help sharpen your mind. But it can also cause insomnia, especially when consumed in large amounts or after 2 p.

The sedative effect of alcohol is especially strong at midday, when you normally feel a bit lethargic anyway, so one of the best hedges against the midafternoon slump is to avoid alcohol at lunch. That said, many experts advise against having a nightcap just before going to bed. For this reason, it may help you to fall asleep, but the stimulating effect that kicks in two to three hours later may awaken you and make it difficult to get enough deep, restorative sleep for the rest of the night. If you do choose to drink alcohol, a glass with dinner is a reasonable choice.

And stay within the limits of moderation: If your body is short on fluids, one of the first signs is a feeling of fatigue. Sports drinks such as Gatorade and Powerade combine water with sugar, vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes—sodium, chloride, potassium, and other substances that help regulate body processes. How much water do you need? The Institute of Medicine recommends that women consume a total of about 91 ounces of fluids a day about The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans recommend minutes of moderate aerobic activity per week for example, half an hour five days a week or 75 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix of the two.

The guidelines also advise engaging in two to three strength training sessions per week. Allow at least 48 hours between these muscle-building workouts to give your body time to recover.

Introduction

However, certain people—particularly those with chronic fatigue syndrome or multiple sclerosis MS , those who are elderly, or those who have long been couch potatoes—should start slowly and build gradually. Some evidence indicates, for example, that aerobic exercise can aggravate symptoms in some people with chronic fatigue syndrome. And people with MS are prone to overheating quickly, which can make them feel weak and fatigued. Check with your doctor for advice based on your own health history before you begin an exercise program. Whether you are doing aerobic exercise or strength training, start each exercise session with a five- to minute warm-up.

Marching in place and gently swinging your arms, dancing to a song on the radio, or starting slowly on a treadmill or exercise bike are excellent ways to warm up. At the end of each session, finish with a five- to minute cool-down, such as slow walking, until your heart rate and breathing return close to normal.

Stretching is also essential at the end of a session to work out muscle kinks and improve range of motion and balance. The most convenient and affordable form of aerobic activity is walking. People who take brisk walks have a lower risk for heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, colon cancer, osteoporosis, and perhaps other diseases.

Even mental health problems are less frequent in regular walkers. A brisk walk is generally 3 to 4 miles per hour. One way is to count your steps per minute. If you are starting an exercise program for the first time, begin with a slow walk around the block almost every day. Then, as your energy level rises and your muscles become conditioned, gradually spend more time exercising. If you are up for more vigorous workouts, you can try running, hiking, biking, aerobic dancing, or swimming. Many experts offer the following rule of thumb for aerobic exercise: If you can talk easily while performing your routine, exercise harder.

Resistance exercise, such as weight lifting, is especially beneficial for people in their 60s and older because it builds muscle mass. Lifting light hand weights can provide adequate resistance, as can using strength training machines at the gym. After that, add enough weight so that the maximum number of repetitions you can do per set is about eight to The last few repetitions in each set should require a good deal of effort. Aim for two to three sets per exercise, breathing out as you lift and breathing in as you lower the weight.

Rest between sets for a minute to reap the best strength gains. Yoga and tai chi. Yoga and tai chi can enhance energy, too, because they are proven stress busters with substantial benefits for the mind. A study published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health found that doing 20 minutes of yoga postures led to better cognitive functioning—specifically, an improved ability to focus and take in and use new information—than 20 minutes of aerobic exercise.

3 Myths About Strontium

Most ordinary sleep difficulties can be solved with a simple set of behavioral changes. Practice good sleep hygiene. People who have difficulty sleeping often come to associate their bedroom with the frustration of trying and failing to get to sleep. These associations create anxiety, worsening the insomnia. Reconditioning is a behavioral technique for breaking such negative associations.

Use the bed only for sleeping or sex. Watch TV or read in a different room, and keep your bedroom dark for sleep. That also means covering up lights from chargers and electronic devices. Better yet, keep laptops, cell phones, and other gizmos in a different room. Also, try to go outside in natural light early in the day.

This will help reset your internal clock. Get up and go to another room to read or do something calming for half an hour. Then try sleeping again. Smoking harms your health in many ways, including increasing your risk for lung cancer and heart disease. But it also siphons off your energy by causing insomnia. Smoking can ruin your sleep with a kind of one-two punch. As a central nervous system stimulant, the nicotine in tobacco speeds up your heart rate, raises blood pressure, and stimulates brain-wave activity associated with wakefulness, making it harder to fall asleep. People who quit smoking fall asleep more quickly and wake up less often during the night.

Although at first many former smokers experience sleep disturbances and daytime fatigue, they often report improvements in their sleep relatively soon. Exercise is the only proven way to increase the amount of time you spend in deep sleep, the type of sleep that is most restorative for your energy. In particular, aerobic exercise, which increases your heart rate, makes it easier to get to sleep and gives you more hours of energy-enhancing deep sleep each night. This is well-documented in young adults, but less well-documented in older adults.

If you find that you have trouble falling asleep when you exercise vigorously in the evening, you would be wise to avoid strenuous activity for two to three hours before you go to bed. If you think you may be sleep-deprived, try getting less sleep. This advice may sound odd, but the goal is to determine how much sleep you actually need and to reduce the time you spend in bed not sleeping. This process makes it easier to fall asleep and promotes more restful sleep in the long run.

If you feel that you slept well during that four-hour period, add another 15 to 30 minutes of sleep the next night. Even though your schedule may be very different on the weekends, try not to vary your routine. Take sleep medications only as a last resort. Although such medications can be helpful in the short term to break a pattern of insomnia, when used long-term, they may actually worsen your fatigue by leaving you groggy during the day.

In addition, prescription sleep medications can cause tolerance the need for progressively larger doses over time to get the same effect. Over-the-counter sleep aids, which typically contain antihistamines, are often ineffective and, in some people, cause irritability.

However, when used occasionally, they work well for some individuals. Stress-induced emotions consume huge amounts of energy. Some people are naturally better than others at coping with such emotions, but everyone can learn to modulate them to some degree. Engage in a hobby. Emerging data show that knitting, crocheting, and other rhythmic and repetitive craft activities can be potent stress relievers.

For one thing, they distract you from your worries. A seminal study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association found that sewing was more stress-reducing than playing a card game, reading a newspaper, or other activities. The researcher concluded that the act of performing a craft such as knitting is so absorbing and enjoyable that it is incompatible with worry, anger, obsession, and anxiety.

Most importantly, perhaps, crafts and hobbies can induce the relaxation response, the polar opposite of the stress response. The act of doing a task over and over again breaks the train of everyday thought and calms both the body and mind. Deep breathing, meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, and visualization can evoke a state of rest and release.

These kinds of relaxation exercises trigger physiological changes, such as lowering blood pressure, slowing heartbeat and respiration, and reducing blood lactate levels, which may be linked with anxiety attacks.

Place your hand just beneath your navel so you can feel the gentle rise and fall of your belly as you breathe. Pause for a count of three. Continue to breathe deeply for one minute, pausing for a count of three after each inhalation and exhalation. Relax your facial muscles and allow your jaw to fall open slightly. Let your shoulders drop. Let your arms fall to your sides. Allow your hands to loosen so that there are spaces between your fingers.

Uncross your legs or ankles. Let your legs fall comfortably apart. Feel your shins and calves become heavier and your feet grow roots into the floor. Now breathe in slowly and breathe out slowly. Each time you breathe out, relax even more. Put fingertip pressure on muscle knots. Knead across muscles, and try long, light, gliding strokes. You can apply these strokes to any part of the body that falls easily within your reach. For a short session like this, try focusing on your neck and head.

Make a series of tiny circles with your thumbs or fingertips. Pay particular attention to your temples, forehead, and jaw muscles. Use your middle fingers to massage the bridge of your nose and work outward over your eyebrows to your temples. End by closing your eyes. Cup your hands loosely over your face and inhale and exhale easily for a short while. An overly committed schedule, whether it consists of professional, family, social, or volunteer activities, can sap your energy level.

Everyone needs some downtime to relax and restore—even high-energy types.

Mental energy

Set your priorities in terms of the most important tasks. Pare down those that are less important. Learn efficiency techniques that let you meet your work goals without working harder or longer than necessary. Consider asking for extra staff or temporary assistance at work. Regular aerobic exercise seems to help control stress. Such exercise generates the production of endorphins in the brain, and these molecules have a calming effect. Anyone who enjoys the outdoors, whether for gardening, hiking, or taking walks along the beach, knows that getting outside can help restore body and soul.

Some research suggests that being in nature can have therapeutic and restorative effects. This supports a theory developed by Harvard biologist Edward O. Evolution may indeed have hard-wired us to prefer natural places. Common sense tells us that time spent hiking in the hills, walking in a beautiful garden, or bird watching can help a person feel restored.

If nothing else, getting outdoors can help reduce stress by taking your mind off troubling thoughts. And communing with nature often goes hand in hand with exercise, a known energy booster. Is it simply to feel good? Are there activities you would enjoy if only you had more energy? Motivation in itself is an important aspect of energy.

And reaching goals is enormously satisfying—the greater your sense of well-being, the higher your energy level is likely to be. So if you need to reinforce your resolve, try this. Get out a pencil and jot down the things in your life that have most inspired you. Have you trained for a marathon? Earned an advanced degree? Raised money for charity? Now make a list of the things that you most enjoy doing, such as traveling, gardening, playing a musical instrument, socializing, reading a good book, or playing bridge, golf, or tennis.

Look at the two lists. Are there ways to combine the things you love with goals you can accomplish? Planning a trip can be stimulating, for example, and saving the money for it can give you a goal. Try to focus on your priorities, so that you channel your energy into the activities that truly matter to you. When you lack energy, you feel physically weak, mentally dull, or both. Effort of any sort can tire you out quickly.

Sometimes when you lack energy, you feel tired or drowsy. But fatigue is not just sleepiness: But fatigue did not always have a negative connotation. The notion that fatigue is an unwelcome condition to be studied and overcome first became popular in the midth century, with the advent of industrialization and its demand for a steady source of indefatigable factory workers. By , the study of fatigue was in full swing, with fatigue laboratories cropping up throughout Europe and scholarly papers about the new science of ergography, or work capacity, filling scientific journals.

Interest grew as the military sought to understand how to boost energy and thereby increase the productivity of workers in munitions factories during World War I. Later, the focus of military research shifted from physical to mental fatigue as increasing numbers of tasks—from piloting airplanes to operating radar—required sustained mental alertness. Today, this line of research is changing the way scientists think about fatigue.

Some people are better than others at performing well despite a lack of sleep, suggest some Air Force scientists working with pilots. It may be that people who decide to become pilots self-select for this characteristic, the researchers suggest, as people who cannot perform well when sleep-deprived are less likely to become pilots. The scientists also hope to find out whether there is a brain chemical that influences this ability.

One of the significant challenges facing contemporary scientists studying fatigue is how to measure its prevalence. Unlike diabetes, obesity, or other well-defined medical conditions, fatigue is very difficult to define because it has varied symptoms and, like pain, is both an objective and subjective state. Moreover, fatigue is part of the human experience and is, at times, entirely normal. Despite these hurdles, researchers who have looked at the results of numerous epidemiological population-based studies of fatigue have been able to draw some conclusions about its prevalence.

In a comprehensive health survey of more than 9, adults in Britain, for example, only headache was a more common bothersome symptom than fatigue. Fatigue tends to become more noticeable with age and chronic illnesses, such as arthritis, cancer, or cardiovascular disease. Perhaps not surprisingly, fatigue is also one of the leading reasons people around the world visit primary care providers see Figure 5.

Primary care doctors are often the first to hear from their patients when fatigue becomes a problem. A survey revealed the following about patients who reported symptoms of fatigue to their primary care doctors:. Canadian Medical Association Journal, November Studies have also shown that fatigue can have multiple simultaneous causes, and be associated with many variables, including demographic, social, cultural, and psychological factors.

One study involving more than 29, adults found that fatigue is common in urban areas and that the highest levels of fatigue occurred among women and people with lower levels of education and less prestigious jobs. Other studies conducted in various countries have found that people in lower social classes are more fatigued than those of a higher social standing. The experience of fatigue is often classed as one of two general types: Muscle fatigue and central fatigue are closely related.

But you can also experience one without the other. Although the mechanisms are not well understood, the two types of fatigue look different inside the body. Then repeat the sequence a few more times. The first part of the muscle contraction process occurs not in the muscles but in the brain.

The motor cortex, the area of the brain that controls movement, sends a nerve impulse to muscles in your arms and hands. To reach the appropriate muscles, the nerve impulse travels down the spinal cord and through a pathway of nerves to the neuromuscular junction, a tiny space between the end of a nerve and the surface of a muscle.

A chemical signal travels across the neuromuscular junction to land on the muscle. This, in turn, triggers a series of chemical reactions in the muscle cells that ultimately leads to the breakdown of ATP, which then provides the energy that enables the muscles to contract. Fatigued muscles have certain characteristics, including a buildup of acid, particularly lactic acid. Many diseases damage muscle fibers. An example is muscular dystrophy. When some fibers are damaged and cannot function effectively, it puts a strain on the muscle fibers that are not damaged.

A vicious cycle ensues that leads to more muscle damage and muscle fatigue. Other diseases affect the transmission of signals from nerves to muscles. An example is myasthenia gravis. You move a muscle when your brain sends a signal to the muscle to move. When disease interrupts that signal, muscles tire. Fatigue and sleep deprivation are ongoing concerns for medical residents in hospitals and for the patients they treat.

Residents typically work long hours, sometimes with little or no sleep. Fully trained physicians and surgeons, too, may work overnight on call and face a regular schedule of patients the next day. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has published guidelines restricting medical trainees in their first postgraduate year to a maximum of 16 hours of continuous work and those in their second postgraduate year to 24 hours.

Paradoxically, research studies have not found these restrictions to have improved patient care or reduced medical errors. If you or someone you know is in the hospital, keep this issue in mind. And if a doctor tells you in the evening or at night that you need an emergency medical or surgical procedure, ask how long that doctor and the doctors doing the procedure have been on duty.

When most people say they are fatigued or lack energy, they are describing a brain condition. What they mean is that they are having trouble paying attention or concentrating, or feeling motivated to perform. They may also mean that they feel sleepy. Specific areas of the brain, using certain natural brain chemicals, are responsible for attention and concentration.

Other areas are centrally involved in motivation. Still others are involved in alertness and sleepiness. Central brain fatigue is, to a great degree, a perception or a state of mind. As a result, central fatigue is a much less objective and measurable phenomenon than muscle fatigue. But sometimes the opposite happens: You can feel fatigued without having expended much energy at all.

Emotional and psychological factors significantly affect how fatigued you feel. Scientists have a method of measuring the perception of fatigue. To use this method, an exercising person is asked to pick a number on a scale ranging from no fatigue to maximum imaginable fatigue. Like the sensation of pain, the perception of fatigue is highly personal. It varies from one individual to the next, depending on personality as well as mood. For example, giving a subject feedback on his or her performance decreases the perception of fatigue, possibly because it helps keep the person motivated to improve.

When people are distracted, their minds wander. Based on experiments with humans and animals, researchers suggest that certain chemical or electrical stimuli in the brain can alter perceptions of fatigue during exercise. However, none of these experiments have yet provided a fatigue-preventing treatment that can be used to improve performance. In the past 20 years, research has also discovered that the immune system can profoundly affect mental functions.

The brain has its own immune system that fights infections and helps repair perceived injuries. In waging this fight—a process called inflammation—immune system cells make natural chemicals cytokines that send signals to other immune system cells to attack. Excessive amounts of cytokines produced over a prolonged period can interfere with attention and concentration, motivation and alertness.

However, recent research has revealed that inflammation or immune system activation anywhere in the body, such as the intestines or the kidneys, can affect attention, motivation, and alertness. The cause of fatigue is not always obvious see Figure 6. If you have the flu or have just eaten a big lunch, fatigue is to be expected.

Report your symptoms to your doctor. Fatigue often signals that something is wrong, physically or emotionally, or even with the pace and tempo of your daily schedule. This section explores some of the most common causes of an ongoing lack of energy. Some causes of fatigue are obvious, such as lack of sleep or a medical illness, but many others are harder to pinpoint.

Depression or anxiety, overwork, sedentary living, nutritional factors, even a medication could contribute to fatigue or cause a feeling of low energy. With depression, fatigue can manifest itself in two ways. One is mental fatigue, specifically a decreased drive or motivation to do things that you once enjoyed. Another is a change in sleep patterns—some people sleep more than usual, others develop insomnia. Either way, they grow weary during the day. Dysthymia, a persistent low-level depression, can make a person feel tired or fatigued much of the time. People with anxiety, on the other hand, are prone to panic, fear, and other high-stress responses, which cause fatigue by increasing levels of stress hormones.

These people are also more likely to have chronic high-stress reactions, the most debilitating and energy-robbing kind. Anxiety causes a host of emotional and physical symptoms, including worry, restlessness, and irritability, as well as rapid heartbeat, hyperventilation, upset stomach, or general aches and pains.

Many people with anxiety also suffer from depression. Developing knowledge of brain chemistry, genetics, nerve pathways, and the biology of stress has led to a greater understanding of depression and anxiety. Rather, depression has many possible causes, including genetic vulnerability, stressful life events, and faulty mood regulation by the brain. Regardless of the cause, getting help for depression and anxiety is extremely important. Several therapies, including medication and psychotherapy, can relieve the symptoms of depression within a matter of weeks.

Certain medications to treat anxiety work almost immediately. If you suspect that you are suffering from depression or anxiety, start by seeing your primary care doctor. He or she can assess your symptoms with the goal not only of uncovering depression or anxiety, but also of diagnosing possible underlying medical problems. Doctors look for the following signs to diagnose depression. Four or more of these symptoms—in addition to feeling sad or burdened or losing interest in nearly all activities on most days for at least two weeks—may indicate major depression:.

Doctors look for excessive anxiety and worry occurring more days than not for at least six months, plus at least three of the following symptoms:. If the evaluation points to depression, the doctor may suggest some combination of antidepressant medication, psychotherapy, and lifestyle changes such as exercise. Antidepressants work by adjusting levels of brain chemicals that play a role in depression. SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed medicines for depression.

Tricyclic antidepressants, an older class of medication, increase serotonin and also norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter that affects mood, anxiety, and drive. Tricyclic antidepressants are often the best choice for someone with sleep problems, although they should be prescribed with caution in people with known heart disease. Another effective way to beat depression is psychotherapy with a qualified counselor, such as a psychiatrist, psychologist, or social worker.

The combination of psychotherapy with an antidepressant is often an effective strategy and has been gaining favor recently. A sustained exercise program can improve the mood of people with mild or moderate depression. It might also augment antidepressant treatment for people with severe depression. Besides boosting your mood, exercise can also increase your energy level.

As with depression, anxiety can be treated with medications, psychotherapy, or both. For long-term treatment of anxiety, there are two options: In addition, short-term psychotherapy is at least as effective as anti-anxiety medications alone. Cognitive behavioral therapy is especially helpful. Too little sleep—or counterintuitively, too much sleep—can increase your perception of fatigue.

A variety of sleep disorders can also cause problems. In order to better understand your sleep habits, your doctor may ask you some of the following questions during an evaluation for a sleep problem. You may find it helpful to write down your answers to these questions and bring the completed questionnaire to the exam so you and your doctor can discuss it. How long have you had trouble sleeping, and what do you think started the problem?

Did it come on suddenly? Do you follow the same sleep pattern during the week and on weekends? If not, how are weekends different? At home, do you sleep better in your bedroom or in another room in the house? What medications or drugs including alcohol and nicotine do you use?

Have you ever taken sleep medications? If so, which ones? Do you ever feel discomfort or a fidgety sensation in your legs and feet when you lie down? Do you have to get up and walk around to relieve the feeling? How have you been feeling emotionally?

Strontium Side Effects are Overblown – Get the Facts

Does your life seem to be going as well as you would like? One of the most common sleep disorders is sleep apnea, which affects about 18 million Americans. This is a condition in which people stop breathing momentarily during sleep. This occurs when the upper airway is blocked by excess tissue such as a large uvula, the tongue, the tonsils, fatty deposits in the airway walls, nasal congestion, or a floppy rim at the back of the palate. A narrow airway makes obstruction all the more likely when airway muscles relax at the onset of sleep. A potentially life-threatening lack of oxygen and buildup of carbon dioxide, as well as increasing efforts to breathe, cause the sleeper to wake and gasp loudly for air until blood oxygen levels return to normal.

Some people with sleep apnea repeat this cycle hundreds of times a night without being fully aware of it. If you suspect that you have sleep apnea, talk with your doctor about having a sleep study. If you have sleep apnea, the best treatment is usually the use of a CPAP continuous positive airway pressure machine. About one-fifth of Americans work nonstandard hours, according to the U.

Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition to causing fatigue, changes in your work-sleep schedule in the short term can lead to irritability, trouble concentrating, slower reflexes, accidents, stomach upset, diarrhea, constipation, and heartburn. Over the long term, night shift work can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, cancer, depression, and serious gastrointestinal illnesses.

Even more challenging than steady night shift work is continually switching back and forth from day hours to night hours. A study found that nurses who rotated every couple of days from day to night shifts were less alert and more likely to make mistakes when checking medical orders and prescriptions than nurses who worked a steadier schedule. Sleep in a very dark room or wear a sleep mask. Give yourself a few days to switch over to the new schedule—it takes time, just as it does when you change time zones.

Finally, as you adjust, try to sleep and wake at the same time each day, which can improve the quality of your slumber and reduce fatigue. Yearly surveys by the online travel site Expedia. However, those who take their vacation time tend to be more satisfied with their work. According to the Expedia Pleasure Index Survey of 2, people:. Overwork is another common cause of persistent lack of energy. Americans work long hours, particularly if work at home is added to that in the workplace. During the s, people added an average of 36 hours of work, or nearly a full week, to their work year.

Small wonder that a study by the Families and Work Institute found that a third of employees in the United States said their work drains them so much that they have little energy left over for their personal or family life. The hormonal changes that occur during the years leading up to and following menopause can have a profound effect on sleep and, as a result, can contribute to fatigue. In addition to making you feel as if someone just cranked up the heat, hot flashes often leave you flushed and soaked with perspiration. And a night of insufficient or poor-quality sleep can make you feel fatigued, lethargic, or sleepy the next day, not to mention irritable and moody.

Hot flashes eventually stop, usually within three to five years and sometimes sooner. In the meantime, there are some behavioral changes you can make to reduce the frequency and intensity of hot flashes, especially at night. One is regular practice of a yoga breathing technique called paced respiration, in which you breathe deeply and slowly for several minutes.

You can also try it during a hot flash, to lessen its duration. Weight loss has also been shown to be effective. Other strategies can help you deal with hot flashes when they occur. Dressing in layers during the day, so that it is easy for you to remove clothing when you start to feel hot, helps many women, as does keeping a fan or glass of cold water at the ready. And using a Chillow a pillow filled with cool water or wearing moisture-wicking pajamas may reduce the impact of night sweats on your sleep.

The most effective treatment for reducing hot flashes is hormone therapy. Studies show that short-term hormone therapy improves sleep quality in women suffering from night sweats and other menopausal symptoms. Because studies have revealed risks of taking hormone therapy for an extended period, experts recommend taking hormones at the lowest effective dose for the shortest possible duration, to minimize the potential risks.

Some antidepressants can also diminish the intensity of hot flashes. Hundreds of over-the-counter and prescription drugs can cause daytime drowsiness or fatigue. The most common classes of drugs associated with such side effects are antihistamines, blood pressure medications, antibiotics, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs. Drugs can cause sleepiness or fatigue in several ways. Some medications, such as antihistamines for allergies and colds, do so by depressing the central nervous system. Others initially act as stimulants, but ultimately leave you tired because they keep you awake at night.

Among these drugs are theophylline, used to treat asthma and other upper respiratory problems, and nicotine patches to help smokers quit. Still other medications can cause muscle weakness, including certain drugs that normalize an irregular heartbeat anti-arrhythmic agents. First, not all drugs that can cause such side effects do so in every person who takes them. Alcohol can cause fatigue in two ways. First, as a sedative, it depresses the central nervous system. So drinking wine, beer, or hard liquor during the day can make you feel drowsy or lethargic. Second, though a nightcap may make you feel drowsy at first, alcohol has delayed effects that can interfere with sleep.

Alcohol can also interrupt sleep by relaxing throat muscles, thereby worsening nocturnal breathing problems and causing sleep apnea.

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It also may disrupt sleep by causing the need to urinate during the night. So while a drink before bedtime may make it easier to fall asleep, it may cause you to awaken more easily and to spend less time in deep sleep. Perhaps you are among the one in five American adults helping an elderly or disabled family member with the daily tasks of life. The spectrum of tasks that unpaid caregivers undertake is vast. It runs the gamut from grocery shopping, cooking, and cleaning house to helping with baths or personal hygiene or providing hands-on medical care.

As the very embodiment of love and commitment to others, caregiving is one of the most worthwhile jobs you may ever undertake, but it can be exhausting and cause undeniable strain. About six in 10 family caregivers juggle work responsibilities while caring for someone else. And caregiving itself amounts to a part-time job: Perhaps not surprisingly, many of the 44 million adult caregivers in the United States suffer from emotional and physical stress, which can lead to fatigue.

For starters, take a break once in a while to spend time with friends or on activities that make you happy. Check with your employer about what resources might be available to you. Try to find ways to relieve physical and emotional stress. Caregiving can drain your energy and lead to depression and health problems.

If you are a caregiver, you owe it to yourself and the people you love to stay healthy, reasonably happy, and sane. The tips below are designed to help you take care of yourself so you can regain your vitality. Tell friends and family the job is too much for you alone. Ask them to help brainstorm solutions. Some people will make specific offers of help.

Tap into religious communities. A religious or spiritual community can be a strong source of assistance if you or the person you are caring for belongs to one. Try a support group. Many organizations, hospitals, health care plans, and religious groups offer support groups for caregivers. Support groups are a good place to blow off steam and share ideas with people who are facing similar situations.

Friends who listen—and offer advice only when you ask directly—are invaluable.

Boosting Your Energy - Harvard Health Business Blog

Ask outright if you can use them as a sounding board whenever the need arises. Make a weekly master list of everything that needs to be done, including appointments, shopping, drugstore runs, trips to the gas station, and other errands. Dole out simple tasks, if possible, or do as much as you can in one time slot. Set aside time to spend with a partner or family. Always let the answering machine pick up calls during certain hours. Could cooking happen on certain days only? If a clean house is important to you, can you make your room an oasis of clean and calm while being less strict about other areas?

Can you let some jobs slide or hire help to get them done? Refuse to do it all. Consider outside services that may give you a little more time for yourself, such as adult day services once or twice a week, or online grocery shopping. Can other family members help pay for these services? Caregiving attracts guilt like a magnet pulls iron filings. But odds are good that you do a great deal.

Include plenty of vegetables and fruits in your diet, and choose whole grains over refined-grain products. Limit or cut out unhealthy fats and too many sweets. Keep healthy snacks available, like air-popped popcorn or fruit. Frequent exercise delivers proven health benefits, such as lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. Try to get 30 to 60 minutes of moderate exercise a day, most days of the week. Listen to music you like, enjoy a luxurious bath, take a yoga class, do an activity you enjoy, or go out to dinner. Catch up with friends by phone or e-mail.

Establish a weekly walk with a friend or an occasional lunch or movie. Take time to alleviate stress. Learn meditation or other relaxation techniques. A host of illnesses can also cause fatigue, from chronic fatigue syndrome and fibromyalgia to anemia, heart failure, multiple sclerosis, and chronic infections, and hormonal disorders.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one to four million adults in the United States suffer from chronic fatigue syndrome CFS , though it sometimes occurs in teenagers and younger children. The condition is about twice as common in women as in men. The causes of CFS are still unknown, and there is no accurate diagnostic test.

However, scientists have found abnormalities in the brain and peripheral nervous system, in the immune system, and in energy metabolism in people with CFS. CFS is defined by a set of symptoms. Specifically, CFS is characterized by severe and debilitating fatigue that lasts for six months or longer and is not relieved by rest, plus at least four of the following for at least six months:. The symptoms of CFS tend to wax and wane, but most people remain impaired to some degree, even on their good days.

Unlike other causes of persistent fatigue, which come on gradually, CFS often appears suddenly, with an infectious-like illness having symptoms such as fever, sore throat, or aching muscles. Some doctors have questioned whether CFS is a form of psychiatric illness, particularly depression. There is other evidence that CFS is not a manifestation of depression. For example, certain brain hormone levels that are often seen in people with depression are not seen in people with CFS. Also, one well-known study found that the antidepressant fluoxetine Prozac did not relieve either fatigue or depression in patients with CFS.

CFS affects many parts of the body, including the nervous system, the immune system, and the metabolic process. Many studies indicate that the symptoms of CFS are most likely caused by abnormalities in the brain, particularly in a part of the brain called the limbic system. These differences in the brain have turned up on imaging tests, such as magnetic resonance imaging MRI , and in studies of various brain hormones conducted on people with CFS. Several studies find that patients with CFS also have variations in genes that affect the function of the limbic system.

The autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is the part of the nervous system that controls vital involuntary body functions such as blood pressure, heartbeat, and body temperature. Many patients with CFS show a tendency for the blood pressure to drop and the heartbeat to race when they stand up and remain on their feet after sitting or lying down. Doctors are testing various medications that might correct this condition. The body has built-in mechanisms for reducing pain. The brain makes natural chemicals called endorphins that are as potent as narcotic pain medicines.

The brain and spinal cord have mechanisms for inhibiting pain signals that travel from other parts of the body to the brain. The body also has natural mechanisms for reducing pain sensitivity during exercise. In patients with CFS, it has been shown that all of these mechanisms are defective. As a result, people with CFS feel painful stimuli more easily. Various parts of the immune system are chronically activated in CFS, as if the immune system is engaged in a battle against something it perceives to be foreign.

However, there is no evidence of an immune system deficiency that would make people with CFS especially vulnerable to infection, such as occurs with AIDS. Every cell in the body makes the energy it needs to live and perform its function. Oxidants, also known as free radicals, are unstable oxygen molecules that damage cell membranes, proteins, and DNA. As the mitochondria generate energy, they produce oxidants as a chemical byproduct. However, the body produces nutrients and enzymes—known as antioxidants—that help block or repair such damage.

CFS can follow an infection from which people usually recover promptly, such as infection with Epstein-Barr virus, human herpesvirus-6, parvovirus, and the bacterium that causes Lyme disease. However, it has not been proven that any of these infectious agents is the cause of the persistent symptoms of CFS. Also, there are cases of CFS that do not start with an apparent infection. Some people with CFS eventually recover: For others, certain treatments can help relieve the symptoms. If you have been told by a doctor that you have CFS, a combination of the following strategies may prove helpful.

Make a list of the things that you want to have more energy to do, and eliminate as many nonessential activities and obligations as you can. The goal is to conserve your energy for the most important activities in your life. At the same time, guard against becoming too passive. An exercise program in which you gradually increase your activity level can be very effective in reducing the severity of symptoms.

A review by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality found that exercise may help relieve fatigue and improve quality of life for people with CFS. As your stamina increases, step up the intensity of your exercise regimen or the time you devote to it. This type of psychotherapy helps you identify and change negative thoughts and behaviors and can reduce symptoms. Cognitive behavioral therapy CBT requires an experienced therapist.

Combining CBT with exercise may yield better results. One study showed that CBT with a highly experienced therapist, alone or combined with graded exercise therapy, helped improve level of function in many patients. Some smaller studies have not reported clear improvement. Low doses of a tricyclic antidepressant such as amitriptyline seem to improve the quality of sleep, reduce pain, and increase energy.

As yet, no scientific studies have been conducted of this treatment in patients with CFS, but studies have found a clear benefit from low-dose tricyclics in patients with a similar illness, fibromyalgia. If infectious causes of CFS are proven, it is likely that some of them could be treated with available antibacterial and antiviral drugs. However, at this time no such treatments are recommended. The headaches, joint pain, and muscle pain that characterize CFS can be relieved with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs NSAIDs , such as ibuprofen Advil, Motrin or naproxen Aleve , or another over-the-counter painkiller, acetaminophen Tylenol.

There is some evidence that fish oil capsules 3, mg per day may also help reduce the symptoms of CFS. Among experimental approaches currently being explored are medications to treat abnormalities of the autonomic nervous system, specific antiviral drugs, and drugs that target the immune system. None of these treatments has yet been proved effective. Both disorders are more common among women; both produce symptoms of unremitting fatigue and muscle pain; and both can begin following an infection.

But in fibromyalgia, pain, more than fatigue, is the predominant symptom. People with fibromyalgia have many of the same abnormalities of the immune system, endocrine system, and nervous system found in those with CFS. However, some studies have found that, in some tests, the abnormalities within these systems differ in people who have fibromyalgia compared with people who have CFS. Psychiatric problems, such as depression and anxiety, are also more common in people with fibromyalgia than in the general population.

The area between the shoulder blades and the bottom of the neck tends to be the most painful. Apparently, the musculoskeletal pain of fibromyalgia reflects a heightened sensitivity to pain rather than muscular problems. People with fibromyalgia appear to have different levels of pain-sensing chemicals in the brain and spinal cord than healthy individuals do. One example is substance P, a neurotransmitter that helps transmit pain signals to and from the brain. Heat and massage can relieve musculoskeletal pain in the short term. Light- to moderate-intensity aerobic exercise—such as swimming, walking, biking, or low-impact step classes—can also reduce muscle pain and tenderness.

Start slowly and gently, and build in intensity as you become more fit and tolerant of exercise. It also helps to perform strengthening and stretching exercises twice a week to build muscle and improve flexibility. Studies show that tai chi and yoga both may be excellent exercises for people with fibromyalgia because of their mind-body aspects. If you decide to try either of these forms of exercise, however, be sure to tell your instructor that you have fibromyalgia, so he or she can alert you to modifications for postures that may be difficult or painful for you, and recommend cushions, straps, bolsters, and even chairs to lessen the stress on your musculoskeletal system.

One medication used to treat seizures—pregabalin Lyrica —and two medicines that treat depression and neuropathy—milnacipran Savella and duloxetine Cymbalta —are approved by the FDA to treat fibromyalgia. The mechanism by which these drugs provide pain relief is unknown. However, researchers speculate that they work by blocking the release of molecules involved in pain signaling. Side effects can include mild-to-moderate dizziness and sleepiness, blurred vision, weight gain, dry mouth, and swelling of the hands and feet.

In addition, several randomized clinical trials have found that low-dose tricyclic antidepressants improve sleep, elevate mood, and relieve muscle pain in patients with fibromyalgia. A related drug, the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine Fexmid, Flexeril , has been noted to treat muscle spasms and pain in fibromyalgia, although it is not approved by the FDA for this purpose.

Multiple sclerosis MS is an unpredictable autoimmune disease affecting about , people in the United States and about 2. Most people with MS experience their first symptoms between the ages of 20 and 40, but a diagnosis is often delayed because of the transitory nature of the disease. The most debilitating part of MS can be severe fatigue. While most people with MS have fatigue, other symptoms can vary significantly from one person to the next, depending on the location of affected nerve fibers.

Symptoms range from mild to severe and can be long-lasting or short-lived. They may include anything from vision problems to dizziness, tremors, bladder and bowel problems, and depression. Although most people recover completely between flare-ups, some suffer progressive loss of function, which can lead to advanced muscle weakness, paralysis, and blindness. Imaging studies have shown a correlation between MS fatigue and reduced metabolism of glucose in certain areas of the brain responsible for processing and motivation. This may explain why MS fatigue frequently includes both muscle and brain fatigue.

Sometimes, however, fatigue in MS is the secondary effect of other symptoms. For instance, sleep disturbances caused by bladder problems or nighttime spasms—both common symptoms of MS—can lead to daytime fatigue. Depression is also a contributor. In some people who are unaware that they have MS, fatigue is the most prominent initial red flag, because other symptoms are minimal. How can someone tell if fatigue is a symptom of MS? There are certain characteristics that set MS fatigue apart from the fatigue typically experienced by healthy individuals.

They include fatigue that. If you are experiencing the symptoms above, talk to your doctor. He or she will be able to determine if you should be evaluated for MS. Even if you have MS, there are ways to boost your energy levels. The best approach is a comprehensive plan that combines lifestyle changes and medications. However, as you likely know from experiences with your own computer or cellular phone, sometimes things happen that require fixing.

I believe the glitches have now been corrected. Having digestive issues —bloating diarrhea, heartburn —for as long as you can remember is NOT normal. Your digestive function is definitely compromised. It will further damage your digestive function. You can find such competent docs in your area via The Institute for Functional Medicine.

You might also ask your doctor about being tested for gluten intolerance AND for gluten sensitivity. You do not have to have celiac disease what gluten intolerance tests evaluate for gluten to cause significant digestive problems, or to promote inflammation and increase bone loss. Gluten sensitivity can also do all of these unhappy things.

However, you are correct — just having calcium in your bloodstream does not ensure that it is reaching your bones. The nutrient needed to ferry calcium into your bones is vitamin K2, which is why AlgaeCal Plus also provides K2 in its most effective form of MK I have written about K2 at length in Your Bones, 2nd edition.

You will learn all you need to know about vitamin K K1 and K2 and probably more — I tend to cover things in depth as I like to deeply understand how things work, and believe everyone should have such in-depth information readily accessible. Vitamin D increases our need for vitamin K2 because vitamin D not only increases our absorption of calcium, but upregulates our production of the proteins responsible for bringing that calcium into our bones called osteocalcin and keeping it out of soft tissues, e. I also discuss these issues in full in Your Bones.

The lab test you need to have run to evaluate your vitamin K2 sufficiency is called unOC, which stands for uncarboxylated osteocalcin. I discuss this test — which just requires a simple blood draw — in the Labs Appendix in Your Bones. Your doctor can order this for you as well. Regarding B12 — this B vitamin must be converted into its active form inside your body — methylcobalamin — for it to exert its numerous highly important effects.

One indication that your body is not doing a good job of making this conversion is elevated blood levels of homocysteine. I explain in detail why elevated homocysteine levels are quite damaging to bone in Your Bones. In sum, homocysteine is highly inflammatory, and chronic inflammation promotes bone loss. Please have your blood level of homocysteine checked.

This is a standard test, should be covered by your insurance, and any licensed physician should know all about it. Once you have had this test run, if your homocysteine levels are high, have your doctor order a supplement for you that contains the activated forms of all the key B vitamins involved in methylation — folate, B6, B12, riboflavin. These Bs they work together, so just providing activated B12 is not sufficient. Furthermore, many people do not effectively activate more than one of the B vitamins. Calcium and strontium utilize the same absorption pathways — and calcium will always be preferentially absorbed over strontium when the 2 minerals are present in the digestive tract at the same time.

This is why it is so important to take strontium at a different time of day from calcium-containing supplements or calcium-rich foods. If calcium is present, you will not absorb the strontium and will receive no benefit from it. When your BMD is fully restored to normal, healthy levels, you can cut back to a half dose mg, 1 capsule of Strontium Boost to maintain bone health.

My bones have been in excellent shape for more than 5 years now. Just prefer not to take anything that may have side effects. Hi Connie, I hope my full review of strontium will put to rest any concerns you might have regarding the potential for any adverse effects from the natural form of strontium, strontium citrate, which is what is present in Strontium Boost. The only form of strontium for which ADRs have ever been reported is the unnatural, drug form, strontium ranelate, which has never been approved for use in the U.

Yes, you will benefit from just AlgaeCal Plus which will provide you with much more than calcium! However, because you have significant bone loss Please review the dozens of ways I share from the current research in my review of strontium via which strontium promotes healthful bone formation — for all these reasons, I urge you to include Strontium Boost as part of your protocol. Since the most current research indicates that half the typical dose of strontium i. And I make sure my husband, who does not have bone density problems, but does have knee joint problems, takes both he also takes just one capsule of Strontium Boost at night , so he can continue to play basketball.

When I started him on this protocol about a year ago now, he was limping, wearing a knee brace, and fearing his bball playing days were over. NO adverse side effects. And he is MUCH happier! Please give Strontium Boost a try. I have been diagnoised with Osteoprosis.

You will not need your former calcium supplement. If you have a copy of Your Bones, please check the section on calcium where I have provided a table showing the best food sources of calcium p. Keep a diet diary for days and you should be able to easily see how much calcium your diet is providing for you. Optimal intake is 1,2— — 1, mg per day for someone with osteoporosis. I do not know what your multivitamin contains. Hello Lara, would you be so kind to post links to the most recent independent scientific studies and tests done on Strontium Citrate?

You recently stated the following: Following is my reply to your questions asking for 1 the exact amount of strontium that ends up as cortical bone and its incidence in making it weaker 2 to view the studies highlighting the assimilation of Strontium as trabecular bone. Re 1, the specific data you requested does not exist.

The research — both animal and human — does not specify the precise amount of strontium that deposits in cortical bone, but clearly show that the majority of the strontium incorporated goes into trabecular bone. Furthermore, the strontium that does deposit in cortical bone does NOT render it weaker, but more stable and resistant to fracture — as explained in this paper, which I mention again below. The incorporation of fluoride and strontium in hydroxyapatite affects the composition, structure, and mechanical properties of human cortical bone. J Biomed Mater Res A. Epub Oct Re 2, following are the citations of a few of these papers all are available on PubMed with my italics added for emphasis and my comments on the relevant text: The biological role of strontium.

Pors Nielsen summarizes the results of numerous studies in this review article. Strontium distribution and interactions with bone mineral in monkey iliac bone after strontium salt S administration. J Bone Miner Res ; Long-term treatment with strontium ranelate increases vertebral bone mass without deleterious effect in mice. Less than one Ca ion out of 10 was substituted for by one Sr ion in each crystal Long-term studies in rats confirmed pronounced dose-related increments in trabecular bone volume, mineralised bone volume, osteoblastic surface, and a reduction in osteoclast number, but osteoid thickness was not affected.

Incorporation and distribution of strontium in bone. The concept of two different phases involved in the uptake of strontium into bone has since been generally accepted — that is, a relatively rapid uptake into new bone and long-term exchange processes in old bone. Lara comment —the new bone referred to here is trabecular bone; a much slower second phase of uptake occurs in cortical bone.

The differences in strontium incorporation into bones were further analyzed at a microscopic level using the X-ray microanalysis technique, and the influence of the presence of strontium on the size of the crystal was studied by X-ray powder diffraction and Raman microspectrometric techniques.

These techniques were applied on bone mineral samples obtained from the iliac crest of male cynomolgus monkeys treated for 13 weeks with oral doses of strontium ranelate. The X-ray microanalysis method provided a semiquantitative evaluation of the amount of strontium taken up by the bone mineral substance, and its localization. Combined with X-ray diffraction and secondary Raman spectroscopic images, it was demonstrated that strontium was dose-dependently taken up by the bone mineral and heterogeneously distributed in compact and cancellous bone, with a higher amount in newly formed bone tissue than in old bone tissue.

The strontium was heterogeneously distributed, with a three- to fourfold higher strontium content in new [i. At all the applied doses, incorporation of strontium produced no significant change in the crystal lattice parameters, even if the ionic radius of Sr21 1. In vitro chemical experiments have also shown that Ca21 may be exchanged by Sr21 in synthetic calcium hydroxyapatite. The incorporation of strontium into bone after oral strontium treatment depends upon the skeletal site — more specifically, the amount of trabecular vs cortical bone in the skeletal site.

This is demonstrated in Figure 5, which shows that the strontium content was higher in cancellous bone than in cortical bone of cynomolgus monkeys, treated for 13 weeks with various strontium doses. Lara — Sorry, I cannot copy this figure here for you — copyright on the article prevents that, but you can look at the full article via PubMed. The research conducted in the above papers used strontium ranelate, however, other papers show the same findings using natural forms of strontium, e.

The cross-talk between osteoclasts and osteoblasts in response to strontium treatment: Epub Sep 9. In animal research, female rats whose ovaries had been removed the standard protocol used to simulate human menopause were given strontium chloride over a 2-month period. Mechanisms of action and therapeutic potential of strontium in bone. Animal studies using strontium chloride found that within 4 weeks, strontium increased the number of bone-forming sites, trabecular bone formation and bone volume in vertebrae and alveolar bone the jawbone , and reduced the number of osteoclasts present.

Administration of strontium carbonate for 6 months in osteoporotic patients stimulated bone formation confirmed by hip bone iliac crest [another area richer in trabecular bone] bone biopsies. Strontium carbonate administration increased both the extent of osteoblast surface and the amount of bone matrix formed, confirming that strontium increases trabecular bone formation in humans with osteoporosis. Lara — so to reiterate, strontium deposits primarily in trabecular bone, the inner spongy portion of bone, where metabolism is much more active than in cortical bone, the outermost hard, older portion of our bones.

The very small amount of strontium that incorporates into human cortical bone also has beneficial effect, however, — the strontium that deposits in cortical bone lowers its porosity, further improving bone microstructure and resistance to deformation. Monitoring bone strontium intake in osteoporotic females self-supplementing with strontium citrate with a novel in-vivo X-ray fluorescence based diagnostic tool. Epub Jan Strontium measurements were taken at the finger and ankle, representing primarily cortical and trabecular bone, respectively.

After 24 hours, the mean strontium signal rose in both the finger and ankle, and strontium levels continued to increase in both finger and ankle throughout the length of the study. However — and this is why I am unable to tell you exactly how much strontium is deposited in cortical and in trabecular bone in real individual people — the strontium signal varied widely between individuals such that after three years, the highest strontium signal observed was These results indicate that all benefitted, although to varying degrees and also that both trabecular and cortical bone strontium levels do continue to slowly increase at both sites after 4 years of strontium citrate intake.

Here are a few quotes italics added by me from this paper, again stressing that strontium deposits primarily in trabecular bone: Similarly, the initial case study found that Sr levels were higher at trabecular bone compared to cortical bone and that ankle levels [trabecular bone] continued to increase, even after 24 months of strontium supplementation.

This is in agreement with the findings available in the literature. I hope this information is helpful for you. The key take-away here is that natural forms of strontium significantly improve our ability to build new trabecular bone and maintain healthy older cortical bone — a win-win for our skeletal health. Thank you Lara for that thorough response! In the study of the 10 women supplementing with strontium over 4 years: Modeling elemental strontium in human bone based on in vivo x-ray fluorescence measurements in osteoporotic females self-supplementing with strontium citrate.

Although strontium levels in bone do continue to increase over time, the number of strontium ions incorporated into the bone matrix is so miniscule— remember one strontium ion replaces less than one calcium ion out of ten, plus as bone remodeling is continuous, these strontium ions are resorbed just as calcium ions are during normal bone remodeling , so for all practical purposes, strontium intake can be continued throughout life.

Once bone health is restored, a maintenance dose of mg per day should be both safe and sufficient. This is the dose I now take myself as my bones have now been in perfect shape for several years — thank you, AlgaeCal Plus and Strontium Boost! Hello Lara, I sometimes have to take Zantac for heartburn. Most forms of calcium require stomach acid to be properly absorbed Calcium Citrate would be an exception to that. Is Algaecal a form of calcium that does not require stomach acid to be absorbed? If you feel that it would be better to separate the two, what would be the time window you recommend between Zantac mg and the next Algaecal dose?

Our bodies will overcome the occasional insult. However, if you do take Zantac ranitidine frequently, this is potentially quite damaging to your health, overall, not just that of your bones, since stomach acid is required to digest your food, releasing the nutrients embedded in the food matrix, and to solubilize the minerals released not just calcium! However, mineral salts containing citrate typically provide far less of the elemental mineral i. Take a look at my post on magnesium supplements for a full discussion of this.

The end result is that you have to take times as many pills, which is both unpleasant and costs more, to get the same amount of mineral. Also, just because the citrate easily separates from its mineral partner, this does not get the job of mineral absorption done. Your body still must solubilize the mineral, a job that also requires the presence of some stomach acid. Furthermore, without stomach acid, we do not produce intrinsic factor, without whose help we cannot absorb vitamin B Zantac is an H2 blocker with a half-life of 2.

AlgaeCal contains several different plant-derived calcium salts, but does not contain calcium citrate. So, yes, if you are frequently taking Zantac, this drug will interfere with your ability to absorb the calcium — and all the other bone-essential nutrients — that AlgaeCal Plus provides. You can try taking your AlgaeCal hours after taking Zantac, but a far better move would be to figure out WHY you are experiencing symptoms that lead you to resorting to Zantac for short-term relief suppression of symptoms, not cure!

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I urge you to work with a physician competent to help you determine why your digestive function is off and correct the real problem. There are many— easy to correct safely and naturally — causes of unhappiness in your digestive tract. The website is http: I have been taking algae cal calcium plus…. I am a 70 year old women and eat extremely healthy which is totally organic and includes fruits, vegetables, grains, non fat dairy, wild fish and very infrequently a little red meat…. I have been told that I am osteoporatic 15 years ago. Unfortunately, with my algae cal regiment, my dexa scan has shown that my bones are weakening at an alarming speed.

MY endocrinologist told me that I have been wasting years trying AlgaeCal when I should have been on medications. I am so disappointed with AlgaeCal. I would like to know if there are any other women who have had this disappointing outcome. Think about it this way: You must remove ALL the tacks. If you would like my help, I will do all I can to assist you in determining the underlying cause s of your bone loss. I will want to know where you live so I can gain some insight into possible toxic environmental exposures , a lot more about your overall health history, your weight, lifestyle exercise , sleep, any drugs you are taking, any other supplements you are taking — and more.

We need to know about any SNPs you have that increase your risk for bone loss SNPs are variations in the way your genes direct the production of your enzymes or how various cellular structures are made , so that we can tailor your nutrient intake to make up for them. These SNPs are a big part of why all the women in my family before me died far earlier than they should have after breaking a hip. But I know what these issues are and what I need to do to correct for them. Today, such information is, for the first time, available to all of us.

I am assuming you have had your blood levels of vitamin D 25 OH D checked? If not, this is another basic test you should have run. Hang in there, we can figure this out. And please, do not stop supplying your bones with the nutrients they must have to rebuild healthfully. I have just started with Strontium Citrate also the mg dose. I know now to separate these two. But…I also take Magnesium and usually 2 caps before going to sleep.

Can I take Strontium and Magnesium at the same time? The Magnesium has these contents: Nutra-Life Magnesium Complete Ingredients: The dosage recommended for Strontium Boost is 2 capsules daily, which supplies a total of mg of strontium. Since your supplement is giving you mg of strontium in 3 capsules, it looks like you are taking a different strontium citrate supplement. If you are going to use up your current supplement, be sure you are getting twice as much calcium as strontium from your food and the supplements you are taking.

This would be 1, mg of calcium per day, which is greater than the 1, mg RDI for calcium for postmenopausal women. If you are going to be taking 1, mg of calcium daily which I also do not recommend , then you need to balance that by ensuring your diet and supplements are providing you with half that amount of magnesium, or mg of magnesium daily. The expiration date for your supplement should be listed on the bottle. A bottle of Strontium Boost will be good for 2.

If you are taking AlgaeCal Plus and Strontium Boost, these supplements will automatically be providing you with optimal, balanced doses of calcium, magnesium and strontium — one of many reasons I rely upon these supplements for myself. If you are using something else, please do check that your diet and supplements combined are not giving you more than 1, mg of calcium, mg of magnesium and mg of strontium citrate each day. In Your Bones, 2nd edition, I have provided tables for calcium and magnesium listing commonly eaten food sources and the amount of each mineral provided in a typical serving, hoping to make it easy for you to figure this out.

And, of course, you can run a search for food sources of calcium and magnesium on the internet to get this information. First, does strontium expire? Secondly is mgs an unadvisable dose. I do have mild osteoporosis.. I do take adequate amounts of calcium, magnesium and vitamin d3. I too have the same concern about the replacement of bone with strontium vrs calcium. I want to build bone but am apprehensive about replacing calcium with strontium. I would appreciate your best scientific information Laura. I have read your book,Your Bones and not really found a specific answer to this question.

The new article covers all the latest research and will answer your questions and concerns in probably far more detail than you want to wade through! But, after reading all the current research more than 70 papers on strontium, I started taking it again at a half dose to ensure my bones remain healthy. Joe Pizzorno, is approaching age 70 and still playing basketball with men half his age; I had him read my review and he has started taking strontium at a half dose as well to protect his knees as I also showed him some good studies showing strontium helps maintain healthy cartilage in the joints.

Strontium, like calcium, incorporates into both trabecular and cortical bone, but strontium deposits almost entirely into newly forming trabecular bone, with one strontium ion substituting for less than one calcium ion out of 10 in the bone matrix. Strontium increases the rate at which these bone-building cells are produced and increases their lifespan Osteoid: Osteoblasts secrete osteoid, the unmineralized portion of the bone matrix, as the first step in their bone building process. Strontium inhibits the production of these bone-resorbing cells and the rate at which they remove old bone Mesenchymal stem cells: Osteocalcin is the vitamin K-dependent protein that, when activated by K2, delivers calcium into bone.

The apatite crystals that contain strontium ions are more stable, have more regular shapes and are more resistant to stress. I hope this information helps — it is ALL fully referenced by articles in the PubMed listed journals — all the references will appear in the article with links to the papers once published.

As long as the juice or tea does not contain calcium. Some juices will add calcium carbonate to it so check the label, or if you drink tea, avoid any added milks or creams. I take a PPI for stomach issues. The PPI you are taking will completely block your production of stomach acid hydrochloric acid and thus will also block your ability to digest and absorb nutrients from food and supplements. Since supplements require far less hydrochloric acid exposure to release the nutrients they contain than food, in which nutrients are bound into the food matrix, supplements, such as AlgaeCal Plus, provide you with a better chance at releasing and absorbing the nutrients they contain.

PPIs do not cure stomach ulcers; they are simply used to manage the problem, and they cause numerous other serious problems themselves. What would be best for you is to figure out why you have developed stomach ulcers, treat the cause s and heal. One of the leading causes of stomach ulcer formation is a bacterium called Helicobacter pylori, which can be successfully treated and eliminated in only a few days with specific antibiotics.

Have you been checked for H. Are you under relentless stress serious enough to damage your adrenal function? This could contribute to ulcer formation. These are just 2 that immediately come to mind. If the physician you are working with has not attempted to get the FULL picture of your health and determine the cause of your ulcers, I urge you to look for one competent and willing to do so. You could check the Institute for Functional Medicine —www. I take a PPI for stomach ulcers which is time release and works for 24 hours. Will this affect the absorption of the bone building products?

I am in the process of trying to decide a course of action with my primary care physician. DXA scans over the past 8 years have shown a progression from Osteopenia to Osteoporosis. Just this past week I had x-rays that showed the reason for my extreme back pain while completing a half marathon on May 20th — 1 compression fracture T9 and two non-displaced fractures in my back ribs. I just turned 61 and have normally been very physically active. I have been a runner, biker , swimmer, and golfer.

I also now have two young grandkids that I want to hold and play with. News of my fractures was devastating. Other risks associated with Evista give me great pause too. Are you aware of current studies or professional opinions on the traditional meds? I seem to only find those that are maybe years old. Very helpful info, but I am hoping you will be able to give an update on your review of all the latest research which you mentioned in January. I am resisting bisphosphinates but am losing bone rapidly due to steroid use for a lung condition.

I hope you will come back with an update soon. And yes, Lara is finishing up an update for this post that will publish new research on Strontium. I shall be coming back to your blog soon. Has there been any research, that you are aware of, on any benefit to people diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma on replacing a drug like Zometa Zoledronic Acid with Strontium Citrate?

My Consultant says she would like me to continue with Zometa for approx. I look forward to your response. You are a big advocate of strontium citrate. What do you make of this study linking strontium to increased incidence of breast cancer? Thanks for sending me a link to this study. I am just now going back over all the research on strontium and will be posting a full article on all this in the very near future. But, meantime, here are my thoughts in reply to your comment. Yes, I do think strontium citrate may be of significant help to postmenopausal women with osteoporosis.

Strontium both lowers osteoclast production and activity and increases osteoblast production and activity. Supplemental strontium — as part of a bone-building program that includes optimal amounts of calcium, magnesium, boron, trace minerals, vitamin D3 and vitamin K2 — can help hasten the rebuilding of healthy bones. In regards to the study you ask about, published in Environmental Research in , that suggested strontium might increase risk of breast cancer, thank you for bringing it to my attention!

I pulled and read the full paper. Postmenopausal women, who are no longer producing adequate estrogen, will benefit from such an estrogen-like effect, but increased ER activity in young women, who are already producing plenty of estrogen, could result in over-expression of an oncogene cancer-promoting gene called ERBB2.

Signaling through this family of receptors promotes cell proliferation and opposes apoptosis cell suicide , so too much signaling can increase risk of uncontrolled cell growth, i. Urinary strontium and the risk of breast cancer: Epub Dec After reading a number of the papers Chen LJ et al. I could find nothing about strontium possibly increasing risk of breast or any other form of cancer, only papers discussing the use of a radioactive isotope of strontium called Strontium, which is being used to effectively treat bone metastases in cancer patients with breast and other cancers.

Strontium Sr chloride in the treatment of various cancer patients with multiple bone metastases. Int J Clin Oncol. Epub Jul Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. The bottom line here: To err on the side of safety, I would not recommend the use of strontium citrate in young, premenopausal women. Postmenopausal women with osteoporosis are likely to benefit from strontium citrate.

I was wondering if you had seen this article from Univ of Toronto, re lyme borrelia burgdorferi causing bone loss? In fact, the bone loss developed at a rapid rate, taking just four weeks to advance to osteopenia, a forerunner to the more severe form of bone loss disease, osteoporosis. The study found that the amount of bone loss directly correlated to the bacterial load found in the bones. The more bacteria present, the greater the rate of bone loss. Hi Anne, Thanks for sharing this research! That a chronic infection might promote bone loss makes a lot of sense. Inflammation, when chronic, promotes destruction of tissue in the joints thus the osteoarthritis already noted and activates osteoclasts excessively, increasing the rate of bone turnover.

The immune system may react more strongly to some bacteria, such as those that cause lyme disease borrelia burgdorferi , than others. If you carry a source of chronic infection, what can you do to lessen the effects on your joints and bones? You want to identify and eliminate as fully as possible ALL other sources of inflammation in your diet, environment and lifestyle. One very important factor to consider is vitamin A. Vitamin A is the key nutrient required for immune tolerance vitamin A is involved in causing the immune system to produce regulatory T cells of the IL strain, which help tune down and resolve inflammation , and many of us are not getting adequate vitamin A, which also works in partnership with vitamin D and should be consumed in comparable amounts for the optimal benefits derived from both nutrients.

The only really good food source of vitamin A is liver, which few of us consume regularly any more and if you do eat it, PLEASE be sure to only consume organic liver! Until about 8 years ago, it was assumed that everyone could convert beta-carotene to vitamin A, but we now know that, in fact, the vast majority of us are not able to make this conversion because our genetic inheritance includes slow or completely ineffective versions of the key enzymes responsible for this job.

Back in , I wrote several medical journal articles about all this, which are still posted free access on the Longevity Medicine Review website. Here is a link to one of these articles: You can safely take any amount less than this that will balance your vitamin D3 intake. Another action you can take that can dramatically lower your inflammation and help protect your joints and bones is to take 2 tablespoons daily of Triple Power.

Triple Power also delivers 2 highly effective natural anti-inflammatory compounds, curcumin and astaxanthin. The combination of all 3 is synergistic. Personally, I rely upon both vitamin A, which I take in an amount equivalent to the vitamin D3 I need to take, and 2 tablespoons of Triple Power each day, to keep my inflammation down and to protect not just my bones but my overall health. I love to exercise, have been addicted to barre classes for the last year and a half, and push my body quite hard, taking one class every day and two back-to-back classes on the weekends.

I very much hope this information will be of help. Thank you so much for responding, Lara and for responding so quickly. I apologize for posting my message twice. Initially, it did not appear that my first message went through. I am very conscientious of my diet and eat very, very few processed foods. That said, your suggestion is a good one and I will keep a diary for a couple of weeks and see if something turns up. Hello Lara, thank you for the information you have provided on this site. My question is, are there any negative side effects of taking the strontium citrate and calcium around the same time?

I am asking because I am getting small, itchy red bumps on my skin as well as my ski feeling kind of sun burned and wondering if it could be related to the strontium citrate. Your thoughts would be much appreciated. Hello Lara, I have learned a great deal about strontium citrate and the other bone supplements reading the answers to the questions posted.

One thing I learned was not to eat any calcium rich foods within a couple of hours of taking the strontium citrate. I did not know that; I did take the strontium citrate shortly after eating my breakfast cereal with almond milk, which was fortified with calcium.

I now know that the strontium citrate was not likely too well absorbed, but are there any negative side effects of taking strontium citrate and eating a calcium rich meal? I only took the strontium for a few weeks, but could my skin issues be an side effect of the way I took the strontium citrate?

I did take my actual calcium, Vit D, Magnesium, B vitamins, etc…later in the day as well. Your thoughts on this would be most appreciated. The only negative effect of taking strontium citrate along with a calcium-rich meal is that you will get little, if any, benefit from the strontium. As I explained, calcium and strontium compete for absorption, and calcium will always be preferentially absorbed. Regarding your skin — it is extremely unlikely that strontium is the cause of your itchy bumps or chapped-feeling skin.

Strontium ranelate — the prescription drug form of strontium — is associated with a very serious rash-like syndrome called DRESS syndrome, so if you were taking that, I would be telling you to head to the emergency room right away!. Strontium citrate, however, has never been found to cause this — or any of the other ADRs produced by strontium ranelate.

You are most likely to be having a reaction to something in your environment — a housecleaning, hair or body care product you are using. Or you could have become sensitive to some component in your food. Also, if your digestion is impaired or you are taking an acid-lowering drug, you will not be properly breaking down the proteins in your food, and undigested protein fragments that gain entry into your bloodstream can provoke many kinds of adverse reactions, including the skin symptoms you are experiencing. I suggest you take a careful look at the labels on the housecleaning and body care products you are using and eliminate any that may be suspect for days.

Also read the labels on the processed foods you eat — anything that comes in a can, box or plastic package and has a bunch of chemicals added. If something has lots of additives, eliminate it. It would also be a very good idea to increase your intake of probiotics beneficial digestive tract bacteria. Yogurt is a great option here — if dairy products agree with you, look for whole milk, organic yogurt from pastured cows, which will also provide vitamin K2 as well as calcium for you.

My favorite is plain, organic, whole milk Greek yogurt — we have a dish full every night along with some berries or other fruit and a handful of nuts or gluten-free granola for dessert. Try this and your taste buds as well as your digestive tract and bones will be delighted with you. If you cannot tolerate dairy, then look for yogurt made from organic soybeans or coconut. Kombucha is another excellent dairy-free source of pro-biotics.

And so are my gluten-free sourdough breads — you can find the recipes here add link. Please just try these suggestions for 1 week — you are very likely to not only see your skin issues resolve but to feel more vital overall. Let me know how you do. Hi Laura, I was diagnosed with osteoporosis My only risk factors are hereditary my mother has osteoporosis and being of slight build. I am otherwise fit, healthy and consume a vegetarian mostly alkaline diet.

I have also started taking supplements as recommended by my naturopath: After reading your website I am considering taking Algaecal but wonder whether I should wait a period of time, eg 6 months, to see if the current regime is working. Also can you advise how long I would need to take Algaecal for. I live in Australia so the cost of it is very high. I look forward to your reply. What is your blood level of vitamin D 25 OH D? Where you are determines how much D3 you should be taking daily, and this determines how much K2 you need as these nutrients need to be in balance.

What is your omega You want to have an omega How much magnesium are you taking? You need 1, mg of calcium daily and at least mg of magnesium daily. Let me know, and I will send you a more detailed, specific response. Re AlgaeCal — you should expect to see an improvement within 6 months. To continue to improve or to maintain the health of your bones, you will need to continue to take it.

Think about this — AlgaeCal provides optimal nutrition for your bones, whose need for a steady supply of these nutrients does not stop because our bones keep remodeling throughout life. Every 10 years, every cell in your body including those that make up your bones will have been replaced with new cells. The quality of what gets built will depend upon what building supplies were available. I understand that the cost of AlgaeCal is higher in Australia. I wish this were not the case!

However, the health of your bones is extremely important for your overall health and life expectancy. In sum, your bones are well worth the expense. I am looking into incorporating strontium citrate along with Algae Cal which I am already taking into my daily regime.

I have not come across any contraindications for the immune suppressed lifestyle, other than the possibility of DRESS which is not very applicable anyway. Do you know of any? I am 27 months out from a heart and double lung transplant and my last bone density results scared me. I can only imagine what it would of been without taking Algae Cal this past year. Now the culprits are Prograf, Imuran and Prednisone maintenance levels not to mention all the drugs in between which kept me alive until I got to this point. And maybe the beginning of menopause is also adding to the bone loss.

Any thoughts on the matter greatly appreciated as well, thank you! Hello Lara, Bless you for all you do for people concerning our bone health, etc. You are truly brilliant. I am 70 and take real good care of myself. Citrate is safe to take with my blood platelet problem. My thinking is that the platelets are made in the bone marrow and if the Osteoblasts and Osteoclasts start to function correctly through the AlgaeCal and StrontiumCitrate and all the other factors involved in the healthful regimen, then, perhaps, my platelet count would actually improve!

I highly respect all that you do. You can safely take strontium citrate. Strontium citrate, a natural form of strontium, is not associated with any type of blood disorder, including thrombocytopenia low platelet count. In fact, strontium citrate is associated with no adverse reactions at all. I just checked PubMed for the latest to be absolutely certain nothing new had been published in the last few months — and no ADRs of any kind are associated with strontium citrate. This is not the case for the drug form of strontium, strontium ranelate, which increases risk significantly for a number of ADRs, including VTE formation of a blood clot in the deep veins in the leg.

However, even strontium ranleate, which I certainly do not recommend, is not associated with lowered platelet count. I suggest you start out taking half the recommended amount of Strontium Boost so 1 capsule daily for a week or two, then increase to the full dosage of two capsules per day. And now to a possibly more important question for you — what is causing your low platelet count? A common cause of thrombocytopenia in us older folks I am now 67 is vitamin B12 deficiency.

Are you secreting sufficient hydrochloric acid stomach acid to enable you to absorb vitamin B12? The absorption of B12 is a bit complicated. B12 is bound to proteins in animal-derived foods e. It then immediately combines with a carrier called transcobalamin and enters the small intestine where pancreatic enzymes release it, so it can join with another carrier called intrinsic factor. Intrinsic factor, like stomach acid is secreted by cells in the lining of the stomach called parietal cells. IF your stomach acid secretion is low OR you are not secreting sufficient pancreatic enzymes or intrinsic factor, your ability to absorb B12 will be wiped out.

Obvioiusly, if you frequently take acid blocking drugs, your ability to absorb B12 will be impaired. Even if you are taking good care of yourself and eating well, aging is associated with gradual decline in the lining of the stomach called gastric atrophy and thus lessened secretion of digestive juices. Older adults anyone over age 60 are at higher risk of gastric mucosa atrophy, lowered stomach acid secretion and altered production of intrinsic factor.

Why are elderly individuals at risk of nutritional deficiency? Int J Nurs Pract. How common is vitamin B deficiency? Am J Clin Nutr. And these surveys were done using only plasma blood B12 as the marker of sufficiency. Plasma B12 alone is not an adequate marker because it does not indicate if B12 is active inside cells, just the amount of B12 floating around in the bloodstream. The plasma serum B12 test should be combined with labs for methylmalonic acid and homocysteine levels, both of which rise when B12 is insufficient and are thus suggestive of B12 insufficiency.

Folate and vitamin B If you are not certain your B12 status is excellent, please check! Low B12 impacts bone health by causing levels of homocysteine to rise — and homocysteine is highly inflammatory, a real terrorist igniting inflammation everywhere throughout your body. Inflammation activates osteoclasts, the cells that break down bone. When activated too frequently, the result is osteoporosis.



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Low B12 is an easy fix. You can ask your doctor about using B12 injections for a while to boost your levels quickly and also take B12 in the form of an intranasal spray, which allows B12 to be absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Hi Lara, I stumbled upon this website. At age 65, I just had a dexa scan with score of Dr put me on high dose Vitamin D for 8 weeks. Lara, what do you think of Vitamin Code Grow Bone. It is 2 different things, with taking strontium at bedtime and Vitamin Code Raw Calcium 4 tabs between breakfast and dinner.

I urge you to read Your Bones, 2nd edition, to become fully informed re the various drugs prescribed for osteoporosis. There are MANY causes of bone loss, none of which are treated by these drugs, and all have numerous adverse effects. I agree with you that determining why YOU are losing bone, correcting the causes of YOUR bone loss, and providing your bones with all the nutrients they must have to rebuild healthfully is your best option.

In fact, it is your only true option for reclaiming healthy bones. In Your Bones, I discuss the many causes of bone loss and all the nutrients our bones require to help you devise a plan that will work for YOU. Simply knowing your age and DXA score does not even come close to providing me with the information necessary to advise you fully. You must become well informed, think about what might be contributing to your bone loss, and then if you write me with specific questions, I will do my best to help you. Re calcium supplements — just calcium, even if accompanied by a few other nutrients, e.

I use AlgaeCal Plus because it provides not just calcium although it naturally contains 4 different types of calcium , but the entire diversity of trace minerals utilized by the marine algae to build its bony structure, plus vitamin D3, plus vitamin K2, plus extra magnesium, vitamin C and boron. Because it is derived from the marine algae, Algas calcareas, it also naturally contains the full spectrum of trace minerals.

Our modern diets are sorely lacking in these minerals, and our bones require virtually all of them for optimal health. No other calcium supplement I know of provides this. Vitamin D greatly increases our absorption of calcium from the intestines into the bloodstream. That is the job of the enzymes that require K2 as their co-factor. These include osteocalcin, which puts calcium into bone, and matrix Gla protein, which keeps it out of our arteries, heart, kidneys, breasts and brain.

It is imperative that you start taking K2 right away! K2 and vitamin D I hope you are taking the D3 form as it is much more effective than D2 work together and must be in balance — in fact, vitamin D causes an increase in the production of the vitamin K-dependent proteins e. I have written about all this in detail in Your Bones, 2nd edition.

I believe the book is available in public libraries in the U. Please read it and write me with your questions when you have a better idea of what might be the reasons for YOUR bone loss. Dear Lara, Thanks for writing back. I got your book from our library here and is enlightening that all that information is in there. I am slowly getting informed and changing the way I eat to see if I can feel better, because I am not going to take drugs for the osteoporosis. I know in that I felt worse than in One thing different is I layed out in the sun and got a good tan, not this year.

I have not had milk to drink for a long time, so now drink 3 cups milk daily and eat 1 cup of yogurt daily. I will be looking into calcium fortified orange juice also Before now, I took a multivitamin and half the full dose of Bone Strength Take Care. Now take 4 capsules Bone Grow Raw Calcium between breakfast and dinner and a multivitamin. Also taking Vitamin B and Vitamin C. Next, my diet needs to get overhalled as well getiting the foods out that cause calcium to go out of bones faster.

I have given up coffee, and need to watch the sugar. Its a start there is so much to learn! Thank you so much for this information. I was a bit nervous about taking the strontium after reading certain websites, so the research has put my mind at ease. I have read several good stuff here. Certainly worth bookmarking for revisiting. I surprise how much effort you put to make such a magnificent informative web site. I needs to spend some time learning more or working out more. Thank you for magnificent info I was in search of this info for my mission. Great article, it clears up my concern for safety and Strontium!

I was wondering what your thoughts are regarding taking strontium citrate along with Boron to help build stronger bones? And is Boron safe in your opinion? Thanks for the compliment, very glad my article set your mind at ease regarding the use of strontium citrate to safely help you rebuild healthy bones. Regarding boron, this trace mineral is also definitely needed. I explain all this in detail in Your Bones, 2nd edition, pp. Although you only need 3 milligrams of boron daily, this is a trace mineral that is difficult to get even in that small amount from the diet.

So it is best to take a supplement. You can, of course, purchase boron separately and have to open yet another bottle and take yet another pill every day , but I, personally, just rely on AlgaeCal Plus, which contains not only the calcium our bones require, but also the 3 milligrams of boron, plus magnesium and vitamin D3.

Re what I eat for lunch — typically, I have lots of vegetables raw salads —e. When available—as now in our garden—I top my raw greens salad with some fresh blueberries. I also often add a handful of organic nuts walnuts, pumpkin seeds, pine nuts, almonds, cashews, pecans—etc. I use organic extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar for salad dressing. I eat the calcium-dense foods e. We do not eat meat, but if you do, be sure you choose meat from pasture-fed animals, not feedlot beef or cows that are given corn which is typically GMO as well! Meat from free range, pastured animals should be good for you — when consumed in small amounts along with plenty of vegetables.

In doing so, I read through much of his published research and that of a number of others regarding gluten. I will no longer eat it! Human beings cannot properly fully digest gluten — even if no apparent digestive upset occurs, it still is provoking at least 5 different and very nasty immune system reactions, plus causing a leaky gut.

Gluten is a MAJOR contributing factor to all forms of auto-immune disease and its preferential target in the body is the brain and nervous system. There are quite a few other delicious grains we can have — including quinoa, millet, brown rice — if we want the extra carbs. I find my body has more energy, sleeps better and just feels better when I minimize my grain intake. I do much better with starchy whole vegetables like potatoes, yams, corn, beets, winter squash. These are very filling and delicious and suit my physiology better than grains. You simply must experiment and see what works best for you.

Modern wheat has been hybridized greatly over the last 50 years and is also deanimated a process used to make the flour water soluble, so easier to use for food products — the end result of all this is that modern wheat is MUCH more destructive to us than wheat used to be. It will definitely cause inflammation in your body — and as you know if you have read Your Bones — anything that provokes chronic inflammation activates osteoclasts excessively and causes bone loss.

Hi Lara, Thanks for your reply. It must have been something else that upset my stomach and I am now taking all the pills with no side effects. Interesting what you are saying about gluten. Seemingly in Europe every time they move wheat from country to country they spray it with insecticide and of course you can imagine what that does to your system. Hi Lara, Thanks so much for your fantastic reply. Just finished your book-absolutely brilliant. I learned so much! I took my 3 strontium tablets strontium boost last night and, trying to phrase this delicately, three hours later I was trotting to the loo.

Should I introduce the strontium gradually, building up from one pill to two to three over a period of time or should I take one pill three times a day? All my love Linda. Hi Linda, You are so welcome! Delighted you are working with a receptive physician! You are most likely an ambassador of new information for your doctor, and hopefully, what will be learned will get passed on to help other patients as well. Absolutely, cut back to 1 capsule of strontium and see how that works for you.

Just go very slowly and see what happens. If you tolerate 1 capsule, after several days of taking just 1, take 2, and see how you do. Taking 1 capsule several times a day will be a bit of a hassle as you must take strontium several hours before or after consuming calcium, so it would be easier to take at once. But remember, YOUR body may prefer a lesser dose, period. Even 1 capsule per day is going to be doing some good for your bones. Let me know how your personal clinical trial turns out, and Be well!

PS—if you are eating gluten-containing grains, I urge you to consider eliminating them wheat, barley, rye. The end result of all this is that wheat has become much more harmful for us. It will definitely be causing inflammation for you, and as you know after reading Your Bones, chronic low grade inflammation actives osteoclasts and causes excessive bone loss. If you want to read more about all this, the head of the research team primarily involved now at Harvard is Alessio Fassano, MD.

You can look him up on Google — much is now being written about this, and not just in the medical journals, but also for the public at large. I was diagnosed with osteoporosis 5 years ago. I was given a prescription bone drug, took one and it was like a bomb going off in my body. In my scores were hip I have broken my wrists in the past 5 years. My questions are am I beyond help with these scores to keep the osteoporosis at bay or could I even dare hope I could improve them. I feel with the hip score not deteriorating as much the walking is helping but I am really worried about my spine.