La Grande Back Pain Sufferers May Benefit from Fiber to Improve Nutrient Absorption
“Youth is wasted on the young.” Have you heard that saying? Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC supposes that there is a little truth in that for all of us - and especially our La Grande spines - as we age. When we’re young, our bodies require our attention more than we gave. Our youthful bones and spines and bodies need proper nutrition so that our older bones and spine and bodies are fit when we desire living our lives less painfully and more fully. Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC shares what La Grande chiropractic patients can do now to tackle bone mineral density (BMD) issues, regardless of their current age.
BMD AND OSTEOPOROSIS: BUILD BMD WHILE YOUNG
Optimizing peak bone mass early in life may drop osteoporosis risk later in life. A recent report stated that Vitamin D and calcium in females positively affected bone mineral density into young adulthood. Intakes of phosphorous and the calcium:phosphorous ratio at adolescence for females negatively affected BMD in young adulthood. Calcium intake in adolescent males strongly negatively affected BMD in the lumbar spine at young adulthood. Other leading factors were body weight at adolescence and young adulthood which positively affected BMD. (1) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC can’t stress enough just how important nutrition is for their future health.
BENEFITS OF IMPROVED NUTRITION BEYOND BETTER BONE MINERAL DENSITY
Osteoporosis is a disease of older people that results from youthful (in)attention. Low serum levels of vitamin D in osteoporotic women have a tendency to have an heightened chance of having any type of cancer and breast cancer. (2) Calcium intake during the teen years of life is vital to reduce the risk of osteoporosis later in life. Teen girls absorb calcium better: 326mg in teenage girls versus just 73mg in older women of 1332 mg taken a day. Even more problematic is that teen girls’ daily intake of calcium is way below what it should be. Enhancing bone mass by just 5% cuts the risk of fracture by 40%. (3) Getting healthy bones hinges on more than just calcium and vitamin D however. Deficiencies of vitamins B, C, E, and K as well as retinol disrupt the health of bone. (4) Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC presents these findings to encourage us all to increase intake of nutrients to build bone mass early and support it later to keep it healthy.
IMPROVE ABSORPTION OF NUTRIENTS
Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC knows that kids and their families want to be sure that their nutritional efforts will pay off. TIP: Dietary fiber may increase the body’s absorption of calcium but does it in different ways for older men and women. Higher intake of dietary fiber and fruit fiber was protective against bone loss in men but not women. Fiber from vegetables was protective against spine bone loss in women but not men. Cereal fiber or nut and legume fiber increases did not associate with bone loss in either men or women. Higher dietary fiber may decrease bone loss in men. (5) Who would have thought that fiber would have anything to do with bone mineral density? Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC supposes that many of our La Grande chiropractic patients wouldn’t have!
FIBER’S DEFENSE OF MEN’S BMD
Fortunately, some most perceptive doctors and researchers did notice that fiber intake was a protective factor of lumbar spine BMD in men aged 18 and 45 years old but not in women. In men over 65 years, nutrient intake showed no effect on BMD. In women between 18 and 45, fiber didn’t show a significant effect on BMDs, but daily fat intake significantly enhanced BMD. (6) A curious side note: Some thought that bone mineral density could be a risk factor for lumbar disc herniation in young persons, but a recent study discredited that thought. (7) However, medical literature points out that the overall benefit of nutrition - and now fiber intake in men - on the well-being of the body, its bones and its spine.
CONTACT Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
Listen to this PODCAST with Dr. Nike Taylor on The Back Doctors Podcast with Dr. Michael Johnson as she helps a patients with chronic low back pain with The Cox® Technic System of Spinal Pain Management.
Schedule your next La Grande chiropractic appointment with Dr. Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC where your spine, body and its bones are well understood in their current age whether they were treated well in their youth or not!
