Bone Density Does Not Necessarily Measure Bone Strength

[Guest guest]

I always thought bone density equated to bone strength.

Interesting to find out it doesn't....................Lynn

 

Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and

Health e-Zine

March 9, 2008

Bone Density Does Not Necessarily Measure Bone Strength

The

greater the force you put on your bones during

exercise, the stronger they become. Researchers at the

University of Missouri in Columbia showed that recreational

runners have denser bones than cyclists (Journal of Metabolism,

February 2008). Another study from Université de St-Etienne in

 

France show that youth soccer players have an increase in bone

density over three years of playing high level soccer (Joint Bone

Spine, January 2008). They failed to show that the soccer players

 

had denser bones than their classmates, yet their intuition told

them that heavy forces on bones while playing soccer must

strengthen bones, so they stated that " The yearly gain im bone

density is greater in soccer players than in controls. "

These

studies and many others comparing various sports

measure bone density, not bone strength. The only way to

measure bone strength is to see how much force it takes to break

them. Needless to say, nobody is doing these studies in humans.

 

So scientists use bone density, which can be measured, as a

substitute for measuring bone strength. Nobody has shown that

bone density determines bone strength. For example, birds have

bones that are not dense because they need a low weight to fly

effectively. Yet their bones are very strong. I think that, in the

future, methods will be developed to determine bone strength and

they will show that measuring bone density is, at best, a crude

measure of whether a person is likely to break his or her bones.

 

*******************************************************

Reports from DrMirkin.com

Shingles

 

http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/G164.htm

Salt sensitivity

 

http://www.drmirkin.com/heart/salt_sensitivity.html

Effects of donating blood

 

http://www.drmirkin.com/fitness/donate_blood.html

*******************************************************

Dear Dr. Mirkin: Does it matter how fast or slow a person

eats?

An

interesting study from Japan suggests that eating fast

is a risk factor for diabetes. Researchers at Nagoya University

 

Graduate School of Medicine in Aichi studied middle-aged men

and women and found that the faster a person ate, the more likely

he or she was to be fat (Preventive Medicine, February 2008).

Furthermore, both insulin levels and blood sugar levels were

higher in people who ate faster. High insulin and blood sugar

levels are markers for being diabetic or at risk for developing

type II diabetes.

Before

insulin can do its job of driving sugar into cells,

it must first attach to special hooks on the surface of cells called

 

insulin receptors. As a person gains weight, excess fat blocks

 

insulin receptors so they cannot drive sugar into cells. Blood

 

sugar levels rise and the pancreas responds by putting out large

amounts of insulin. Insulin makes you ever fatter by acting on

 

your brain to make you hungry and it acts on the liver to make

even more fat and on the fat cells in your belly to pick up and

store that extra fat. Early diabetes is characterized first

by high insulin levels, then by storing fat in the belly, rather

than the hips. Eventually the pancreas exhausts itself and stops

 

making insulin completely, and person then must take insulin.

*******************************************************

Dear Dr. Mirkin: What can I do about the fatigue I feel after

exercising?

After you

exercise intensely or for a long time, you feel

exhausted and cannot exercise again comfortably until you have

allowed enough time to recover. Part of the fatigue that you

feel

in your muscles is due to loss of sugar and fat stored inside the

muscles, and part is due to damage to the muscle fibers. Many

studies show that you will recover faster if you take drinks or foods

 

after exercise, but nobody is certain whether recovery is hastened

 

more by calories, protein or carbohydrates.

Researchers at the University of Bath in England recently

confirmed previous studies showing that taking a source of both

carbohydrates and proteins helps athletes recover faster for a

second bout of competition (Journal of Sports Sciences,

November 2007). However, they also showed that putting

more

nutrients into the drinks (increasing the calories) did more to

hasten recovery. It did not make any difference whether the extra

calories came from carbohydrates or proteins.

*******************************************************

Recipe of the Week

Smoky Bean Pot

 

http://www.drmirkin.com/recipes/smokybeans.html

You'll find lots of recipes and helpful tips in

The Good Food Book - FREE at

 

http://www.drmirkin.com/goodfood/index.html

*******************************************************

PLEASE forward this E-Zine to your friends and loved ones.

Tell them they can receive their own weekly copy by sending an

email to mirkinzine

RSS Feed - Daily Blog:

 

http://feeds.feedburner.com/FitnessHealthWithDrGabeMirkin

RSS Feed - Weekly eZine:

 

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YOU ARE WELCOME TO COPY the e-Zine's contents for use

in your own newsletter, company or club publication, BLOG or

website. Please give proper credit and a link back to

 

http://www.drmirkin.com

The e-Zine is provided as a service. Dr. Mirkin's

reports and opinions are for information only, and are not

intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis

and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.

For more information visit

 

http://www.drmirkin.com

[Guest guest]

In a Scandinavian study, elderly people who ate a higher protein diet

had fewer bone breaks despite being as osteroporotic as their carb

rich diet cohorts. Collagen production, only available through

protein intake makes the bone more pliable and less likely to break.

Also, trace minerals help to harden the bone so with today's lack of

mineralization in our food chain, and the lack of protein in the diet

of the elderly, it is likely that bone breakage is a multi-factorial

issue (definitely not the lack of bisphosonate drugs).

Dr. Keith McCormick wrote a three part article for me on

bisphosonates and their problems here:

http://www.markschauss.com/?p=266

http://www.markschauss.com/?p=267

http://www.markschauss.com/?p=268

 

Mark Schauss

www.ToxicWorldBook.com

 

 

, Lynn Ward <lynnward

wrote:

>

> I always thought bone density equated to bone

> strength. Interesting to find out it doesn't....................Lynn

>

>

> >Dr. Gabe Mirkin's Fitness and Health e-Zine

> >March 9, 2008

> >

> >Bone Density Does Not Necessarily Measure Bone Strength

> >

> > The greater the force you put on your bones during

> >exercise, the stronger they become. Researchers at the

> >University of Missouri in Columbia showed that recreational

> >runners have denser bones than cyclists (Journal of Metabolism,

> >February 2008). Another study from Université de St-Etienne in

> >France show that youth soccer players have an increase in bone

> >density over three years of playing high level soccer (Joint Bone

> >Spine, January 2008). They failed to show that the soccer players

> >had denser bones than their classmates, yet their intuition told

> >them that heavy forces on bones while playing soccer must

> >strengthen bones, so they stated that " The yearly gain im bone

> >density is greater in soccer players than in controls. "

> > These studies and many others comparing various sports

> >measure bone density, not bone strength. The only way to

> >measure bone strength is to see how much force it takes to break

> >them. Needless to say, nobody is doing these studies in humans.

> >So scientists use bone density, which can be measured, as a

> >substitute for measuring bone strength. Nobody has shown that

> >bone density determines bone strength. For example, birds have

> >bones that are not dense because they need a low weight to fly

> >effectively. Yet their bones are very strong. I think that, in the

> >future, methods will be developed to determine bone strength and

> >they will show that measuring bone density is, at best, a crude

> >measure of whether a person is likely to break his or her bones.

> >

> >*******************************************************

> >

> >Reports from DrMirkin.com

> >

> >Shingles

> >http://www.drmirkin.com/morehealth/G164.htm

> >

> >Salt sensitivity

> >http://www.drmirkin.com/heart/salt_sensitivity.html

> >

> >Effects of donating blood

> >http://www.drmirkin.com/fitness/donate_blood.html

> >

> >*******************************************************

> >

> >Dear Dr. Mirkin: Does it matter how fast or slow a person eats?

> >

> > An interesting study from Japan suggests that eating fast

> >is a risk factor for diabetes. Researchers at Nagoya University

> >Graduate School of Medicine in Aichi studied middle-aged men

> >and women and found that the faster a person ate, the more likely

> >he or she was to be fat (Preventive Medicine, February 2008).

> >Furthermore, both insulin levels and blood sugar levels were

> >higher in people who ate faster. High insulin and blood sugar

> >levels are markers for being diabetic or at risk for developing

> >type II diabetes.

> > Before insulin can do its job of driving sugar into cells,

> >it must first attach to special hooks on the surface of cells

called

> >insulin receptors. As a person gains weight, excess fat blocks

> >insulin receptors so they cannot drive sugar into cells. Blood

> >sugar levels rise and the pancreas responds by putting out large

> >amounts of insulin. Insulin makes you ever fatter by acting on

> >your brain to make you hungry and it acts on the liver to make

> >even more fat and on the fat cells in your belly to pick up and

> >store that extra fat. Early diabetes is characterized first

> >by high insulin levels, then by storing fat in the belly, rather

> >than the hips. Eventually the pancreas exhausts itself and stops

> >making insulin completely, and person then must take insulin.

> >

> >*******************************************************

> >

> >Dear Dr. Mirkin: What can I do about the fatigue I feel after

> >exercising?

> >

> > After you exercise intensely or for a long time, you feel

> >exhausted and cannot exercise again comfortably until you have

> >allowed enough time to recover. Part of the fatigue that you feel

> >in your muscles is due to loss of sugar and fat stored inside the

> >muscles, and part is due to damage to the muscle fibers. Many

> >studies show that you will recover faster if you take drinks or

foods

> >after exercise, but nobody is certain whether recovery is hastened

> >more by calories, protein or carbohydrates.

> > Researchers at the University of Bath in England recently

> >confirmed previous studies showing that taking a source of both

> >carbohydrates and proteins helps athletes recover faster for a

> >second bout of competition (Journal of Sports Sciences,

> >November 2007). However, they also showed that putting more

> >nutrients into the drinks (increasing the calories) did more to

> >hasten recovery. It did not make any difference whether the extra

> >calories came from carbohydrates or proteins.

> >

> >*******************************************************

> >

> >Recipe of the Week

> >

> >Smoky Bean Pot

> >http://www.drmirkin.com/recipes/smokybeans.html

> >

> >You'll find lots of recipes and helpful tips in

> >The Good Food Book - FREE at

> >http://www.drmirkin.com/goodfood/index.html

> >

> >*******************************************************

> >

> >PLEASE forward this E-Zine to your friends and loved ones.

> >Tell them they can receive their own weekly copy by sending an

> >email to mirkinzine

> >

> >RSS Feed - Daily Blog:

> >http://feeds.feedburner.com/FitnessHealthWithDrGabeMirkin

> >

> >RSS Feed - Weekly eZine:

> >http://feeds.feedburner.com/DrGabeMirkinsFitnessAndHealthE-zine

> >

> >YOU ARE WELCOME TO COPY the e-Zine's contents for use

> >in your own newsletter, company or club publication, BLOG or

> >website. Please give proper credit and a link back to

> >http://www.drmirkin.com

> >

> >The e-Zine is provided as a service. Dr. Mirkin's

> >reports and opinions are for information only, and are not

> >intended to diagnose or prescribe. For your specific diagnosis

> >and treatment, consult your doctor or health care provider.

> >For more information visit http://www.drmirkin.com

>