On the topic of osteoporosis, it is known that certain types of diets and particular processed food products have the effect of demineralizing bone, making it weaker. We know that bone is built in response to stress… exercise, movement, creating small stress on the bone signals the body to build more. So it seems that as we become more sedentary we will not build new bone and in fact the body will resorb bone when it isn’t being used. It’s a use it or lose it situation. So maybe as we age we naturally stop doing so many weight bearing activities and thus lose some bone mass, but it’s the excessively sedentary lifestyle that can lead to the amount of loss that seems to require immediate action. We take a chemical that changes the body’s natural process in order to build bone but at the expense of a number of other interrelated systems. This does not seem logical. Maintaining an active lifestyle with moderate weight bearing exercise along with eating a diet heavy in whole, natural, raw foods with very few processed nutrient devoid products would not only allow the natural process of bone maintenance to take place but also reap innumerable other benefits to the person. Bone health is just another attempt to micromanage our health from a reactionary, outside-in approach that simply leads to more dysfunction down the line. The solution is really to back up, look to our daily habits and lifestyle, and proactively build lasting natural health from within. This in turn, will be expressed in a healthy vital life outside.

The lack of proper hydration can be linked to fatigue, headaches, muscle cramps, allergies, joint pains, digestive problems and a multitude of other ailments. Hydration is rarely the cause or driving factor to any of these things but is almost always contributory and improvements in treatment can almost always be seen when a patient begins to properly hydrate themselves.

Aside from just simply not drinking enough water many of the things we do drink and eat actually aid in functionally dehydrating us. Carbonated soft drinks, sugary juice drinks, alcohol as well as the morning coffee all actually cost us more water than they contain leaving us in worse shape than before we picked up that beverage.  We drink when we are thirsty but often the signal that tells us we are thirsty can be misinterpreted as hunger and we eat instead; usually something cooked and processed which further dehydrates us. This is a very unhealthy cycle to be in and may be one of the reasons for the epidemic of overeating.

The standard recommendation of 8 glasses of water a day may not be enough for a lot of us; however, it would be a sizeable help in generating better health for most the population. Of course limiting the consumption of “other” beverages and striving to meet or exceed the minimum 8 glasses a day goal is a lifestyle change to many and as such will need reinforcement of outcomes, getting hydrated doesn’t happen in one day but noticeable changes can occur relatively fast. Many people notice thinking more clearly and breathing easier as well as better sleep almost immediately while reduction in joint pains and appetite changes often happen shortly after. Drinking more water is one of the easiest and most effective ways to improve your health and that always makes us happy to know we did something good for ourselves.

Deconstructing Food

Don’t be misled by these food label tricks.

First CoQ10 really means Coenzyme Q 10 and has other names like ubiquinone and ubidecarenone, these names refer to the substance’s ubiquitous appearance throughout the body. Coenzymes are a subgroup of what are generally known as cofactors. Cofactors are chemical compounds that bind to a protein and are integral to the proteins function.  Coenzymes are a type delineated by its loose fitting bond with their protein.  And what that jargon means is that proteins in our bodies have cofactors and actions that they carry out and by extension coenzymes activate those proteins so that their role is fulfilled.

CoQ10 plays a significant role in something called the electron transport chain or ETC.  This pathway is an important one in the production of cellular energy.  CoQ10 is also a potent antioxidant which is something we all could use a bit more of. The tissues with some of the highest metabolic rates and thus the highest requirements for energy like the heart and liver also have the highest concentration of CoQ10. As we age our natural production of CoQ10 declines and not surprisingly our metabolism and general energy level decline as well. That may be enough to warrant a small supplemental dose in order to help deal with our daily stresses.  However, the people with marked deficiency of this critical nutrient are those on statin drugs for lowering cholesterol.  Statin drugs stop a particular enzymatic pathway (HMG CoA Reductase) from producing cholesterol, unfortunately that same pathway is used to produce our endogenous CoQ10. Also the CoQ10 precursor “mevalonate” is inhibited by some beta blockers, so blood pressure and cholesterol meds have shown to drastically reduce the endogenous quantity of this vital metabolic nutrient with the intention of improving heart health.  But as we referenced earlier the heart requires more CoQ10 than almost any other tissue. This is obviously not the smartest way to improve heart health and protect sensitive tissue from damage. Simply lowering cholesterol has not been effective in protecting the heart and the vast majority of high blood pressure is idiopathic… meaning no identifiable cause (which really most often means lifestyle).

So is the answer these two drugs or developing and maintaining a healthy lifestyle based on sound whole food nutrition and regular activity? The NEED for supplemental CoQ10 would essentially disappear with a quality lifestyle and without these drugs.  True our levels do decline as we age and supplementing can help to stave off declining energy and the increase of free radical damage but it would be a potential aid in optimizing function and not as a necessary nutrient as it has become for those who take either of the above mentioned class of drugs.

The most important thing to do is (and you’ve heard this before) to eat a nutritious diet containing primarily whole raw fruits and vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats that are as free as possible of herbicides, pesticides, antibiotics, hormones, etc.  And again, this diet cannot be provided by a fast food chain.  The healthy fats part probably will need to be supplemented with a clean source of omega 3 fatty acid as it is hard these days to consume enough of the right foods to create our ideal fatty acid balance. The whole, raw fruits and vegetables part is also very important because while we need these carbohydrates in our diets what is damaging to our brains (and the rest of our bodies) is the surge of insulin that accompanies the processed sugars and high levels of carbohydrates unbalanced with proteins and fats.

This eating plan has been discussed before; getting closer to nature in our diet will have far reaching benefits to every cell of our bodies and the earth around us. The next thing that we can do is to exercise regularly, both our bodies and our minds. The body exercise is simple, moving our bodies creates reactions that improve our body composition regulate our hormones including insulin and reduce our stress levels. Challenging our minds with reading, puzzles and thought provoking conversation helps to keep us sharp by constantly forming new neural connections and re-firing existing ones extending the plasticity of our brains.

Some of the other factors associated with dementia involve heavy metals in the body; specifically aluminum and mercury.  Admittedly the correlations between metals and dementia is controversial but if there is even a small chance of a link, maybe finding a safer deodorant than one containing aluminum, and would check out alternatives for amalgam dental fillings, as well as the flu shot.

So now when we read the headlines about the coming surge of dementia we can understand what we can do to give us the best possible chance of a clear minded life as we age.  We do not have to feel scared by the headlines implying that dementia is completely unavoidable.  Eat right, exercise your body and mind, and avoid toxins, especially metals, develop a supplement program that includes Omega 3 oils and antioxidants, and know that you are doing your best to protect yourself.