Question: Dear Dr. Ettinger
I really love your products and I have a question on your basic daily program for health and well-being. I read your e-mail regarding what you take for your daily regime, but I was wondering what you would suggest for women (especially regarding bone density). I had a DEXA scan and my doctor suggested taking Fosamax. I’ve heard so much negative info regarding this that I decided not to take it. I’ve heard of strontium for bone strengthing and density (680 mg) but I’m not sure which is best and I’ve also read that you shouldn’t take it with calcium but I’ve seen it advertised online as including it in one tablet. If you could give me some advice on this I would surely appreciate it.
Thank you
Cathy Kwiatkowski
Answer: Cathy,
This may sound too simple to be true but it is true, and it’s the most important component to bone density, period! There is a law that all doctors learn in school and it’s too bad 99% of them forget it 10 minutes after learning it. It’s called Wolff’s law, and a law in nature is true 100% of the time, in 100% of all circumstances. My interpretation of it goes like this, “the body remodels according to the stress placed upon it.”
Examples: (where ever it says bones you can also add in ligaments, muscles and tendons)
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The racquet-holding arm bones of tennis players become much stronger than those of the other arm. Their bodies have strengthened the bones in their racquet-holding arm since it is routinely placed under higher than normal stresses.
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Astronauts who spend a long time in space will often return to Earth with weaker bones, since gravity hasn’t been exerting a load on their bones. Their bodies have reabsorbed much of the mineral that was previously in their bones.
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Weightlifters often display increases in bone density in response to their training.
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Fighters who punch or kick objects with increasing intensity (or of increasing hardness) to develop striking power to damage opponents, often display increases in bone density in the striking area. Others may do this specifically to reduce pain response in the nerve endings of the striking tissue and to increase the bone density. Due to the ballistic and inconsistent nature of striking practice, load-bearing exercises are generally a safer form of measurable progression for increases in both bone and muscle strength.
So in a nut shell, you can be in outer-space take a dump-truck of calcium and Fosamax till it’s coming out your ears and you will still develop osteoporosis. Conversely, increase your daily allotment of weight bearing exercises (stair-climbing, squats, lunges’…) and you will have denser femurs and vertebrae in no-time.
I hope this helps.
P.S. Pass this data along to your MD, so you can watch him or her, try to side-step their Fosamax recommendation.
Sincerely,
Marcus Ettinger DC, BSc
