Osteopenie

[teal9]

Recently diagonosed with Osteopenie, which is a pre-cursor to Osteoporosis. My doctor recommended calcium supplements with vitamin D and advised me to drink milk. Can I have milk on the protein power diet?:question:

[gitfiddle]

Welcome to the board! :) You would just need to count the carbs. Regular milk with 4% fat content has fewer carbohydrates than 2% or skim, so keep that in mind. Did your doctor mention that magnesium helps your body to absorb calcium? Is your vitamin a D3 in an oil-based capsule? I've read that that's the most easily absorbed form.

[Mitra]

Welcome, Teal :).

Yoghurt is another alternative that would give you some calcium, and has less carbs than milk (as long as it hasn't had sugar added). I understand that it's not enriched with Vit D, like American milk, but the amount of Vit D added to milk isn't enough to be very useful anyway, and as you're taking a supplement, that shouldn't be an issue.

[Karole]

I never did like to drink milk but I get calcium through all sorts of delicious full fat cheeses, cottage cheese and yogurt.

[Frank Hagan]

Viactiv (http://www.viactiv.com/index.jhtml) is a wonderful little chewable chocolate candy with 200 IU of vitamin D (50% of RDA), 40 mcg of vitamin K (50% of RDA) and 500 mg of calcium (again, 50% of RDA) in each chew. Each one has 3 grams of carbs, so you have to count them in your total. They were recommended by my wife's doctor; we get them at Costco, but they are in quite a few other stores also. The 3 carbs are from sugar (it is a candy, after all).

Your doctor may recommend much higher levels of vitamin D; recent research shows some benefit for up to 5,000 IU per day for an adult, or you could take up sun bathing as PPLP recommends.

As gitfiddle mentions, magnesium is important too, although many doctors don't recognize the deficiency. The NIH is starting to as this link (http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp) shows. Blood tests aren't that accurate at showing the level of magnesium in the cells, so its often missed. You might ask your doctor if supplementing magnesium is appropriate (there are some medical conditions that argue against supplementation). Also from this page is the following statement regarding one group that can benefit from magnesium supplementation:


Individuals with chronically low blood levels of potassium and calcium may have an underlying problem with magnesium deficiency. Magnesium supplements may help correct the potassium and calcium deficiencies [19 (http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/magnesium.asp#en19)].


That reference may help in case your doctor is suspicious of Internet forum advice :exclamation:, a trait most medical professionals share (and with good reason!)

Cheese is a wonderful way to get calcium. There's a handy calcium-equivalent chart at this NIH (http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/calcium.asp) page that shows both 8 oz of plain yogurt and 1.5 ounces of cheddar cheese have more calcium than a glass of milk. So if you don't like drinking milk, you have some alternatives.

[gitfiddle]

Actually, my favorite is Fage Greek yogurt. I buy the full 4% fat version, not the reduced fat. It has more protein than milk and is nice with frozen berries and cinnamon mixed in, topped with ground walnuts. That's a meal for me.

Only one of the three local supermarkets carry it, so you may have to look around.

[Mitra]

The full fat Fage is 10% fat round here. And I need another tub of it.

[Belfrybat]

Think broccoli -- very high calcium and only 4 ECC per cooked cup. I do drink milk in my coffee and LC cereal but I'm at 75-80 ECC so can fit it in nicely. I also take 600 mg. magnesium every day. Dr. Mike blogged a couple of years ago about the benefits of supplementing magnesium rather than calcium (I hope I'm remembering this right).

Here's a link to the USDA calcium pdf file: http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/Data/SR21/nutrlist/sr21a301.pdf
It might give you some other ideas.

[gitfiddle]

The full fat Fage is 10% fat round here. And I need another tub of it.Goodness! That must be like butter! Maybe I should take another look at my label.

[tapper47]

I was diagnosed with osteopenia 3 years ago. I increased my Vitamin D3 to 5000 units and upped my protein and fat.

I also dropped wheat, and all gluten, as well as veggies and fruits.

Last time I was checked this year, the osteopenia is gone. I have increased my bone mass and I did not add calcium.

My diet is primarily meat and fat.

Good luck.

[nougat]

So the full fat fage greek yogurt is better than the reduced? i can't find the fat percentage on the full fat but the cals are 120per 100g. cos of that i've been buying the 2% which has half the cals. i tend to eat is as a snack.

[gitfiddle]

So the full fat fage greek yogurt is better than the reduced? i can't find the fat percentage on the full fat but the cals are 120per 100g. cos of that i've been buying the 2% which has half the cals. i tend to eat is as a snack.
Nougat, the reduced fat version would contain more milk sugar, ounce for ounce. That would increase the carb count. I can make a meal out of the full fat by adding frozen blueberries, cinnamon and ground walnuts. It's reminiscent of ice cream to me and refreshing in the summer.