JustCare

Tag: Calcium

  • Over 65? Eat more salmon and less cheese!

    Over 65? Eat more salmon and less cheese!

    As you age, you want more high-quality fatty proteins in your diet, Leigh Weingus reports for The Huffington Post. These proteins reduce inflammation and promote brain health. Eating more salmon should help a lot.

    Of course, different foods deliver different health benefits. Some foods boost energy levels. Some prevent disease, often caused by inflammation. But eating too much saturated fat is linked to heart disease and high LDL cholesterol. It also reduces your fiber intake which can lead to constipation.

    The benefits of an anti-inflammatory diet: Experts advise to eat an anti-inflammatory diet, as we get older, in order to stay in good physical and mental health. Including a fatty fish in your diet, such as salmon, at least twice each week, will help your muscles and strength. It will also increase your omega-3 consumption, promote brain health, and reduce inflammation.

    Eat protein-rich foods and foods with antioxidants: If you don’t like salmon, chicken or duck without the skin, eggs and tofu are also rich in protein. And, kale and spinach are good antioxidants, as are pomegranates. They also provide folic acid, niacin and other B vitamins that help to promote healthy brains.

    As for dairy products: Experts are now thinking you need less cheese and other dairy products than previously advised and possibly none at all, reports Andrea Petersen for the Wall Street Journal. There’s a new-found link between dairy products and cardiovascular disease as well as some cancers, including prostate cancer. But, some experts disagree, claiming that dairy products reduce the risk of heart disease and colon cancer.

    And, the jury’s still out as to the value of drinking fat-free milk over whole milk or two percent milk. Whatever you do, the new thinking is that one serving of dairy products a day is all you need. Dairy is primarily good for calcium, and you can get your calcium from other foods, such as tofu, edamame, kale and bok choy.

    If possible, avoid ultra-processed foods and supplements. Food that is fresh and not ultra-processed offers nutrients that are far easier to absorb into your body.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Exercise may be your best bet for bone health, not calcium or vitamin D supplements

    Exercise may be your best bet for bone health, not calcium or vitamin D supplements

    Calcium helps keep your bones strong and healthy. So, it is wise to incorporate foods with calcium into your daily diet. If you’re not getting enough calcium, exercise may be your best bet for bone health; the evidence is weak that calcium supplements will benefit you.

    The National Institutes of Health recommends eating foods rich in calcium. People over 50 need between 1,200 mg and 2,000 mg of calcium every day. You can get your daily dose of calcium from milk, cheese, yogurt, soybeans and dark, leafy vegetables such as kale or broccoli.

    Calcium supplements are another matter. Increasing evidence suggests that all those years of advice to take calcium supplements for bone health may be turning into one of those reversals of medical advice that seems to come all too frequently.

    Since 2002, the bulk of the evidence indicates that calcium supplements actually don’t decrease fracture risk and may actually do harm, such as increase the risks of kidney stones, heart attacks, prostate cancer, and even stroke. Nor does evidence indicate that eating more foods with calcium reduces fracture risk.

    That said, the Mayo Clinic suggests that if you are a vegan, lactose intolerant, have osteoporosis, or consume a lot of food with protein or sodium, you should talk to your doctor about whether you should take a calcium supplement.

    Vitamin D supplements also seem to be over-rated as far as bone health, as supplements do not lower fracture risk for those living in the community. For those living in nursing homes on the other hand, they do lower the risk of fractures from falls.

    The best bet to promote bone health for those living in the community? According to the evidence: Exercise. Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, climbing stairs and dancing, are most helpful. These exercises help create new bone tissue, strengthening your bones.

    Exercise has a positive effect on preventing fractures, though in actual controlled studies, the average effect was small. The Surgeon General recommends an exercise goal of 30 minutes a day.

    This post was originally published on July 30, 2015.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • If you take supplements, beware of potentially serious supplement-drug interactions

    If you take supplements, beware of potentially serious supplement-drug interactions

    Millions of seniors that take herbal supplements in addition to prescription drugs may be at risk for potentially serious supplement-drug interactions.

    Researchers in the UK polled older adults 65 and older, finding that about one-third of them take at least one supplement in addition to their regular medications. Based on an evaluation of those supplements and drugs, researchers say that one-third of that group are at risk for potentially serious adverse events, they reported in the British Journal of General Practice.

    Some of the adverse events are a risk of bleeding, an increase in blood sugar concentration and reducing the effectiveness of the medication an individual is taking.

    Researchers identified three supplement-drug combinations they say pose a “significant” hazard: calcium and the underactive thyroid drug levothyroxine; peppermint and Prevacid (lansoprazole), which is used for acid reflux; and St. John’s wort and amlodipine, a blood pressure-lowering medication. In the first combination, the efficacy of levothyroxine can be reduced by calcium. Antacids like Prevacid can eat away at protective coatings on peppermint oil pills, potentially leading to nausea and heartburn. And St. John’s wort can reduce the levels of amlodipine in the blood.

    Other potentially serious combinations include fish oil pills and bisoprolol, a beta blocker, as well as glucosamine, a supplement used for arthritis relief, and the diabetes drug metformin. The first combination can lead to a potentially unsafe lowering of blood pressure, while the second can increase blood sugar.

    The study authors conclude that doctors should ask senior patients about supplement use to potentially avoid interactions with medications.

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    This article originally appeared in medshadow.org.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • Osteoporosis, bisphosphonates and how to keep your bones strong

    Osteoporosis, bisphosphonates and how to keep your bones strong

    Bisphosphonate drugs, such as Fosamax, are marketed heavily to older adults as a medicine that keeps your bones strong, particularly for people with osteoporosis. Like all drugs, bisphosphonates have side effects. It’s important to know who benefits from bisphosphonate drugs before deciding to take one.

    Bisphosphonate drugs treat osteoporosis by decreasing the breakdown (resorption) of bone that is part of bone’s normal remodeling process but that speeds up with age. The FDA approved the first bisphosphonate, Fosamax or alendronate, in 1995. These drugs are marketed heavily to prevent broken bones in older adults.

    Osteoporosis is a key reason why a fall can be so catastrophic for an older person. A bone breaks and with the decreased mobility, a downward spiral begins. Hip fractures for example carry about a 25% risk of mortality within a year.

    Who do bisphosphonates benefit?

    Bisphosphonates are proven to benefit women with very low bone mineral density and women with a history of fractures. Their greatest impact has been on vertebral fractures, although they also have been shown to decrease rates of hip and wrist fractures. To get an idea of the size of the benefit, for every 100 women taking the medicines, six avoided a fracture of some sort over three years of therapy.

    Formulations of the bisphosphates exist where the drugs can be taken weekly or monthly, and these are as effective as the ones taken daily. People who take them should continue to take calcium and vitamin D.

    Good evidence also exists that the bisphosphonates help with the osteoporosis induced by the use of steroids, which sometimes have to be used for years for the treatment of various chronic inflammatory condition.

    Are bisphosphonates overmarketed?

    Some authorities believe that drug companies have overmarketed bisphosphonates, and that doctors prescribe  them to too many women who do not have osteoporosis, but “osteopenia,” a condition invented by the pharmaceutical companies. People with osteopenia have a lower bone mineral density than “normal” but not as low as to be diagnosed with osteoporosis. Our bone densities, muscle mass, brain mass, etc, decline with age.

    For the ravages of aging, the one best thing anyone can do (perhaps besides not smoking) is to exercise. As millions of women took bisphosphonates, reports multiplied of a rare fracture of the femur, after a patient has been on the drug for five years or so, and also of a rare type of deterioration of bone in the jaw. The latter tended to occur in people with cancer or otherwise suppressed immune systems. (You can read more on Just Care here.)

    The evidence is evolving on how long people should take these drugs. After a few years, you should discuss with your doctor whether you should continue, and make sure you understand the risks and continued potential benefits.

    Don’t forget calcium and vitamin D

    Calcium helps keep your bones strong and healthy. So, it is wise to incorporate foods with calcium, such as milk and yogurt, into your daily diet. If you’re not getting enough calcium, exercise may be your best bet for bone health; as I have explained in another post, the evidence is weak that calcium supplements will benefit you.

    Vitamin D supplements also seem to be over-rated as far as bone health, as supplements do not lower fracture risk for those living in the community. It is good to eat salmon and tuna or milk supplemented with vitamin D. For those living in nursing homes on the other hand, they do lower the risk of fractures from falls.

    Here’s more from Just Care:

  • FDA requires companies to show amount of added sugars in processed foods

    FDA requires companies to show amount of added sugars in processed foods

    For the first time since nutrition labels appeared on processed foods back in 1994, these labels will have a new look and improved nutrition information. Among other things, the Food and Drug Administration is requiring companies to show on the nutrition label the amount of added sugars in processed foods. In addition, the serving size listed on the package will be more in sync with the average amount people eat and the calorie information will be easier to see.

    Until now, the FDA has allowed companies simply to list the total amount of sugar in a product, without distinguishing between natural sugars and added sugars. It also had not required companies to list the recommended daily percent of sugar intake.

    The FDA’s new policy requires companies to list the “percent daily value” for sugars, so that people know the amount of sugar in a product in relation to how much they should be consuming. The FDA recommends no more than 10 percent of daily calorie intake come from added sugars, which is about 200 calories or 50 grams. Research shows increased risk of heart disease when added sugar represents more than 15 percent of your caloric intake. 

    Companies must also state the percent daily value of vitamin D, calcium, iron and potassium as well as the actual amount. You can learn more from John Oliver on the risks of eating too much sugar here.

    Most companies must comply with the new requirements no later than July 2018.

    Here’s the old label on the left and the new one on the right

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