<p>MOWC:</p>
<p>Chris Kresser is credible and interesting, but tends to get caught in the minutia of nutrition, attributing significance to the tiniest piece of scientific lint on his sweater! Most of the studies he cites on the calcium are these large population surveys. For example, NHANES asks people to fill out a questionnaire listing what they ate for the last year. It then uses this “data” to look for correlations. The data is highly, highly, highly flawed. The associations cannot determine if there is any cause and effect.</p>
<p>But, he writes as if even the slightest association is scientific proof. </p>
<p>Golden rule: Population studies make for interesting vacation reading, much like spy-thriller fiction novels, but should be pretty much ignored for nutrition advice, until they reach the point of overwhelming statistical evidence. For example, you can’t prove that smoking causes lung cancer because it’s impossible to do the double-blind resting. However, the data from the large population studies was overwhelming. Smoking didn’t just associate with a 30% increase in lung cancer . the percentages were gigantic – like several hundred percent increase. And lung cancer rates declined, again on the order of several hundred percent for ex-smokers. Repeated time and time and time again.</p>
<p>This piddling stuff (9% increases, 30% increases) from extremely flawed population surveys (food surveys are a joke) isn’t worth much. </p>
<p>MOWC
Double check that you dont have digestive issues.
I know it is popular to roll eyes at people who claim various food intolerances, especially gluten.
However, if you are not throughly digesting your food and supplements, because of inflammation or what have you, you may develop problems.</p>
<p>I had a dexascan that indicated I had osteoporosis. I also had stomach aches and other digestive concerns which I will leave to your imagination that made me think I wasnt absorbing nutrients. ( negative for celiac)
I went gluten free, felt much better and now periodically return to that way of eating just to give my insides a rest.
I also had another dexascan 4 years later, and no longer have osteoporosis, without taking specific bond density meds or even admittedly, taking calcium/ magnesium with any regularity.
( although to help my fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis, I do periodically take epsom salt which is magnesium sulfate, baths which help alot. I may absorb some magnesium that way)</p>
<p>A few years ago I had a bone scan (dexa) that suggested I had very slight thinning of the hip bone. The standard advice was to supplement away with 1000 mg of Calcium (with 1200 mg orf Vitamin D) and to exercise. I started, but then read something about too much calcium and CV disease. Maybe a year into the supplementing I cut way back. My regular doctor advised just to make sure I got about total of 1000 mg of calcium a day, through diet and supplements. I now take a multivitamin with calcium, try to eat calcium rich foods, and pop a supplement if I feel like I’m having a low calcium day. I had a repeat dexa scan recently, and they told me that my bone was now normal. I suspect that the pounding of running, walking, and lifting weights has made the difference.</p>
<p>I hope you’ll get a good report and be back to building your bone through exercise, soon, MoWC!</p>
<p>Nice job, Ohio!</p>
<p>H and I rode our bikes to a park and walked a few miles this morning. Beautiful (but hot) day.</p>
<p>I have no digestive issues and am not leaking calcium (this was tested). My doc said I can not improve my bones with exercise since I’m doing everything I can already. It is genetic and also compounded by my small bone structure.</p>
<p>Another important thing to know – you need to spread your calcium intake throughout the day, to give it time to be absorbed. Taking all of it at once is a waste.</p>
<p>I’ve had two doctors tell me that there is a good chance that my bones were always porous, or not dense. If I had had a dexascan done when I was younger, I most likely would have been below normal. So to compare my dexascan at age 55 to that of an average 25-year-old woman is absurd. I suspect you are the same way, MoWC.</p>
<p>My specialist is a woman about my age, who is petite and small-boned and has a dexa score as bad or worse than mine. I am so glad I found her.</p>
<p>Sorry if that came out wrong, WoWC. I’m sure that your bones are as strong as they can be after all of the running you’ve done. I hope you feel better, knit the fracture, and ditch the crutches as soon as humanly possible so you can get back to working out the way you’d like to. </p>
<p>I did 2/3 of a triathlon today – went for a run this morning, and then a bike ride this afternoon with my husband. Beautiful day. It took my legs 4-5 days to recover from that hilly 10K I did last weekend.</p>
<p>I have a question about the Mio link. The heart rate monitor part seems accurate, but the calories it estimates I’ve burned is way, way off. For example, the run I took this morning, there is no way I burned more than 600 calories yet it thinks I burned 840. I checked my profile, and I inputted the correct height and weight. Any thoughts, other than asking the Mio people directly?</p>
<p>Congrats, Ohio! Nothing like some positive reinforcement. My running goals are more general … Not quite in top half in my age group now, but hope to sneak to top 25 percentile by Fall. It will be tough as the 50-ish age group for women are pretty athletic if the are doing trail running, but I need these goals to stay motivated.</p>
<p>No problem. I hear you! It’s just SO frustrating that the obvious meds are so hazardous. I do need to spread the calcium out instead of popping it all at breakfast. Ridiculous food consumption the last few days.that has to stop.</p>
<p>Way to go, Ohio! You are so good at that fast stuff!</p>
<p>Re: coke bike. No way I’m getting on a bike for a coke! If someone wants me pedal a bike for 23 minutes, they better give me a beer! ;)</p>
<p>Awesome racing, Ohio! Way to go. </p>
<p>fireandrain:</p>
<p>I don’t think the calorie calculations from any of these devices are reliable. They are all based on very crude formulas of heart rate, age, etc. About as useful as reading your astrological forecast for the day… :)</p>
<p>Hope everyone is healing well. I know the last time I checked in people were injured left and right. :(</p>
<p>June is the week of the dreaded cut. Clean eating and no indulgences for me. I’m not particularly thrilled with it, but I know the results will be worth it. </p>
<p>My workout plan is to just to run and everyday and strength train. Cheers to my favorite pair of shorts fitting again. <em>crosses fingers</em></p>
<p>i-dad: I know that the calorie estimates from exercise equipment (like treadmills) are unreliable. But I thought that the best and only way to get a somewhat accurate approximation of calories expended was by using a heart rate monitor. The numbers I’m getting from the Mio are not off by a little – they are off by between 50 to 100% </p>
<p>It doesn’t matter that much – I’m not trying to lose weight, I’m just curious. Maybe I’ve not set it correctly, maybe my unit is defective, or something else. </p>
<p>Kudos to all the successes and efforts this weekend!!! </p>
<p>Just curious - do those of you with calcium deficiencies tend to not eat enough calcium ??? Or does a healthy dose of milk, etc, not cut it for you??</p>
<p>I can’t count on getting enough calcium through my diet. I just can’t handle the task of figuring it out.</p>
<p>abasket: As I said above, I’ve monitored my calcium intake. Despite eating yogurt, a Luna bar (which has a lot of calcium), scrambled eggs made with milk and cheese, and lots of broccoli – I still need to take a calcium supplement. It’s not that we have calcium deficiencies, we have bone loss, and we need to take in more calcium to try to counteract that, to build more bone. The problem is, we need more calcium but we can’t take too much and we have to spread out the calcium throughout the day. </p>
<p>One glass of milk a day will not provide enough calcium for women who have osteoporosis. A lot of calcium-rich foods are high in calories (like cheese); women who are lactose intolerant have additional issues.</p>
<p>I excrete too mch calcium, not sure why.
I got some apple cider vinegar to drink & see if that helps.</p>
<p>Kudos, Ohio, fire & rain,and any weekend racer I missed :)</p>
<p>I didn’t win any medals in my ninja gardening marathon, but even H – who says he “doesn’t get working so hard to remove green stuff so you can plant more green stuff” – gave me major props for taking down two weed trees and totally rehabbing the terrace :)</p>
<p>He’s coming to like that “girl’s” chainsaw after all! (Nice and quiet too…you can sneak up on the victim, I mean tree, before the know what’s hit them…;)</p>
<p>My gf is doing a half iron this weekend, which was all I had to think about to keep me moving on my comparatively lightweight tasks!</p>
<p>My mulching was successful … Pile is gone from the driveway, and my body is a little creaky today. We planted some veggies and herbs in places where there used to be bushes, but due to some harsh winters, those bushes didn’t survive. Looking forward to fresh herbs for healthy eating.</p>
<p>Today is a nice, slow 6-mile run. I love saying that because at the beginning of April I couldn’t even do 1-mile without pain in my hips and knees. Yay for good PT.</p>