Dear Steve,

DID YOU KNOW that a study in Frontiers in Nutrition found that higher amino acid intake was associated with lower osteoporotic fracture risk?

The association was stronger for hip fracture than non-hip fracture. Moreover, the researchers found that those ingesting higher amounts of amino acids post-fracture had better healing outcomes.

Of course, amino acids come from protein. Slowly but surely, public health experts are coming around to the fact that protein is extremely important for bone health and not the pariah that it was made out to be.

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Steve: Eating a lot plants are good for your bones. One of the longest studies ever performed on the eating styles of over 70,000 subjects deemed healthy plant foods as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and tea or coffee, whereas less healthy plant foods were fruit juices, sweetened beverages, refined grains, processed potatoes, and sweets or desserts.

Of the 2038 cases of hip fracture after 30 years of follow-up, compared with participants with lower healthy plant food consumption scores, individuals with higher healthy plant food consumption scores were leaner, more physically active, less likely to be smokers, more likely to use vitamin and calcium supplements, had higher intakes of dietary calcium and healthy plant foods, and had lower intake of less healthy plant foods.

Conversely, those with higher scores of unhealthy plant food consumption were less physically active, more likely to smoke, had lower calcium, were less likely to use vitamin supplements, had higher consumption of less healthy plant foods, lower consumption of healthy plant foods, and lower vitamin D supplemental intake.

To clarify, this study was not comparing plant-based protein diets versus animal protein-based diets. Simply, the researchers wanted to show the benefits of consuming healthy plant foods for their bone-promoting phytochemicals and anti-inflammatory capabilities. Hard to argue with the evidence!

Bonnie: Over 7 years ago, a middle-aged male and family friend announced to me that he was becoming vegan. He was very fit at the time, having previously accomplished a grueling Ironman competition. I told him to please reconsider his vegan choice since he is blood type O. After 40 years of clinical data, we have found that blood type O's do not use plant foods such as beans as viable protein. I also told him that excess dried beans contain phytates and lectins that block essential minerals, especially zinc, magnesium, and calcium. Since he was 56 years old, his ability to absorb plant foods as proteins would worsen even further because of less available digestive enzymes.

Unfortunately, he did not follow my advice. I saw him recently and he mentioned that he should have listened to me. He needed a knee replacement which did not heal well. He had to give up Ironmans completely due to chronic knee pain. He also became severely hyperthyroid. His endocrinologist tried to regulate his overactive thyroid to no avail. This came as no surprise as he was consuming large amounts of soy and pea protein from dried peas daily. Soy, in particular, is known to spark an overactive thyroid. His blood protein also became dangerously low at 5.8.

Eventually, he remembered our vegan conversation and added back eggs and fish to his daily diet. He especially loved adding back the super food sardines in olive oil. Moreover, he stopped eating soy foods. Within as little as three weeks his overactive thyroid became almost normal. He even stopped having chronic knee pain.  

He was dumbfounded by his rapid improvements as was his doctor. After three months, his blood protein level also normalized. He now has learned a powerful lesson. Humans are omnivores and are not "one size fits all". He also said that anyone who wants to be vegan needs to be closely monitored by a knowledgable health professional.

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Disclaimer: Case reports are not intended for self-healing. Case reports are for references purposes only and should be discussed with your health professional.

Headaches can be debilitating as noted in this account from Chicken Soup for the Soul. As a last resort, Rob, had come to the chiropractor for what he called “real skullbusters”. When he couldn’t take the pain he would ram his head into the wall as evidenced that day by the silver dollar sized bruise in the middle of his forehead. 

Rob had gone to dozens of specialists and taken many prescriptions yet nothing helped. His pain was becoming more frequent and more intense and he was at his wits end. He said that if Chiropractic didn’t help he would literally jump off a cliff. 

The chiropractor explained that he would see if he had misalignments that were the cause of his headaches and diligently work to get him in alignment. The exam revealed unusual movement in his neck. X-rays showed that his first neck vertebrae was rotated out of its normal alignment by an incredible degree. This prompted the chiropractor to immediately begin care to help move his vertebrae into proper alignment. 

Rob’s response was slow but incremental and soon he was smiling and then even joking. He also began eating since he wasn’t vomiting any longer. His headaches were diminishing in frequency and severity until he was finally feeling so much better. When his care was over Rob sent the chiropractor a post card revealing that “Life was now great” and he even had gotten engaged!

What a blessing for this man to have a much higher quality of life by getting his neck into proper alignment. What health issues would you like chiropractic to help you with?

Dr. Liselotte Schuster is a Holistic Family Chiropractor and has been in practice with Nutritional Concepts since 1989. She uses a variety of techniques to help children and adults reach their full potential, trusting in the healing powers of the body. Contact Dr. Schuster at (847) 509-9067 or drliloschuster@sbcglobal.net.

Bonnie, Steve, Liselotte, Lori, Sharron, Cindy, Diana and Carolyn