The Blue Zones book has powerfully influenced medical thinking on nutrition. But the Blue Zones website and Adventist Healthcare system contradict the reality of people's diets that are presented in the book itself.
Bone Density…What’s It All About?
For years I’ve avoided putting my patients on fosamax and related drugs for “bone health,” because according to the package insert, these drugs don’t make bones healthy. They prevent part of the natural cycle of bone growth, called bone resorption, and by doing so make them denser looking on bone scans. Dense bones might sound like a good thing, but realize that a stick of chalk would look really dense on XRay, and it snaps in your fingers. Healthy bone that won’t break when you slip and fall is a matrix of protein and minerals, and just adding more minerals without combining them in the normal way with protein won’t help.
This week, I finally found a picture proving these drugs may be harmful when taken for years and years (like most people do). What the picture shows us is a line of dark, where no radiation got absorbed because the bone is fractured. You can access the journal at http://www.familypracticenews.com/home and look for the May 1, 2008 edition. The title of the article is “low bone mass frequently gets overtreated” and the author is Nancy Walsh.
Luke says the title should be “Drugs for preventing fractures actually cause fractures!” I agree. Don’t you think this might deserve front page? I mean, it’s the tenth most commonly prescribed class of drugs in the US, worth about 4.6 billion per year. But it’s buried inside, on page 21. How many doctors do you think will find it there when our desks are piled with magazines full of hundreds of articles every week?
In case you can’t access the article online, the picture caption reads: “Subtrochanteric fractures can occur when bone turnover is overly suppressed.” Clearly, the drugs have side effects that most people don’t suspect, and one of them is an increased risk of fractures. For more, see “why you don’t want to suppress bone turnover” below.
This article is continued below...(scroll down)
It helped. I feel great.
"It’s helped. I feel great."
Kobe Bryant
NBA baskeball player
This has been life changing
"Let me tell you this has been life-changing. I have all of her books, in audible and ebooks! I have gotten rid of all the hateful 8 oils. I have trained my body to eat its own previously toxic body fat. Download that pod it's a game changer!"
Megyn Kelly
Broadcaster / The Megyn Kelly Show
Life changing
Deep Nutrition changed my life.
Jesse Watters
Fox News Primetime host
Saved my life
I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine. Prior to reading the book, it was almost impossible for me to lose weight as a diabetic.
Leontyne Tompkins
I feel free
For the last month, I have really been reading all labels on everything. I have completely remove those 8 oils you talk about. I must tell you, I feel great! I have more energy and I am now 197 lbs (have always been around 205 to 210lbs). I eat potatoes with real butter, grass fed steak, pasta with the right toppings. I eat everything! I seem to crave less sugar. I love it!
Robert Kirkendall
I feel so much better
I had terrible aches and pains everywhere in my body, my hands, shoulders and knees. I feel so much better and the way I feel is motivating me every day! Thank you
Mike Deb Wootan Burcin
Better than ever
I am an anesthesiologist in Orlando and a huge fan of both of your books! I have been incorporating your principles for the last 10 months and feel that my health is better than ever.
Marnie Robinson, MD
My allergies disappeared
The biggest difference for me (and a surprising one) is that my allergies have almost completely disappeared! This is a big deal for me, because I’ve had allergies most of my life and they have often affected what I do which is a teaching music in [a public school district]. In general, I feel much better and have more consistent energy throughout the day.
Erica Turrell
Heart Palpitations have Stopped
I’ve lost 20+ pounds (also fasting 16-24 hours daily) and haven’t had palpitations except for one occasion — I had a mini bag of Fritos for the first time in July. And, I feel better now on a daily basis than I ever did all through college.
Mike Wright
Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix reader
I’ve lost over 50 pounds
I’ve lost over 50 pounds. I’m 56 years old. Cutting processed food and unhealthy fats from my diet was one of the first things I did on my health recovery journey...I went cold turkey off the bad oils. Emptied my pantry into the trash and just started eating real food
Mitzi Wilkinson Champion
Knowledge I didn’t know I needed
Your Fatburn Fix book is amazing, my friend. Thank you! I’m an Functional Nutritional Therapy Practitioner and I know my stuff. This is the extra layer of knowledge I didn’t know I needed. Well done!
Jennifer Dillman
Fatburn Fix reader
Lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork is great
I have lost a solid 20 lbs and my bloodwork (after 3 months of eating your way) was even better! I was metabolically healthy (per your book) before I read your book, but barely. Lowering my weight, sealed the deal! I have been talking about you and your book to anyone who will listen...Thank you for all you’ve done and what you continue to do! You are changing lives for the better!
Missy Cramer
FatBurn Fix reader
Lost 20 lbs I could never shed
I love your Fatburn Fix! Has helped me so so much! I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed. I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils. It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn. I work out in the am and believe I am burning fat for energy not from food!
Lauren Smith
I feel great
My waist is four inches smaller. I feel great and many of the minor aches and pains that I had (knees and lower back) are gone. Also, my muscle tone is amazing, even though I have not increased my workout routine.
Richard Janelle
Completed Dr Cate's online course
The go-to for strength and conditioning coaches
Whenever I advise my clients about eating to perform I go straight to what I have learned from Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition has become the go-to for strength and conditioning coaches across the country.
Kent Matthes
Major League Baseball Agent with WME Sports
Dismantles the lie
Dr. Cate dismantles the lie that seed oils are healthy, which may the biggest lie about nutrition and health because it’s so insidious.
Ken D Berry, MD
Author of Lies My Doctor Told Me
She knows the chemistry
Dr. Cate alerts us to the harms of seed oils and she’s convincing because she knows the chemistry better than anyone.
Dr. Drew Pinskey, MD
Globally recognized internal medicine and addiction medicine specialist, media personality, LoveLine Host, and New York Times bestselling author
No one is better at communicating nutritional truth
Dr. Cate has had the single greatest impact on how we talk to people about fueling for both performance or durability. While we all are a little unique, the foundational principles of human nutrition are immutable. If you are looking to create a more durable, resilient body, no one is better at communicating nutritional truth than Dr. Cate.
Dr. Kelly Starrett
Physiotherapist coach and New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author
Highly recommend The Fatburn Fix
Dr. Shanahan has had a significant impact on my practice of medicine. I am known as a Low Carb Doctor, but I never really appreciated the negative effects of processed seed oils on the health of my patients. I highly recommend The Fatburn Fix to my patients and have a loaner copy in my waiting room. It is amazing how quickly blood sugars and overall health improves with cutting seed oils. It is not just about the carbs!
Dr. Brian Lenkzes, MD
CEO of LowCarbMD San Diego, co-host of Low Carb MD Podcast and host of Life's Best Medicine Podcast
Respected in the sports world
Dr. Cate reordered my diet when I was with the L.A. Lakers, and the benefits, for me personally, were felt immediately and have served me to this day. I’ve come to take real food so seriously I started a small family farm. I know of no M.D./nutritionist more respected in the sports world than Dr. Cate Shanahan.
Chris Kaman
NBA Player
Brought seed oil issue front and center
Cate brought the seed oil issue front and center. Healthy fats matter. So much so that I created an entire product line to swap out bad fats with good.
Mark Sisson
Founding Father of the Primal/Paleo Movement
Optimal health starts with food
If you want to understand how optimal health starts with food, start with Dr. Cate. Her book Deep Nutrition leaves you with an appreciation of the profound relationship between our genes and the planet, inspiring us to be good shepherds of both.
Dallas Hartwig
Attribution author of The Whole 30
Helped me with endurance
Deep Nutrition really helped me with endurance. I started to feel better as a player. I was able to run more, I was able to be more active …and I just decided to keep going with it to this day.
Dwight Howard
NBA Player
Silver bullet for me
Dr Cate’s teachings helped me lose 60 pounds like it was nothing. It was like a silver bullet for me.
Paul Grewal, MD
Dr Grewal Internal Medicine, MD, author of Genius Foods
Radically improve your health…
Dr. Shanahan has provided a solid reference that deserves a place in the library of anyone who is seriously interested in nutrition. Her perspective on the vital role that healthy fat has in our diet is novel and, if implemented, can radically improve your health.
Dr. Joseph Mercola
Author of Fat for Fuel and Founder of Mercola.com
Pull up a chair…
I have based my work on the idea that getting the right kinds of healthy fats into your body and avoiding the worst fats is essential to optimal health. I've interviewed dozens of the world's top experts about this, and I know of no one who speaks more eloquently on this topic than Dr Cate. If she’s talking fats, pull up a chair. Take notes.
Dave Asprey
Author of the Bulletproof Diet
The key to unlocking my fatburn
I love your Fatburn Fix! Has helped me so so much! I have had the dreaded weight all my life - 20 or so pounds I could never shed. I have lost that now. I only eat 2 meals a day lunch and dinner with a glass of milk or cappuccino around 4 to hold me over. No snacking and not bad oils. It has been the key to unlocking my fatburn.
Lauren Smith
Saved my life
I would like to thank you for literally saving my life. Back in February, I had to be hospitalized while on vacation in Phoenix with an A1C of 11% and had to start taking 2 types of insulin and 2 other meds. I read the Fatburn Fix in April, and followed the program to a tee, and I’m down by 15 pounds, 6.8 A1C, and only one once weekly diabetes medicine.
Leontyne Tompkins
> Tears of joy
I'm crying tears of joy and appreciation for all you've done for me and my health! Without Deep Nutrition and Fatburn Fix, I would literally still be in the vicious cycle I'd been fighting all my life! In a nutshell - I am no longer a compulsive overeating addict suffering under the crushing 'thumb' of all food and alcohol.
Penni Wicks
So how can you keep your bones healthy?
Hands down, the best way to build healthy bones is to be active. Exercise helps keep your proprioceptive (balance) nervous system in shape and it keeps your mind sharp, both of which help to prevent falls – the number one cause of fractures.
Exercise does something else to keep your bones strong, too. Many people think their bone strength is an inherited, genetic trait that they have no control over. But that’s not true. When astronauts returned from 30 day space missions, their doctors were shocked to find how weak their bones had become: in 30 days, their bones had aged 50 years. How could that be?
It has to do with the fact that bones are always growing, which we knew, but we had not expected to find that bones were quite as responsive to gravity as they are. Just the tug of your weight every day helps keep them from deteriorating. If you exercise, the healthy stresses act like growth signals, and actually trigger growth hormone release which, among other hormones, is required to keep your bones strong.
The other key ingredient to healthy bones is food.
Everyone things of calcium when they think about bones, and many people take supplements. But for every ten molecules of calcium, your bones need one molecule of magnesium. Taking calcium pills that are not balanced with magnesium may cause calcium to deposit around your joints instead of in your bones, creating bone spurs and contributing the arthritis. Magnesium is one of the few supplements I recommend because our soils are depleted and few foods contain very much of this overlooked bone-building mineral.
If you can’t drink milk or dairy products, go ahead and get a calcium supplement. But truly the best way to get your calcium is by eating foods that are naturally calcium rich, like dairy. What else is there? Well nuts and dried fruit do have some calcium, but a great source of calcium and all the bone building minerals that should be on everyone’s grocery lists is fish with bones, like canned sardines and salmon. I have one patient who buys salmon fish heads and pressure cooks them for 30 minutes until the bones are soft, and then shapes it into a patty and eats it. She says it’s quite delicious. We actually have taste buds that detect minerals like calcium and magnesium, so as odd as it sounds, cooked bones actually taste good to us.
And vitamins are just as important as minerals.
Vitamins A, D, and K help your body put the minerals you eat into bone. Without them, all those minerals you’ve eaten go right through you. Most people can make D in their skin when they go out in our tropical sun, but not everyone can. If your bone density is low, you should get your level tested. Vitamins A, D, and K are fat soluble, and so they don’t get absorbed into your body unless you eat them with a little bit of fat. Research shows the most effective carrier of these important nutrients is saturated fatty acids. This may be one reason why studies show time and time again that low fat diets don’t make people healthier.
Why You Don’t Want To Suppress Bone Turnover
Bone turnover is the ongoing process by which your bones respond to stress. Your bones are always growing, even at age 90. Not in length, but internally. Your bones are supported by internal struts, very much like the struts criss-crossing beneath the Brooklyn Bridge. From time to time, your bone struts wear out and need to be repaired. The repair process is called “bone turnover.” The article does not give doctors any clue what they meant by “when bone turnover is overly supressed.”
Why wouldn’t the article give us any hints? It was actually a journalist’s summary of a talk given by Dr. Stephen Honig, who serves on the speakers bureau of Novartis Pharmaceuticals. And so with that fiduciary relationship in place, I doubt anyone listening to his seminar got the full story either.
Bottom line is I have yet to find reason to start any of my patients on these drugs. Why not? Because aside from suppressing bone turnover and causing bones to break if you use them “too long,” they cause a few ugly little problems your doctor probably didn’t disclose before handing you the prescription:
- Muscle aches, sometimes disabling
- Esophagitis, and rarely, the acid drug erodes through the esophagus perforating it and killing people
- Osteonecrosis – this is a condition in which segments of bone die and sometimes need to be removed. Very inconvenient if the affected bone is in your jaw or your neck.
Of course if he or she did tell you, you should thank him. Unfortunately, since we’re getting paid less and less every year (so that your insurance company can afford to subsidize expensive prescription medications like Fosamax) fewer and fewer doctors have enough time to read up on the side effects themselves, much less inform their patients.
Related Posts
Please note: Please do not share personal medical information in a comment on our posts. It will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.
This Post Has One Comment
Note: Please do not share personal information with a medical question in our comment section. Comments containing this content will be deleted due to HIPAA regulations.
[…] drugs because I understood that they worked by suppressing an important physiologic process called bone turnover. A 2008 NYT article warns that they may indeed be harmful. I practice what I believe to be safe […]