Review: Whole Food Guide to Strong Bones
November 22, 2009 by Peggy Rowland
Filed under Women's Health
I read the The Whole Food Guide to Strong Bones by Annemarie Colbin, Ph.D. at an interesting time in my life when it seems that more than ever my doctors want to push pills on me to prevent problems that may never exist anyway. (I received a complimentary copy of the book for review.)
The advice given in this book is often quite different from what you’d hear from your specialist or primary care doctor. I won’t say I agree 100% with everything Colbin says in her book, but she does present a different view than you’d normally hear in your doctor’s office. And, at a time when drug companies seem more in charge than ever, a different opinion isn’t such as bad thing. Think about this for a minute: When’s the last time you visited a doctor and didn’t see a drug company rep walking in to speak with someone?
In The Whole-Food Guide to Strong Bones: A Holistic Approach, Colbin, founder of the Natural Gourmet Institute for Health and Culinary Arts in NYC, shares with readers risk factors for bone fracture, why medication (including calcium supplements) and estrogen therapy may not work, how nutrients in whole foods build bone mass, and 85 recipes to help build bones with whole foods. The recipes presented include several different stocks and a variety of leafy greens, as well as other vegetables, fish and chicken.
In addition to recipes, the author includes detailed lists of all the best foods for bones. Colbin also explains how exercise and achieving personal balance can help prevent fragility fractures, menopause-related bone loss and osteoporosis.
The Whole Food Guide to Strong Bones isn’t the most exciting read ever. Sometimes the guide has the tone of a textbook, with in-depth explanations of bone composition, hormones, minerals and vitamins. The idea is to get a better understanding of your bones as living parts of your body, affected by everything you do, including eating that sugary snack! However, the author also includes many real-life examples and personal stories, so all isn’t dry.
The best thing that Colbin accomplishes with this book is to show you that all’s not as cut and dry as your doc or drug makers might have you believe. It’s certainly not a bad book to have around when you’re planning meals. Plus, it’s not just a book for women. Men suffer from bone fractures too! Read more about Colbin’s guide at FoodAndHealing.com.
(Image via New Harbinger Publications)
Wow, sounds a lot like the diet program Dr. Susan Brown has promoted for years in Better Bones (acid/alkaline balance — a holistic approach to bone health/ reducing osteoporosis risk). I can’t wait to check this out. If you are new to this way of thinking (and/or disagree with it and want to understand what the non-drug side of the osteoporosis debate thinks), here’s a great article from Dr. Susan Brown — Better Bones: The importance of pH balance in healthy bones