There is so much conflicting information out there in the alternative approaches to health care. Being a senior carrying around extra poundage that, in the past, I have not been able to shed no matter what I've tried, when my stepsons told me about a certain protein shake that they were using to melt off their excess fat, and further that I didn't have to "move" to achieve results, I jumped on it.
To date, I've been able to shed 16 pounds, but I'm not going to try to sell you on this product, as good as it may be. My point here is that I just read straight from Dr. Richard Schulze, for whom I have a great deal of respect, that too much animal protein causes loss of calcium via urination! Not good news!
Calcium is crucial to the bone health of seniors, and I do not relish the thought of breaking or shattering a bone, especially without even falling, as that is not even necessary for bone shattering or breakage. You could just lean your elbow on a desk and fracture wrist or elbow!
Now we all know that the body needs protein, so what to do? Choose the right protein. Non-animal sources are nuts, nutritional yeast, fresh juices, wild salmon, tuna, eggs, organic Greek yogurt (less sugar), quinoa ("keen-wah") grain, goat cheese, almond butter, and peanut butter (natural or organic only with salt as the only added ingredient).
Some will say that eating organic or grass-fed meat doesn't count, because it has not been given hormones and antibiotics. True, that variety of animal protein does not have added hormones or antibiotics. But it is also true that it still contains naturally concentrated hormones that are responsible for turning a 300-pound calf into a 3,000-pound cow in one year! There is no doubt that grass-fed is better, but hold it to special occasions, or learn to do what Asian people do. They eat normal quantities of meat, but the difference is that they simultaneously consume large quantities of vegetables along with it.
One suggestion: If you fix a beef roast, for example, cut it in half and use only that portion to roast (freezing the other half for another time) with lots of carrots, onions and potatoes. Cooking this way, smaller portions of meat are available for each, and they will fill up on the veggies. Serving a raw salad before serving the roast also will take the edge off appetites.
Just because you cut down on meat, that is not all you need to do. White flour products play a huge part in destroying bones, and aside from bread, that includes pasta, crackers, macaroni, etc. Don't buy them.
And don't think you will get your calcium from milk either. Regular milk contains a bound calcium which is not easy to assimilate, but its high protein also causes your calcium to leech out in the urine. And this means any milk, even raw! (Milk is meant to grow a baby into an adult; once weaned, the child should stay weaned.)
The two top liquids that are calcium high and protein low are fresh orange juice and fresh carrot juice. And note that the key word here is fresh!
Note: Herbs are great, but remember, you take them only in ounces, not in pounds as is the case with food. So don't expect herbs to overcome all the "anti" calcium foods you consume. The same applies to vitamin supplements, no matter how pristine the quality.
This is by no means an exhaustive treatment of the subject, but I'd like to finish by recommending weight bearing or lifting exercises. Weight bearing equates to walking where the entire weight of the body is carried about. Start slowly and go from there.
The same applies to weight lifting. Start with three-pound weights. The key to success here is lifting s-l-o-w-l-y. Even after you've done it for awhile, always do it slowly. You incinerate more fat and build more muscle that way. You can always add more weight gradually.
Finally, stay off the scale, because you will be building muscle (which is heavier than fat), so staying off the sale will prevent you from getting discouraged.
