Bone mass

(charlie3) #1

2 years ago i wanted to get fit as possible with zero health compromise and look the part. I realized joints and conective tissue should be an issue so I’ve tried to tailor the exercise peice to account for those. I’ve been stepping on a Renpho smart scale every morning for 18 months. Over that time the app says bone mass has increased from a low 7.2 lbs to 8.0 lbs. That is a surprising change considering I’m 71. I’m confident this is in the ball park of accurate and shows bone loss can be at least postponed and may be reversed.

(Full Metal KETO AF) #2

I hope so Charlie, I have osteoporosis because of a long time parathyroid issue that’s supposed to be taken care of soon. I hope my bones regain significant density once I get my procedure. I’m 60. Promising post, thanks. :cowboy_hat_face:

(charlie3) #3

Last year i walked 2 hours a day for 6 months. This winter I’ve spent about the same time on a vintage Schwinn airdyne. I also lift, high reps, 20 and up, minimal sets. I want joints and connective tissues to get stronger faster than the muscles. Zero tolerance for injury or over training. With those limitations, an apparently wimpy program, still managed to dump 30 lbs of fat and add 14 lbs of muscle. My view is the whole food low carb eating doesn’t cause any of this, just allows it to happen. (I look pretty good too, a 71 year old brawny lad.) I keep saying, 100 years ago, people my age and condition would have been a common sight.

(Ben ) #4

Perhaps you could look into BFR training for health and well-being

(charlie3) #5

My approach to training at this point in my life is do the highest volume of low heart rate training that’s beneficial and the lowest volume of resistance training that’s beneficial. The programs of others tend to go beyond those limits for the sake of performance goals I don’t have.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #6

Bone reacts to use and will grow stronger as needed. The key is not just calcium, but also sufficient protein in the diet, since bone is a calcium-loaded protein matrix. Vitamins D and K are also helpful in moving calcium out of arterial plaque and back into the bones. Vitamin D is made from cholesterol, so anything that increases the production of cholesterol (such as a ketogenic diet with enough saturated fat) will be helpful. (Testosterone and progesterone are also made from cholesterol, by the way.) If you are aiming to increase muscle and bone mass, eat foods rich in the essential branched-chain amino acids (leucine, iso-leucine, and valine). They are inflammatory if over-consumed, but not in the context of muscle- and bone-building.

(charlie3) #7

Thank you for the detailed response. Chrono says I’m coming up a tiny bit short on calcium. Should I assume my body is probably getting it from places where it shouldn’t be and not suppliment? My LDL, 10 months ago was crazy high and I believe directly related to lots of exercise and low carb eating. 70% fat, 20% protein, 10% carbs and 2900 calories consumed.

(Troy) #8

No data or testing yet for me, CAC etc
However…
Taking this “now” …( brand pun ):smile:

image
51045829-3488-4483-AE52-D825A38F7BE3.jpeg910×1258 309 KB

(charlie3) #9

Chronometer says I’m getting more than 10x the RDA for vitamin K just from food. I’m getting 4x the RDA for D3 with a 50mcg suppliment at least until I’m back out in the sun.

(Troy) #10

Nice👍

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

In general, people eating a healthy diet don’t need to supplement. That said, some people do need supplements; it’s just that taking them unnecessarily is a waste of money. (Not to mention that some vitamins and minerals can cause harm, if we get too much of them.) In the case of calcium, magnesium, and potassium, the mechanisms that regulate their level in the body are interlinked with the mechanisms that regulate sodium. If you keep your sodium intake within the healthy range (which several studies in recent years have shown to be about 4 g to about 6 g a day, which translates to 10-15 g/day of sodium chloride) and eat a well-formulated ketogenic diet (especially one relying on whole foods, as opposed to processed junk), your calcium, magnesium, and potassium should pretty much stay in balance, as well.

When I had my spinal fusion, years back, I learned that calcium is found not only in dairy products, but also in vegetables such as broccoli, where it is also accompanied by magnesium, which aids in properly absorbing the calcium. So there are many rich dietary sources of these minerals. Potassium is the one to be the most careful with, since hypokalaemia and hyperkalaemia can both be deadly. The USDA food composition database can be a useful resource for discovering which foods contain what.

(charlie3) #12

Thanks for that link, will save and use. I put salt in homemade salad dressing, on my daily large salad and on my meat and fish meal, to taste but doubt I get to the higher amounts you suggest. I almost never added salt until going to low carb. Crono keeps me aware of all the micros. I can’t seem to resist rounding up to those values.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #13

Because a high-carbohydrate diet interferes with the excretion of sodium, the keto “flu” is actually a consequence of low sodium levels resulting from the increased efficiency of the kidneys when we go low-carb, so if you feel headachey, dizzy, and that sort of thing, it’s generally a sign of needing more salt. Personally, I get migraine auras if I don’t keep my salt intake high enough, and eating a pinch or two of salt is usually enough to head off the aura within minutes.

Constipation is another symptom of lack of sodium (Dr. Stephen Phinney explains the mechanism in one of his videos on the Low Carb Down Under channel on YouTube; I no longer have the link, sorry!), and something that is the opposite of constipation can occur from too much salt (it’s not diarrhea, exactly, but I’ll spare you the details).

(Ben ) #14

I cannot seem to be able to log onto the forum. Is there a problem?

(Polly) #15

I think there may have been a glitch. I was relieved that it seemed to clear because I was also unable to login for about 18 hours.

(Bunny) #16

Did a post here on similar subject concerning women and fasting:

(BuckRimfire) #17

Is it this one?


From about the 50 to 60 minute mark he’s talking about salt. Not sure if constipation was mentioned in that section.
(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #18

This is an excellent video, but it’s not the one in which he describes the mechanism by which low sodium causes constipation. But he did this workshop, and similar lecture-type presentations, for LCDU more than once, and it’s in one of the later recordings. Sorry I can’t be more specific, but I am pressed for time in my real life at the moment, so wading through Phinney videos, while a lot of fun, is a pleasure I’ll have to postpone.

(Philip H Kern) #19

I’m late to the party, so maybe nobody will see this. Your scale probably isn’t saying that you’ve gone from 7.2 lbs to 8.0 lbs of bone mass. It is more likely indicating that of your total mass, 7.2 percent was bone, but now that you’ve dropped substantial weight, your bone percentage is 8.0. I base this on two things: most scales (all that I know of) measure percent rather than weight of bone. A simple calculation would of course allow you to convert percent into pounds. The other is that it is unlikely your skeleton weights 8 pounds. I’d guess it ways 3 times that. Without wishing to sound presumptuous, I’d guess that while you may have gained some bone mass, the majority of increase in that number is related to the loss of other mass.

(charlie3) #20

Thanks for the tips, things I overlooked. Unfortunately I can’t find any documentation for how these bio impedence scales come up with their estimates. Renpho is silent.