The food business has slowed down because many can no longer afford restaurant prices. Also, a few realized they could address their nutritional needs by producing food in their own backyard.

How can we view these difficult times as an opportunity to discover low-cost treasures that we have ignored? Let us take a look at what is called “the plague” of the 21st century: osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is also called a “silent killer” because it is not discovered until it is too late. It manifests itself in fractures of the spine, hips and wrists.

It is a slow, progressive disease characterized by a gradual loss of calcium from bones until they become porous and brittle. The net effect is increased susceptibility to fractures.

This leads to a considerable amount of medical expenses we can ill afford, especially during difficult times. It also lowers an individual’s quality of life.

Once an individual suffers from a hip fracture, for instance, there is a fourfold rise in the probability of having a second fracture within the same year.

Today, one in three women and one in five men over 50 in the United States has osteoporosis. It is even worse in the Philippines.

Calcium, sun, and exercise

Dr. Rafael C. Bondoc (+632 5369605) of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine says one-third of Filipinos over 55 in age and more than half of Filipinos over 70 have high risk of osteoporosis-induced bone fractures.

Bondoc says farmers are less likely to have osteoporosis than their urban counterparts. This is because farmers have more calcium in their diets, get more sun and have more exercise.

To prevent osteoporosis, it is important to have both calcium and Vitamin D, which one gets through sun exposure. The relation between calcium and Vitamin D is similar to that of a locked door and a key. Vitamin D is the key that opens the door which allows calcium to leave the intestine and enter the blood stream. Once in the blood stream, the calcium can build healthy bones and prevent osteoporosis.

South Americans, known as “sun worshippers,” have the lowest incidence of osteoporosis. Though they may take less calcium than Filipinos, they have vitamin D from the sun to allow whatever calcium they have to be used. Many Filipinos have the colonial mentality of preferring white skin, so they avoid the sun. This results in lack of vitamin D, which prevents the calcium from being released into the blood stream.

Weight-bearing exercise is also needed. Bondoc cites Wolff’s Law: “Form follows function.” One of the best weight-bearing exercises is walking. Bondoc says: “When you walk, your bone grows and becomes strong. When you do not, there is no stimulus for growth and the bone is more likely to deteriorate.”

Bondoc adds: “In a sense, we have the best transportation system in the world. You ride a vehicle from your point of origin to your point of destination. No need to walk. In other countries, people are forced to walk because the bus stops are far from where you start to where you end. We do not take enough calcium, we avoid the sun and we do not like to walk. No wonder we have a high incidence of osteoporosis!”

Recommendation

During this financial crisis, we can save money by walking instead of riding. We can go outdoors and enjoy free sunshine instead of overstaying in enclosed shopping malls and spending needlessly. And most importantly, instead of eating junk food or spending more in restaurants, we can grow calcium-rich vegetables in our backyard.

These vegetables have been identified by the International Institute for Rural Reconstruction (IIRR) in “A Bio-intensive Approach to Small-scale Household Food Production”. Among them are camote, ube, gabi, alugbati, string beans, spinach, taro, jute, horse radish and lima beans.

The IIRR publication states: “A nutrition garden can achieve most of a family’s nutrition goals. Food grown in this manner is safer to eat because it is chemical free.”

Providing calcium-rich vegetables at very low cost through a small nutrition garden, coupled with a healthy dose of free sunshine and adequate walking, can well be the most economical way to prevent osteoporosis.

Please contact Dr. Florentiono Solon (+63918 9175197), National Nutrition Center president, for more assistance on this matter.

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The author is chairman of Agriwatch and former Cabinet member for presidential flagship programs and projects. For inquiries and suggestions, e-mail agriwatchphil@yahoo.com or call or fax +632 8522112.