Strength & Speed

1) Back Squat 10 x 2 @ 70% on the minute
2) 2 Rounds:
1:00 Max Box Jumps
1:00 Rest
1:00 Max Toes to Bar
1:00 rest
1:00 Max Double Unders
1:00 Rest
1:00 Max Row for calories

Paige goes ballistic

The Paleo Diet, calcium and bone health

Q: How can I get enough calcium to build strong bones if I cut down or eliminate dairy foods and replace them with fruits and vegetables? I heard or read recently that high-protein diets are detrimental to bone health. Is this true and how does it occur? Will The Paleo Diet damage my bones or give me osteoporosis?

A: In the U.S., calcium intake is one of the highest in the world, yet paradoxically we also have one of the highest rates of bone de-mineralization (osteoporosis). Bone mineral content is dependent not just upon calcium intake but upon net calcium balance (calcium intake minus calcium excretion). Most nutritionists focus upon the calcium intake side of the calcium balance equation, however few realize that the calcium excretion side of the equation is just as important.

Bone health is substantially dependent on dietary acid/base balance. All foods upon digestion ultimately must report to the kidney as either acid or base. When the diet yields a net acid load (such as low-carb fad diets that restrict consumption of fruits and vegetables), the acid must be buffered by the alkaline stores of base in the body. Calcium salts in the bones represent the largest store of alkaline base in the body and are depleted and eliminated in the urine when the diet produces a net acid load. The highest acid-producing foods are hard cheeses, cereal grains, salted foods, meats, and legumes, whereas the only alkaline, base-producing foods are fruits and vegetables. Because the average American diet is overloaded with grains, cheeses, salted processed foods, and fatty meats at the expense of fruits and vegetables, it produces a net acid load and promotes bone de-mineralization. By replacing hard cheeses, cereal grains, and processed foods with plenty of green vegetables and fruits, the body comes back into acid/base balance which brings us also back into calcium balance.

The Paleo Diet recommends an appropriate balance of acidic and basic (alkaline) foods (i.e., lean meats, fish and seafood, fruits, and vegetables) and will not cause osteoporosis in otherwise healthy individuals. Indeed, The Paleo Diet promotes bone health.

Calcium from Where?  

Q: While this style of eating and living makes sense to me, I am still left with the question of how to meet the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for calcium. From all I’ve read on the subject, it’s not possible to reach the RDA with vegetable sources (unless you include fortified soy or rice milk). Since dairy isn’t part of your scheme, how does a person meet the RDA? Or do you disagree with the RDA?

A: Indeed, we relieve the RDA is higher than what you would need in a Palaeolithic type diet, because:

1. The absorption rate from brassica vegetables (e.g. Kale) is slightly higher than from milk and as so (and also because they have numerous health benefits), we advise the daily intake of these foods.
2. A diet with lots of vegetables and fruit is net base yielding and in contrast a diet high in grains, cheese and salt and low in fruits and vegetables (which is a characteristic of the American way of eating) is net acid yielding and this increases calcium excretion.
3. The Paleo Diet is a High protein diet and this increases intestinal calcium absorption^{1, 2} and has an anabolic effect on bone³, particularly in the context of a net base yielding diet³.
4. By avoiding grains, you decrease anti-nutrient intake, such as phytates, which decrease magnesium⁴, calcium⁵ and zinc⁵ absorption.
5. The Paleo Diet is a Low Glycemic Load diet and as so, it does not promote Hyperinsulinemia as a high grain diet. It has been known since the year I was born (1975) that high blood insulin levels cause urinary calcium loss⁶.
6. Milk has a high Insulinotropic effect, and as so it may lead to an increase in urinary calcium excretion, for the reason outlined in point 5.

Links to Relevant Papers:

• RDA of calcium
• Dietary Acid-Base Balance
• Adverse Effects of Sodium Chloride on Bone
• Calcium absorption from kale
• Diet Evolution and Aging

References:

1. Kerstetter JE, Gaffney ED, O’ Brien O, et al. Dietary Protein increases intestinal calcium absorption and improves bone balance: An hypothesis. In Burckhardt P, Heaney R, Dawson-Hughes B. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Nutritional Aspects of Osteoporosis, 4-6 May 2006, Lausanne, Switzerland. Elsevier, 2007, pp 204-216.
2. Dawson-Hughes B. Protein intake and calcium absorption – Potential role of the calcium sensor receptor. In Burckhardt P, Heaney R, Dawson-Hughes B. Proceedings of the International Symposium on Nutritional Aspects of Osteoporosis, 4-6 May 2006, Lausanne, Switzerland. Elsevier, 2007, pp 217-227.
3. Sebastian A. Dietary protein content and the diet’s net acid load: opposing effects on bone health. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Nov;82(5):921-2.
4. Bohn T, Davidsson L, Walczyk T, Hurrell RF. Phytic acid added to white-wheat bread inhibits fractional apparent magnesium absorption in humans. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Mar;79(3):418-23.
5. Cordain L. Cereal grains: humanity’s double edged sword. World Rev Nutr Diet 1999; 84:19-73.
6. DeFronzo RA, Cooke CR, Andres R, Faloona GR, Davis PJ. The effect of insulin on renal handling of sodium, potassium, calcium, and phosphate in man. J Clin Invest 1975;55:845–55.

            For more on paleolithic nutrition, visit www.thepaleodiet.com