Q:  I have bought and read your book and found it to be most helpful. Do you think just by changing diet and taking no supplements I can halt or reverse my osteoporosis?

You do not mention Ipriflavone as an alternative treatment for osteoporosis and I would be interested to know if you have any views on this product. Having been prescribed Alendronic Acid by my GP here in the UK I found the side effects intolerable and read about ipriflavone on the internet. It is unavailable in the UK but is prescribed in several countries worldwide.

Thank you in advance.

E.

A:  Thanks for taking the time to share your story with me. I do believe that by changing your diet to prevent extreme acidification of body tissues and by taking supplements you can slow down and even reverse bone loss. And please remember that the goal is to prevent fractures…so if we remain fit and drug-free, we are less likely to fall down and break a bone.

Ipriflavone is not approved in the US either, and here’s the information about it:

Ipriflavone (tradename “Ostivone”), is a synthetic isoflavone derivative, which has been suggested to be an inhibitor of bone resorption and a stimulator of osteoblast activity in vitro in cell cultures and in vivo in experimental models of osteoporosis. Preliminary studies, mainly performed in Italy and Japan, suggested that ipriflavone (typical dosage 600 mg/day) is able to prevent bone loss, and some data even suggested that ipriflavone may increase bone mass in postmenopausal women. However, reports of lymphocytopenia in women taking ipriflavone generated concerns regarding the safety of this particular compound.

There are several reasons why I would never recommend Ipriflavone:

1) I don’t like anything that affects normal bone resorption
2) the lymphocytopenia side-effect can have serious long-term consequences

I think that the best way to prevent excessive amounts of calcium to leak from our bones is to eat a balanced diet, to maintain proper pH and remain healthy overall.

Wishing you great success,

Vivian