The Save Our Bones Daily Double Challenge #8

Vivian Goldschmidt, MA Inspiration

Evidence-Based
5 min Read

Challenge #1

What: Eat at least five foods highest in Vitamin C.

Why: When it comes to bone health, Mainstream Medicine tends to completely ignore Vitamin C. But Savers know that Vitamin C is essential for strong, flexible bones, which is why it is included as a Foundation Supplement in the Osteoporosis Reversal Program.

Vitamin C is a stellar multi-tasking nutrient, and it offers dual benefits for your bones. First, it acts as both a vitamin and an antioxidant. Antioxidants are important to bone health because they prevent oxidative damage to body tissues, including bone.

Also, Vitamin C plays an important role in the bone remodeling process. Unlike osteoporosis drugs, which only suppress osteoclasts (the cells that break down bone), Vitamin C both inhibits osteoclasts and stimulates osteoblasts (bone-building cells).

While it’s performing this amazing balancing act, Vitamin C is also playing a key role in the formation of collagen, a protein that is produced by osteoblasts and hydrolyzed by Vitamin C.

In addition, Vitamin C is a powerful immune system booster. During cold and flu season, it makes sense to ensure you’re getting enough Vitamin C not only from supplements, but also from foods.

How: This time of year, citrus fruits come into season in the Northern Hemisphere. Other treasure troves of Vitamin C are also available fresh or frozen. It’s quite easy to find five to eat in one day!

The Osteoporosis Reversal Program has easy-to-read, comprehensive lists of alkalizing fruits and vegetables that are high in Foundation Supplements, nutrients essential to building bone. Here is the Program’s list of foods that are high in Vitamin C:

  • Oranges*
  • Grapefruits*
  • Lemons
  • Limes
  • Tangerines*
  • Strawberries
  • Raspberries
  • Pineapple
  • Watermelon
  • Papaya
  • Guava
  • Kiwi
  • Cantaloupe
  • Cabbage*
  • Tomatoes
  • Broccoli*
  • Cauliflower*
  • Sweet red bell peppers
  • Brussels sprouts*
  • Parsley

*In season now

Do you need some inspiration and ideas for preparing and enjoying these foods? If you have the Osteoporosis Reversal Program, you are familiar with the Recipe Sampler which is included in the book. In the Sampler, you’ll find all kinds of delicious recipes for preparing bone-healthy dishes, for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Enjoy your five daily Vitamin C-rich foods in smoothies, stir-fries, raw, steamed, and any other creative way. And share your ideas in the comment section below.

Challenge #2

What: External Oblique Exercise. Do at least five repetitions on each side.

Why: This exercise will slim up your waistline while also strengthening your core muscles. Core muscle groups help hold you upright, so toned core muscles are are key to good posture.

Your obliques are a group of core muscles that rotate and bend your upper body. Strengthening them gets rid of “love handles” and promotes proper posture.

Not only does proper posture prevent Dowager’s Hump; it also keeps your skeleton aligned, thereby helping the action of muscle and gravity on bone to promote bone density. Another benefit of good posture is better breathing – as Savers know, deep breathing alkalizes the body.

How:

  1. Lie on your back on the floor (I recommend using a mat). Bend your knees and keep your feet flat on the floor.
  2. Place your hands behind your head without touching your hands together – your fingers should be touching the backs of your ears.
  3. Using your oblique muscles, slowly lift your left shoulder up and toward your right knee. Do not lift your knee. Remember, keep your elbows out. Your left shoulder blade will lift off the floor, but your elbow or shoulder will not touch your knee.
  4. Slowly lower yourself back down while breathing in. Repeat at least five times (or as many times as you comfortably can), and then switch sides.

Here are some tips for getting the most out of this exercise:

  • Exhale as you lift your shoulder blade off the floor, and inhale as you go back down.
  • Use your obliques to do the lifting, not your shoulders or neck.
  • Do not pull on your head or neck as you lift.
  • Pretend you have an apple or an orange between your chin and your chest so you don’t accidentally tuck in your chin.
  • While you should not push your back down into the floor, take care that you don’t let your lower back arch upward.
  • If you find this exercise too difficult, prop your legs up on a chair or couch and keep your knees bent at a 90-degree angle.

One of the best things about this kind of exercise is that it is both simple and effective. It’s challenging enough that you know you’re giving your bones and muscles a workout, but it’s not so difficult that you get discouraged and quit. In addition, it’s a targeted exercise that focuses on a particular muscle group in order to prevent specific problems (such as shallow breathing, poor posture, and so forth).

These are the elements I kept in mind for the ™ /" target="_blank">Densercise eBook System, which also has several exercises that strengthen core muscles, such as:

  • Chair Squat
  • Arm and Leg Lift
  • Imaginary Jump Rope
  • Chair Knee Lift
  • and More!

™ /" target="_blank">Densercise does more than just build and strengthen core muscles. The benefits of regular exercise are well-documented, and all those are part of the effects of ™ /" target="_blank">Densercise . But because ™ /" target="_blank">Densercise is specifically designed to build bone density, the benefits go beyond what you get from simple exercise.

™ /" target="_blank">Please take a moment to read more about the Densercise eBook System, and discover how this exercise program improves and maintains bone density →

Stay fit!