5 Responses to “Building Bone Vitality: A Revolutionary Diet Plan to Prevent Bone Loss and Reverse Osteoporosis–Without Dairy Foods, Calcium, Estrogen, or Drugs”

1. 

   Mary Dillard said on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 19:10

   I eliminated animal protein from my diet and increased plant protein based on the author’s recommendations. I have been noticing significant positive changes in my health, mostly my joints. The book is excellent in that the author does build a strong case that animal protein does promote calcium depletion.
   Rating: 5 / 5
2. 

   Marianne Ellis said on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 20:51

   This book is helpful for anyone who wants an understanding of bone health and how excess protein leaches the calcium from bones. It is overly redundant, but she gets her message across that low-acid eating and weight bearing exercise contribute to bone health. Good for someone wanting unadulterated facts about osteoporosis and how the myth that milk, dairy and calcium supplements prevent osteoporosis is not supported by scientific evidence.
   Rating: 4 / 5
3. 

   Alesandra DiMacurio said on Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 22:56

   At first, this book seemed very scientific and I was impressed by all the studies. But then I encountered some statements about protein that just seemed kind of off and were poorly supported by research so I looked into who Amy Joy Lanou is. Turns out, she is a vegan, animal rights activist who appears to have a hidden agenda to get people to stop using animal products. She’s a member of PCRM which has been described as follows:

   “The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. PCRM is a fanatical animal rights group that seeks to remove eggs, milk, meat, and seafood from the American diet, and to eliminate the use of animals in scientific research. Despite its operational and financial ties to other animal activist groups and its close relationship with violent zealots, PCRM has successfully duped the media and much of the general public into believing that its pronouncements about the superiority of vegetarian-only diets represent the opinion of the medical community.
   
   “Less than 5 percent of PCRM’s members are physicians,” Newsweek wrote in February 2004. The respected news magazine continued:

   [PCRM president Neal] Barnard has co-signed letters, on PCRM letterhead, with the leader of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, an animal-rights group the Department of Justice calls a “domestic terrorist threat.” PCRM also has ties to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. An agency called the Foundation to Support Animal Protection has distributed money from PETA to PCRM in the past and, until very recently, did both groups’ books. Barnard and PETA head Ingrid Newkirk are both on the foundation’s board.

   New York Times columnist Joe Sharkey put it more crisply in a November 2004 piece about PCRM’s annual airport-food ratings. “The physicians’ committee has a PETA link,” he wrote, “and its food rankings reflect that agenda.”
   Rating: 2 / 5
4. 

   Lynda Kimmel said on Thursday, February 4, 2010, 0:38

   I could not put this book down. I read it in record time. My copy is now highlighted, underlined, tabbed, notated in the margins and on the front cover so I can find information in a moment. I have already been practicing new eating habits for one week. I have purchased pH strips and I am charting my pH levels. I am scoring in the alkaline range when I am following the principles listed in the book. When I eat outside of the recommendations, my pH levels are very acid. At least if I am going to leach my own calcium out of my bones, I am doing it with full awareness which was not the case prior to reading this book. I am wondering how many years it will take for this knowledge to become the standard of care. I can’t wait to share this information with my doctor. After going on line, I have searched the words alkaline diet. There are many sites with lists of alkaline and acid foods. The only problem I have found is that some foods are listed as alkaline on some lists and acid on others. I wish I understood how that can be. If you are at risk for osteoporosis, you need to own this information yesterday! Good luck with your journey to stronger bones via the information in this important book.
   Rating: 5 / 5
5. 

   Doris in Corvallis said on Thursday, February 4, 2010, 1:51

   The nutritional information in this book is essential for anyone battling osteoporosis, or for younger women and even men at risk because of familial tendencies or other risk factors. The eating style given here can help enormously, while protecting from many cancers and other diseases.

   Be sure to read Chapter 9, Bricks and Mortar, with care. Then look at the nutrient chart at [...] for a more comprehensive chart of nutrients, with recommended amounts. (Note: this is the web site for Susan E. Brown’s older but better written and worthwhile book, Better Bones, Better Body : Beyond Estrogen and Calcium. Also worthwhile: the chapter on osteoporosis in Food and Nutrients in Disease Management.

   What’s wrong with this book? It’s so repetitive that it can be discouraging: I suspect that many readers give up before they get to the essential points about nutrients, exercise, etc. It makes the main point about low-acid diet over and over and over again. It is not as comprehensive as it could and should be about nutritional variety and about exercise. It almost ridicules osteoporosis medications and calcium supplements in the earlier chapters, possibly leading some people to give them up, then toward the end admits that they may help. It does not mention the importance of B12 until late in the book, and doesn’t mention vegans’ possible iron deficiency. It ignores sugar in all of its charts and discussion.

   What’s right: a thorough look at research; a great listing of sources; enthusiasm for the important main point.

   I hope that a second edition may remedy the faults and give all of us the resource we should have about osteoporosis.

   Rating: 4 / 5