Shalom CAPS,I read your medical question posted here on the Doves and thought that I would give you a rundown on what my Doctor advised me when I was confronted with the same thing. Back in the year 2000, I was in physical training to join our local police department. In an attempt to meet the physical standards, I began a daily workout along with a daily two-mile run. This is how we did things in the Army. Being a former cavalry scout, I didn't think too much about the leg pain that I was suffering after each run. As we used to say, "No pain, no gain."
However, the pain in my leg became worse and eventually I did go to the doctor. To make a long story short, they found that I had fractured my leg. Even worse, they discovered that I had osteopenia, the first stage of bone loss or the early stages of osteoporosis. Now, osteoporosis is more common in women than in men. Moreover, it is very uncommon for a male in his mid-thirties to develop osteoporosis. Nonetheless, this was the case with me.
Aside from increasing my calcium intake, my orthopedic surgeon advised me to stop drinking dairy milk. Instead, he wanted me to start drinking soymilk. According to him, soymilk contains isoflavonoids, which are naturally occurring estrogens. These isoflavonoids aid the body in increasing it's bone mass. Additionally, soymilk doesn't contain the bovine hormones that dairy milk has. From what I understand, these bovine hormones are not all that healthy for humans, especially for developing girls.
The other thing of importance is to make sure the calcium supplement being taken, contains enough vitamin-D to allow for proper absorption. Bone cannot absorb calcium without vitamin-D. On a final note, exercise is good for bones. Bone cells are in a constant state of change and are highly adaptive to the amounts of stress that they are placed under. However, never start an exercise regiment without first consulting your physician. This is especially true if you haven't exercised in a while.
Here, There or In the Air…Keep Looking Up!
Your brother in Yeshua,
Roger D. Stillwell
Hi CAPS,
I almost forgot to mention that my last bone scan came out in the normal range. This would seem, at least in my situation, that the soymilk and the added calcium along with light exercise has worked for me. I plan to continue with the regiment and look forward to even better results in the future.
Your brother in Yeshua,
Roger D. Stillwell