Bone Up!

Week of May 29, 2021

Our bones are dynamic and whether you are 8 or 80, a female or male, nutrition has a powerful influence on our bone health and vitality.  During Bone Up! we get personal…I’ll share with you my own bone-building success story.  And, you will have the opportunity to assess your nutrition intake and create an integrated, personalized plan to optimize your bone-nutrition and your fitness.  Susan will translate the science into the ingredients for long-term bone health with ideas that you will want to put on your plate right away!

Session 1
Discover 7 Surefire Ways to Power Up Your Bones

Let’s get personal…I’m sharing a nutritionist’s perspective on lessons-learned over the last decade and you will go home with recipes and tools for you to assess your bone-supportive nutrition and personalize your plan.

1. Be strategic with a 2-pronged approach
2. Upregulating bone building and downregulating bone absorption
3. Make it an integrated plan
4. Introduction to the Vitality Wheel; what to consider and how to create your own comprehensive personalized plan
5. Know your numbers
6. Nutritional biomarkers and labs that assess bone health
7. DEXA scan, weight, weight change, vitamin D status
8. Keep your eye on the prize, preventing a fracture
9. Preventing a fracture is integral to long term health and requires more than improving bone density
10. When it comes to nutrition, bones don’t rely on one nutrient or food alone!
11. Beyond calcium bones are made up of many minerals
12. How to get a mineral rich diet
13. Co-factors that support bone mineralization
14. Your unique gene blueprint can deeply impact your bone structure
15. Emerging science:  How our genes affect our bones and how we can influence our genes
16. You need a healthy gut to absorb nutrients
17. The importance of gut health, considerations and evaluation

Session 2
The Calcium Conundrum

Where do cows get their calcium, and other conundrums about calcium, minerals and our bone health!

1. Overview of the biology calcium in the body
2. How to optimize calcium intake and absorption
3. Vegetarian sources and ancestral preparation of foods to enhance mineral bioavailability.
4. Drug nutrient interactions to consider
5. Best sources of calcium and why
6. Directing calcium into the bone and away from soft tissue/arteries
7. Beyond calcium; other key minerals

Session 3
The Protein Paradox

Optimal protein status improves bone health but how much is optimal? Discover how to create a delicate metabolic balance!

1. Eating patterns and bone health
2. Populations studies and osteoporosis risk
3. Sarcopenia and relationship with protein intake, bone health and fracture risk
4. How to assess and optimize intake
5. Protein requirement
6. Dietary protein sources
7. Dietary alkalinity, protein and bone health

Session 4
The Gut-Bone Connection

You are not what you eat, but what you absorb!  The connection may seem surprising, but ultimately optimal bone health is dependent on a good healthy gut.

1. Microbiome – definition
2. Bacteria, fungus and viruses: beneficial, commensal or harmful
3. Treatments that affect the composition of the microbiome can also regulate bone health
4. Keeping harmful bugs at bay and encourage the beneficial bugs
5. Assessing your gut health
6. What is normal? – Gas, bloating, heartburn, pain, digestion and elimination
7. How to Optimize
8. What to add:  Key nutrients
9. Fiber
10. Role of fiber
11. Types of fiber and fiber-rich food options
12. How to assess, address and increase fiber intake
13. Prebiotics and Probiotics – what they are and food sources
14. What to remove
15. Elimination diet
16. Consider gluten, dairy, other including soy, and eggs
17. Consider healing foods to stimulate digestion and nourish the gut
18. Favorite herbals to assist with gut function

 

Susan McCandless, RDN, CLT, IFNCP
Susan, a Functional Dietitian Nutritionist, is a sought-after speaker known for her expertise in delivering engaging educational workshops. She is an effective health coach with a distinct ability to translate the science right to the plate and inspire powerful diet and lifestyle habits. Board Certified in Integrative and Functional Nutrition, Susan understands how body systems work together. She focuses on improving client function by treating the root cause of disease and dis-ease. In her private practice with MINT Nutrition, Susan is delivers clients proven results through in-depth assessment, food-first solutions and a personalized nutrition toolbox.  Susan holds advanced certifications in integrative and functional nutrition, lifestyle medicine, nutrigenetics, food sensitivities and intuitive eating.