If you have any questions related to women’s heath
please e-mail them directly to Rozalind at healthyunlimited@aol.com.

Question: We have several women (and one man with low testosterone) in our group who are experiencing increasing bone loss since changing their diets for what they thought to be the better: vegan, mostly raw. This includes one lady of 66 (who has been eating a vegan diet for 12 years), another lady of 67, and a man of 40. More recently a woman of 40 plus has reported bone loss and is both upset and mystified as, according to her, she has followed Dr. Graham’s recommendations to a “t.”
Many doctors are writing books these days citing animal products as the cause of osteoporosis, but these people were never big meat eaters even before changing. What can you tell us about this issue?

Answer: There are several issues to be considered here. Firstly, the primary cause of osteoporosis is the body’s action of drawing calcium out of the bones in order to use it as a buffer against excessive blood acidity. If the blood pH is allowed to deviate more than minimally from 7.4, death quickly occurs. Broken bones, although debilitating, are not usually in and of themselves life threatening. Although the consumption of meat and dairy products is a primary cause of an overly acidic bloodstream it is by no means the only cause. Other major causes of elevated blood acidity include:

* The eating of any type of grains
* Emotional distress (stress)
* Excess protein consumption
* Coffee drinking
* The consumption of fizzy drinks of any sort
* Alcohol consumption
* The consumption of cooked food in general
* Environmental toxins
* The inhalation of tobacco smoke
* The inhalation of automobile emissions
* The taking of drugs (any type)

The fact that a person has been practicing a vegan diet typically means that they are relying heavily on grains. The vegan diet is typically as cooked as the non-vegan diet, and due to unfounded protein concerns they may be deliberately trying to eat heavily of high-protein foods or even take protein supplementation.

Many practicing vegans drink both coffee, fizzy drinks and/or alcohol. Some pay no attention to keeping away from tobacco smoke or car emissions and many even smoke tobacco or marijuana. It is common for many vegans to remain dependent upon the medics for their health and consequently they may be consumers of drugs. All of these habits contribute to raising blood acidity. Aside from these physical causes, there exists a powerful psychological influence. The most rampant disease amongst westernized people is that of chronic stress. The physical responses to psychological distress include a whole cascade of biochemical changes that render the blood stream highly acidic.

Exposure to natural sunlight is of paramount importance to bone health and health generally. The number of people suffering from insufficient sunlight exposure is currently of epidemic proportions amongst westernized people. This is largely due to so much miseducation with regard to the causes of skin cancer.

Another very influential factor with regard to the maintenance of healthy bone mass is that of exercise. The bones are continually undergoing metabolic actions; they are being broken down (by catabolic processes) and built up (by anabolic processes). In order for anabolic processes affecting the bones to be stimulated, regular vigorous activity is necessary. Mild shock waves generated when walking or running and by the pull of the muscles as they work is known as “osteoblast activity.” In the absence of such physical exertion the integrity of the bone mass is gradually, and progressively, lost.

Finally, and most importantly, there is a most poignant factor to consider when searching for the reason why vegans, and even “long-term” raw food vegans, might experience osteoporosis. Osteoporosis does not occur rapidly over a short period of time but is a gradual and progressive condition taking many years to become clinically diagnosable. A person who is age 60 and has been a vegan for 12 years has spent 48 years setting up osteoporosis by consuming dairy and eating meat. After adopting the vegan diet they were still, undoubtedly, eating cooked foods including grains (two more of the primary causes of osteoporosis). None of this takes in to consideration their possible use of alcohol, drugs, tobacco, coffee, fizzy drinks and all the other causes of the condition such as emotional distress. Nor does it guarantee that they had sufficient exposure to sunlight.

There is great wisdom and much truth in the lesson “we reap that which we sow.” In the case of osteoporosis, as with so many life-threatening conditions, the sowing of its seeds can begin as early as childhood despite the fact that we do not harvest the results until much later in life.

To close on a positive note, once all causes of osteoporosis are discontinued, the remaining bone integrity can be saved and strengthened.

Question: Hormones–what the heck are they ?

Answer: Hormones are the chemical messengers of the body's endocrine system. A few
hormones bring about instantaneous reactions but the vast majority take hours to begin working. Physiological changes brought about by hormones can last for months or even years. The word “hormone” means to “spur on” an apt description of their influence upon cellular action.

Question: What is progesterone cream all about?

Answer: The two primary hormones involved in the female menopause are estrogen and
progesterone. Estrogen is produced in the ovaries and stimulates growth, including that of breast tissue and the lining of the womb. Progesterone is produced by the corpus leuteum, a glandular mass formed in the ovaries following ovulation. The role of progesterone is to oppose estrogen and “keep it in check.”

Gradually, as a woman ages, the ovaries slow down and eventually cease their production of estrogen, as it is no longer needed for the maintenance of the reproductive system. Although the ovaries of post-menopausal women no longer produce estrogen the liver, adrenal glands and fat cells continue to produce ample amounts to supply the rest of the body with its needs. Progesterone entirely disappears once ovulation ceases because its manufacturing plant, the
corpus leuteum, no longer forms once ovulation stops.

Once progesterone is absent, estrogen dominates and, if existing in unnaturally high levels, its stimulating actions can lead to problems. Nature did not intend for estrogen to get out of control once progesterone was no longer present, in fact, natural levels of estrogen circulating the body of a healthy woman would not be dangerously high. This is exactly why progesterone would, under natural circumstances, no longer be required following the menopause. Progesterone cream is a topical approach to increasing the progesterone level in the body. It has become available to meet a perceived requirement by consumers. These misled women are seeking to control excess estrogen rather than remove the cause of its unnaturally high post menopausal presence in their
bodies.

Question: Why do women use it?

Answer: In an attempt to alleviate the unpleasant and unnatural menopausal symptoms that they experience as a result of an unhealthy diet and lifestyle.

Question: It doesn't make sense to me to add hormones. Why is everyone around me
“hormonal,” i.e., why do they sweat all night ?

Answer: No, taking hormones to combat menopausal symptoms makes no sense and is a
dangerous game to play. The sweating (the most intense of which is usually experienced between 3:00 and 4:00 AM) is part of what is commonly referred to as a hot flash. Hot flashes are triggered by falling estrogen and rising FSH (follicle stimulating hormone) and they’re also referred to as “vasomotor flushing” as the blood vessels in the skin, head and neck dilate (expand) resulting in an engorgement of blood in those areas, creating heat and redness. Anxiety and tension exacerbates the situation. Were the levels of estrogen not unhealthily high in the first place, the drop during menopause would not be so extreme and hot flashes would not occur. A high fat diet that is the primary cause of excess estrogen.

Question: Will I avoid all of that?

Answer: Yes, if you live and eat truly healthfully. The majority of women in westernized civilization are not in a good state of health by the time they reach “mid-life.” This is primarily due to the
accumulation of toxins that have entered their bodies over the years. One specific group of toxins, known as xenoestrogens (meaning foreign estrogen), can enter the body and act just like estrogen. In post menopausal women, who lack the presence of progesterone to keep estrogens under control, these xenoestrogens actively prompt the growth of reproductive structures
predisposing the body to cancerous developments of the breast and uterus. Xenoestrogens are found in pesticides, plastics, hair dyes, cosmetics, spermicides and drinking water. They come in their most concentrated form in dairy products and meat. The animals consume vast quantities of feed, grain and pasture that have been treated with a cocktail of chemical pesticides and fertilizers. These toxins are stored in the animals’ intramuscular fat and other adipose tissues.

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