Low-Carb Living

Lesson 4: Nutritional Myths

Vitamins and Minerals

Calcium. When we think of strong bones, we automatically think of calcium. Most of us have been taught from a young age that we need calcium to build strong bones, and then that women need it to prevent osteoporosis when they’re older. Our Western diet equates calcium with cow’s milk, even though it is not consumed worldwide. I would even go as far as to say that most Westerners don’t know of any other calcium sources besides cow’s milk and dairy products. While it is true that we need calcium to support bone health, this is only a small part of the story.

In order for foods to support bone health, they must not only supply calcium to our bodies, but they must also promote the absorption of calcium and prevent its excretion. Fruits and vegetables contain adequate amounts of calcium and create an alkaline load in our bodies which helps us to retain the calcium we take in. Animal products, dairy products, grains, legumes, and salt cause an acid load in our bodies which causes us to excrete calcium. So, you can see that we must eat to create a ‘calcium balance’” Our ancestral paleo diet, which is composed of nearly equal parts animal and plant foods, creates such a balance. See Appendix A in The Paleo Diet, for a list of acid-base values of common foods.

In addition to achieving calcium balance in our diet, exercise, exposure to sunlight, and intake of an array of other nutrients support bone health. Fifteen minutes of daily sun exposure usually produces all the vitamin D we need. Exercise supports bone health because our bones respond to exercise, especially weight-bearing exercise, by becoming stronger and denser. In addition to calcium, other nutrients including vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, and magnesium (found abundantly in fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods) have been shown to support bone health.

Other Vitamins and Minerals. Many of our modern foods are fortified or enriched with vitamins and minerals since these foods don’t measure up nutritionally to natural, paleo foods. The refining of food products strips foods of what nutritional value they naturally contained. Even when enriched, the vitamins and minerals from grains, dairy products, and other fortified foods are usually not as easily assimilated by our bodies as those from natural foods. Many of these agricultural foods also contain high levels of toxins that work to block our absorption of nutrients.

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