Bone Healthy Recipe of the Month
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup boiling water
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
Vegetable cooking spray
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
6 plum tomatoes, sliced
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons sliced ripe olives
1/4 teaspoon dried basil Read more
Osteonecrosis of the Jaw: Weighing Your Risk
A troubling jaw disease that may be related to the use of some of the most commonly used osteoporosis medications has been the subject of many news stories and law firm commercials lately. The disease is "osteonecrosis of the jaw" (ONJ) and the medication in question is a family of drugs known as "bisphosphonates". However, the risk of ONJ for osteoporosis patients taking these types of drugs is very low - much lower than the risk of breaking a bone. Most of the people who have gotten ONJ while taking bisphosphonates have been cancer patients taking large doses of the drugs intravenously (directly into the vein).
Read moreCalcium Supplements and Heart Disease Risk? Don't Stop Supplements Just Yet.
Don't stop taking your calcium supplements just yet. Recent health headlines would have you believe that if you take calcium supplements you could be increasing your chances of having a heart attack. But the health stories don't tell you is that this research isn't very convincing.
First, this study was what is called a "meta-analysis" where the researchers did not actually collect any new data. Rather, they took a bunch of other researchers' data and crunched it all together. We need to interpret results from this kind of analysis carefully. Also, the number of heart attacks in both groups - the people taking and not taking calcium supplements - was small. So the increase in the calcium supplement group was negligible.
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