18 — OUT IN THE MouNTAINs — NOVEMBER 1997 Carol L. Thoyer, M.D. IF<)mil'»,' P;nvsici<_‘in t>i:RMANi:NTi'.=; KAISER Community ’ Health Plan .\?on-rn1IzAsT DIVISION Georgia Health Center RR#2, Box 1160 Fairfax, VT 05454 Tel: 802/524-9595 Fax: 802/524-2867 Michael Gigante, Ph.D. Psyclzosyntlzesis Counseling (Zr Tlzerapy (802) 254-8032 15 ll/I_1/rile Street, Brattleboro VT 05301 .\l0mpvlicr 229-5220 Burlington 860-6360 JOSIE JUI-IA-SZ, M.A. Lic. Psychologist - Master LYNN GOYETTE, M.s., M.A. Lic. Clinical Mental Health Counselor §lL COUN5ELlNCi CENTER or NOllTl~lEltN VERMONT sliding fee scale insurance accepted DiANt; LEAFQDI. Licsw Counseling ' Dsq chothera pg 1 , 254-7345 Brattleboro. VT O550l Com;m:Iicizsz've Obstchfcm‘ 6' G;/iiccolngical Services in a Small Prm‘tice Setting Since 1972. VERMONT WOMEN'S HEALTH CENTER 336 North Avenue Burlington Vermont 05401 802 0 863 0 I386 I'—""""-"""""""""""""'I A By subscribing now to Out in the Mountains, not only will you get delivery to your I mailbox (in it discreet cnvclopc). but you also help underwrite the rising costs of publishing and distributing the newspaper. We welcome any additional contributions you can make to I support this and other imponzmt publishing projects. Checks should be made payable to o 0 _ : Out in the M ountams I I I I VEFIMONTS FORUM FOR LESIAN, GAY. BlSEXUl\L AND TRANSGENDEFI ISSUES I I I I U One Year (520) _o Two Years (535) :1 Low Income ($10) 0 cmintmgton: s____ I Mountain Pride Media, and senmtlong with this card. la I I 017‘ M V P.O. Box 177 V Burlington, Vermont Y 05402-0177 I flu I Name I Address V i I Town/City State Zip I I .~‘— I . Show your support --.- Subscribe today! Osteoporosis; A Disease of Femininity? BY PEGGY LUHRS his column deals with osteoporosis as a disease of femininity. What do I mean by that? Well most current evidence sug- gests that in addition to getting enough calcium, the most important factor for women in pre- , venting osteoporosis and in mitigating its ef- fects once begun as regular weight bearing ex- ercise. Why a disease of femininity? Because in western culture women have been discouraged from doing weight bearing exercise until just recently. Women have also been discouraged from playing sports until recently, and mainly -- because of feminist and lesbian work on see- ing Title Nine enforced. Lesbians have been more likely to ignore these strictures. Where would softball or the WNBA be without lesbi- ans? - But when I was in college women could not even play basketball on a full court. And not so many years ago pregnant women were told to do very little exercise. Never mind that there is no more strenuous physical event than childbirth. This followed years of doctors tell- ing women to refrain from physical activity or their uteruses would drop out. Too much brain activity was also seen as bad for women at the turn of the last century and enforced rest cures were prescribed for upper and middle class women. Of course as Sojourner Truth reminded the women's movement from its inception, this did not apply to black women or working class women who were expected to do heavy work always. And ain't they women? But for the gen- teel classes the ideal femininity meant restricted activity for women and the results of this still show up hi the large numbers of North Ameri- can women with osteoporosis, despite heavy dairy consumption in the USA. Now there is information that teenage girls are suffering from osteoporosis because of a lack of calcium and exercise. This is related to the fact that girls are dieting as young as ten years old. The obsession with thinness contrib- utes to women's poor health in many ways. Most importantly, it affects the skeleton on which, literally, the whole body hangs. During the teenage years there is an ac- celerated period of bone growth clue, in part, to the sudden infusion of sex hormones. (About 45% of a woman's skeleton is formed during the teenage years.) The adolescent growth spurt creates a high demand for calcium, a nutrient that is essential for the development of healthy bones. However, research suggests that the av- erage teen’s diet falls short of the recommended 1200 milligrams of calcium/ day. Many teens also consume large amounts of carbonated soft drinks. These beverages contain phosphorous which is known to interfere with calcium ab- sorption. Teens who smoke are also at a disad- vantage, since cigarette smoking interferes with calcium absorption as well. (”The bod squad” — better known as the Na- tional Women's Health Resource Center, a na- tional clearinghouse for women's health infor- mation.) Studies done on Chinese women, who have very little osteoporosis, show that calcium may best be absorbed from eating greens that contain it. Genetics are a factor too. Women at highest risk for osteoporosis are of northern European extraction with blond or red hair, thin with small bone structure. Women of African and Mediterranean descent are at less risk. Prevention needs to begin early with ad- equate calcium intake, but beginning a program of weight bearing exercise is helpful at any time of life and some studies rate this is the most important part of prevention. There are calcium supplements as well, and the issue here -is which ones are best absorbed. Rosemary Gladstar has a great recipe for a high calcium candy. Women would do well to substitute this treat for other. less nutritious snacks. Here's the recipe from her book Herbal Healing for Women: 1 cup sesame butter (aka tahini) 1/4 to 1 cup (or more) honey Powdered milk (enough to thicken the candy) 1/4 cup ground or chopped almonds 1/4 ground apricots 2-4 tablespoons powdered calcium 1/4 cup toasted sesame seed and/or coconut flakes Mix honey and sesame butter into a paste. Add remainder of ingredients and mix well. Adjust flavors to taste. Thicken with powdered milk and roll into balls. Roll in toasted sesame or coconut flakes. For comparison’s sake, I'm including this little chart of calcium in dairy and other sources. Milk, evaporated skim 1 cup 580mg Sardines, with bones 3 02 372mg Collard greens, cooked 1 cup 355mg Yogurt 1 cup 272mg Turnip greens, cooked 1 cup 252mg Milk, skim or 1% 1 cup 246mg Milk, whole 1 cup 238mg Weight bearing exercise is necessary to keep bones healthy and impacts positively on all aspects of the body. Recent studies show that regular exercise keep LDL (bad) cholesterol lev- els down. Exercise increases creativity as well. Any weight bearing exercise is good; walking, running, biking, dancing or aerobics. Swim- ming is notthe thing for bones, but is good for stretching muscles and general toning. Lifting weights is great. I've just begun a program of moderate weight lifting at home with barbells. I started with three pounds and worked up to five, and then eight. This is a good way to get some muscle definition, as well as being good for osteo prevention and general body tone. You'll see results quickly, and that is very moti- vating. This is coming from someone who has avoided workouts all of my life. It is tough start- ing, but well worth the effort. I envy young women who've grown up with sports so much more open to them. I loved athletics as a girl, but there was little support for my generation to participate. We were sup- posed to be the cheerleaders. Well, in addition to keeping women less than equal, it was bad for our health. I think the UVM women's bas- ketball team’s success has been a shot in the arm for women and girls in encouraging them to get into sports and generally boosting women's self esteem. I like seeing young boys asking for the player's autographs too. For lots of reasons, including our safety, its great to see women get- ting stronger. And its good for your health too. IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII Esurpom voun t:uMMuNIIv Pmni: OITM is a non-profit organization dependent upon your ads, donations, and subscriptions. Please call orwrite us at: 802-865-9294 or oitm@together.net POB 177, Burlington, VT 05402-0177 .IIIIIIIIIlIII,I_-IIIl;I-zill.