interview
“Together Against Osteoporosis”
“Osteoporosis cannot be reversed, but it can be stopped”: TV chef Holger Stromberg on eating to prevent bone loss
Sports physician and TV Doc Helge Riepenhof (left) and star chef and nutrition expert Holger Stromberg give tips for strong bones.
© Coco Lang
For a long time, the widespread disease osteoporosis was accepted as an inevitable evil – a mistake. The expert duo Holger Stromberg and Helge Riepenhof now claim to have found a simple formula against bone loss. An interview about the new book.
Mr. Stromberg, are you afraid of osteoporosis?
I have respect for it. If you know people who suffer from it, you know that it’s not nice. But I also have great respect for the flu or gout or other things.
Together with Helge Riepenhof you have just published the book “Together against Osteoporosis” with recipes and movement exercises. Why?
I have had arthrosis and joint pain since my early youth and have experienced first-hand that pain can be eliminated through diet and exercise. Therefore, my appeal is not to wait for someone else to solve the problem for you in these cases, but to take action yourself. I like to create the conditions for that. Helge Riepenhof and I have already done this with our book “Strong Against Pain” and we will certainly continue to do this for other topics in the future.
For a long time it was thought that bone loss was an inevitable disease of old age. Isn’t that so?
The aging process is inevitable. But it’s not the same for everyone. Part is given to us in the cradle, part is destiny and part is in your own hands. However, we can influence the aging process through our lifestyle.
In what way?
Osteoporosis is influenced by factors that are also known from other diseases of affluence. We don’t exercise enough and don’t get enough sun vitamin D. On top of that, there’s a diet that doesn’t protect much of the bones. I often call this qualitative malnutrition.
What do you mean by that?
We eat too much in quantity and too little in quality. I am first and foremost a bon vivant, I love to eat. What I don’t love is when these moments of pleasure make me sick. That can happen and it happens a lot in this country. My formula for an enjoyable and very healthy diet is therefore to reflect taste, sensory properties and micronutrient density in the food. The micronutrients are the little helpers that keep our body functioning. That includes bone density.
So you can eat “bone conscious”?
There are a few antagonists that can promote osteoporosis. It is important that we remove these from our shopping cart. That’s the cola, for example, because it contains phosphate. But even the actually healthy spinach smoothie would be wrong in the case of osteoporosis, for example. This contains oxalic acid, which can have an unfavorable effect.
Now you can’t even eat spinach anymore…
As a bon vivant, I can say: nothing in the world tastes as good as a healthy body feels. It is important that we eat a variety of foods, the main part of the diet should be vegetables. In addition, seeds and seeds for the vital substance mix should be incorporated and minerals such as calcium, selenium and zinc should be taken in sufficient amounts. These are found a lot in sesame, poppy, flaxseed. Kale, broccoli, and fermented milk products are also good.
“Together against osteoporosis” by Helge Riepenhof and Holger Stromberg was published by ZS Verlag on February 4th, 192 pages, 24.99 euros.
© ZS Verlag
Hand on heart: How much does all this really bring?
You can achieve an incredible amount with nutrition. I know what I’m talking about and I can only encourage people to take their destiny into their own hands. I am now sitting in the “driver seat”. Yes, if I’ve gone too far for a day, my body will respond immediately. But I use the gas and brakes and determine how I feel.
Does all this also help if you already suffer from osteoporosis?
It’s never too late to choose better alternatives. Osteoporosis cannot be reversed, but it can be stopped. So it doesn’t matter what stage you start at. If you do the right exercises, i.e. exercises that suit your physical condition, for example with rubber bands, and at the same time change your diet, then I can promise that it will have an extreme effect and everyone will notice that it helps. But – and people are reluctant to hear this – it doesn’t happen overnight. After a few weeks, however, you will definitely notice an improvement. And then you have to keep at it.
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