Post-menopausal women! Reduce your risk of Osteoporosis with Green Tea and Tai Chi

 

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a degenerative bone disease where the bones become fragile and brittle.  Osteo = bone + porosis = porous.  Osteoporosis literally means ‘porous bone’.  Osteoporotic bones fracture more easily than normal bone.  A fall or even a small bump can cause a fracture.  Half of all women and one third of men over 60 (in Australia) will have a fracture doe to osteoporosis.

Postmenopausal women are particularly at risk of developing osteoporosis.  This is because a woman’s body makes less estrogen after menopause (the time of a women’s last menstruation) resulting in bone loss at around the rate of 1-2% per year.

Benefits found from Green Tea and Tai Chi

A 6 month randomised and placebo-controlled clinical trial has shown the polyphenols in Green Tea and regular Tai Chi to reduce the risks of osteoporosis in post-menopausal women (Qian et al 2012).

The study was conducted in 171 postmenopausal women with osteopenia in Texas. The participants were treated with either a placebo, green tea polyphenols  500mgs daily (GTP), Tai Chi (TC) 60 minute group exercise, 3 times/week, or GTP + TC.  Their blood and urine samples were collected at the beginning of the trial and at 1, 3 and 6 months during the intervention, to assess for levels of a specific oxidative DNA damage biomarker indicated in osteoporosis.

The results?

Good news for women!  Significant reductions of specified oxidative biomarkers during the 3 month and 6 month intervention compared to the placebo group, showed green tea polyphenols and tai chi interventions were effective strategies in managing osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.

In addition, women who were in the Tai Chi intervention groups reported further benefit in quality of life, showing improvements in their emotional and mental health.

Read the full article here

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0048090