<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>> Hi Everyone, Thank you for all the replies regarding my mum's nutritional requirements after fracturing her pelvis: ...given your mother's limited mobility, you may want to check out _Smart Women Stay Strong_ which describes a graduated program of strength training that was developed on older patients with limited mobility who were residents in nursing homes.. ********** ... make sure that your mum gets a lot of rest so that her body can concentrate on healing. A good vitamin and mineral supplement program is called the NSP program (Nutritional Supplement Program) that is manufactured by Great Earth vitamins; stores all over the US, in BC Alberta and Ontario. The supplements are all natural, and GF to beat!!! The basic program consists of four suppements taken once a day. They are available in Regular, Extra and Ultra Strenth. The supplements consist of a Multiple Vitamin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Minerals. My husband is the celiac in the family and we both are on the NSP Ultra program. He also takes some other supplements that are required for celiacs due to malabsorbtion such as extra B's, Amino Acids and Vitamin A. If she is looking for something to drink, take a look at a canned drink called Tribal Tonics. It is an Herbal supplement and comes in 5 different blends for things such as Relaxation, Engergy etc. The flavors are nice (Peach, Raspberry, Mango, Green Tea/Ginko, etc.). They are also GF and cost about 1.85 per can (Canadian). Great Earth has a web site that lists some of their store locations at <http://www.greatearth.com/>www.greatearth.com ********** <http://www.melaleuca.com/>http://www.melaleuca.com . You can read about the vitamins and the fructose compounding manufacturing process there. I think it would be a great benefit to your mom's recovery to take these supplements. ********** You might want to buy the paper back book entitled "What Your doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause. The Breakthrough Book On Natural Progesterone, by John R. Lee, M.D. with Virginia Hopkins. Dr. Lee has for years been recommending natural progesterone as a means of increasing bone density, and thus preventing bone breaks because of osteoporosis. I have used this product in creme form and have found it helpful. I have CD which went undiagnosed for 10 years, so my osteoporosis is extremely severe, and I broke my hip in 1991 and have a prosthetic replacement. Dr. Lee did studies on some 300 women using natural progesterone and found that almost all of them increased in bone density over a three year period, with or without using estrogen. Those whose density was the poorest increased the most. The product I use is called Pro-Gest Body Cream by Emerita. It, and products like it can be purchased in health food stores. The company that manufactures Emerita is Transitions for Health, Inc. Portland, Oregon, 1-800-455-5182. ********** Lots of tap water (not filtered) and lots of magnesium..... and a different time of day from any calcium she is taking..... They compete for absorption. I'll include an abstract on that.... Rude et al. They report that *all* of the celiacs that supplemented magnesium had significant bone remineralization. If you look at the numbers for calcium supplementation in celiacs, they aren't very satisfactory. This is only one study, but Kumar et al. (sorry, I don't have the citation handy, but it is the Kumar from IMMCO Diagnostics in Buffalo, NY.) have shown that endomysium antibodies cross react with parathyroid tissue. Fatemi et al. (Rude is in that group too) show that Mg.deficiency may be at the root of some osteoporosis...... judge for yourself, but I think celiacs are at greater risk of Mg malabsorption..... it is not as plentiful as Ca, in the diet. Bai et al. show that remineralization is not so good in post-menopausal, celiac women. Many celiacs eat Tums like they were candies. There is lots of calcium in our diet. But where does the Mg. come from? If she drinks sodas, and fruit juices, the food processers filter their water before they use it in their equipment...... it reduces maintenance costs. There is Mg in some of our food, but it sure isn't as plentiful as Ca. Szathmari et al. show that even celiac children on a g-f diet have problems with bone mineralization....... They blame a low Ca. content of the g-f diet. It ain't so.... I think we actually consume more Ca than most folks, because of the nature of our diet. But as Rude et al. pointed out, Mg can also impact on PTH levels in the blood. As Cohen points out, Mg is implicated in post-menopausal osteoporosis. *Ron's citations about mg available upon request ********** Wheat grass juice does miracles! It has 93 of the 102 minerals that our bodies need. However! there is a strong argument as to whether wheat grass has the toxicity properties in it as gluten does. After much research, I've found each person has to try it for themselves and see. ********** Last week someone posted that Sustacal liquid and puddings were gf. They would probably help to get her appetite back. I've had problems from years of malabsorption. My endocrinologist recommends Slo-Mag, an OTC form of magnesium and calcium, 3 tabs, 2xday. They are GF. I also take Rocaltrol, a RX form of Vitamin D, since I also have osteomalacia and osteoporosis. Thank you all. I have now a lot to work with! Love, Susan