Don’t Wait to Break or Fall: Why Bone Health Starts Early | Margie Bissinger

[00:00:00] Most people don’t think about their bones until they break, but by then it’s too late. Today’s guest, Margie Bissinger, is here to remind us that bone health is oftentimes an afterthought, and modern medicine doesn’t usually address this while treating patients for breast cancer, depression, GERD, and stomach ulcers, even though the drugs prescribed for these conditions can dramatically decrease your bone density.

[00:00:23] Margie is a physical therapist, integrative health coach, author, and host of the Happy Bones Happy Life podcast. With over 30 years of experience, she’s helped thousands improve their bone density, prevent fractures, and live vibrant, active lives. She oversees statewide osteoporosis initiatives in New Jersey and has led four global summits on natural bone health.

[00:00:47] In this conversation we talk about why osteoporosis is often a silent crisis, starting in childhood with poor posture and screen time, accelerating through chronic stress and inflammation as we age, and too often ignored until it’s too late. Margie helps us see that prevention isn’t just possible. It’s powerful.

[00:01:09] We discuss the surprising connection between stress and bone loss, why balance, posture and strength are more important than you may think. How movement, joy and breath can build both resilience and bone density, and the dangers of not having a bone repair protocol. If you’re taking pharmaceuticals like proton pump inhibitors, antidepressants, and even breast cancer treatment.

[00:01:35] And this is ancient wisdom. As the book of Proverbs says, “do not be wise in your own eyes. Fear the Lord depart from evil. It’ll be health to your flesh and strength to your bones.”

[00:01:48] Strong bones are important, y’all, whether you’re raising young children, navigating your forties or fifties, or healing after a diagnosis, this episode will equip you with hope and tools to build a stronger foundation physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

[00:02:05] So don’t wait until you break. Learn how to build and protect your body with wisdom, movement, and joy. Here’s my conversation with Margie Bissinger

[00:02:18] Dr. Z: Alright, Margie, thank you so much my dear friend for joining us. How we doing today? 

[00:02:23] Margie Bissinger: Oh, we’re doing great. Thanks so much for having me. It’s always a pleasure to be with you. 

[00:02:29] Dr. Z: All right. Let me put you on the spot. What’s one thing you’ve done for your bone health already this morning? Come on. 

[00:02:33] Margie Bissinger: Oh, okay. I’ve already exercised.

[00:02:36] Dr. Z: Nice. 

[00:02:37] Margie Bissinger: Yeah, so I’ve already gotten up, I did a bike ride out in the woods, which kept me nice and relaxed, and I did some, some Qi Gong , so that’s really good for my balance. So yeah, so I’ve done lots of things. I’ve had a healthy smoothie. I really do practice what I preach.

[00:02:51] I think you have to, otherwise no one would pay attention to you. 

[00:02:55] Dr. Z: That’s why I wanted you here because, and not to drop the vibration and the tone a little bit, but there are a lot of people out there that don’t walk the talk. I know you do and that’s why I was like, come on, because we all should be living this way.

[00:03:09] ‘Cause it’s from like the cup overfloweth, right? The Bible says, and it’s overflowing. And that’s your life.

[00:03:16] I didn’t know you’re into Qi Gong. Alright, I’m making a note. I wrote a series of public health reports for a Qi Gong master early in my public health career. Unbelievable. We are gonna talk about that. Don’t let me forget, because that is one of the, in my opinion, missed opportunities in America. In any Western right. 

[00:03:36] Margie Bissinger: It’s so life changing in so many ways.

[00:03:40] Dr. Z: Oh.

[00:03:40] Margie Bissinger: It’s something everybody can do regardless. Regardless of where you’re at with anything really. It’s something you can do very simple. 

[00:03:48] Dr. Z: Mm-hmm. 

[00:03:48] Margie Bissinger: Or more complex and there’s just so many amazing benefits.

[00:03:52] Yeah. 

[00:03:53] Dr. Z: Yes, yes. We’re gonna dive into that ’cause the research is profound. Like I’ll just preface this with for everybody. Wonderful. Especially for balance, fracture prevention, osteoporosis.

[00:04:04] So give us a little quick, a little snippet. How did you dive into this bone health world? And it’s a very niche topic. It’s very much undervalued. I think back, and I just wanted to preface this by saying I go back to when I was mm, 17 or 18 years old, and I was at the graveyard with my grandma, dressing up my grandfather’s grave and just celebrating life with her. And she got outta my car and she tripped on a curb and boom, broke her hip.

[00:04:38] And I’ll never forget. I’ll never forget just the struggle she had because she never really recovered from that. And there’s so much to be said about that experience. But I just remember thinking to myself, I don’t wanna be in a point where I’m in my mid seventies or young eighties and if I fall, I’m gonna break.

[00:04:56] ’cause that’s typically the mindset is, you know, when you get to be a certain age, you fall, you break your hip. You break your hip, and that’s such a risk for premature death and other things. So I’m very sensitive to this topic and that’s just my frame of mind.

[00:05:09] ‘Cause my grandma was one of the closest people to me in my life and I love her. And I don’t want people to experience that when they get older or their loved ones.

[00:05:17] So walk us through your journey into your, both your bone health expertise and let’s really, I’m gonna pick your brain so it’s gonna be fine. 

[00:05:23] Margie Bissinger: Okay. So it’s so interesting how you fall into things. So I was working as a physical therapist.

[00:05:29] My background is orthopedic physical therapy, so I was working on people’s necks and backs and then a group of, I was working in an outpatient private practice and a group of doctors asked if I would see their patients with osteoporosis. It was a group of endocrinologists and I had had training in women’s health, so I had the background to do that.

[00:05:47] Mm-hmm. And I said, sure. And I couldn’t believe, and this is way back, this is around 30 years ago, I couldn’t believe as a physical therapist what I was seeing. You know, people, the doctors would say, do weightbearing exercises and pretty much leave it at that. And they didn’t know where to turn.

[00:06:03] So they’d go to personal trainers or they would just get magazines and they were actually doing exercises that increased their risk of fractures. And to me that was so sad. Well-intentioned individuals actually, you know, injuring themselves because they were, they didn’t have anywhere to turn. So that’s when, as a physical therapist, I got really involved at the state level in New Jersey, I got involved with an organization, then we oversee all the osteoporosis initiatives statewide.

[00:06:29] I got involved nationally. I wrote a book on exercise and osteoporosis. I just saw the need and then at that point my, it’s a long story. Real quickly. My son had gotten type one diabetes and I saw how nutrition changed his life.

[00:06:43] And I said, that’s what’s missing in osteoporosis, so I became a health coach to learn and really study nutrition and kept studying it so that I could add that piece.

[00:06:53] And I also teach a happiness program because mind, body, and stress is so important. So when you put all these pieces together, and root causes, figuring out root causes, people were thriving. You know, it’s really a different approach. And I found integrative doctors I could work with. 

[00:07:08] It really works and it’s really taking people from fear, like you said with your grandma, that scenario is not uncommon. But it doesn’t have to be that way. And so that’s why all the things that people can do, as you mentioned, the time she would balance and all sorts of things people can do so that doesn’t have to happen. And they can thrive as they get older and be active and enjoy.

[00:07:29] So yeah, that’s sort of how I got started. And I mean, it’s just so amazing how I’ve been able, just the community and everybody helps each other and really, we’ve been, people have…

[00:07:40] I can’t get over, like people really look at this and say, you know what? That diagnosis was a blessing in disguise because it sort of made me look at my life. The bones aren’t in isolation. What areas, what pieces was I missing? And when they correct that their bones improve and their overall health gets better as well.

[00:07:58] Dr. Z: Wow. Wow. That’s powerful. And we’re gonna talk about some of your best takeaways regarding nutrition, exercise. And I wanna dive deep into this concept that, you know, this needs to be top of mind, especially for cancer patients and people struggling with chronic disease, Alzheimer’s, dementia. But before I do.

[00:08:18] You know, imagine you were a benevolent despot, you became the queen. If you could do one thing. One thing.

[00:08:25] And I’ll preface this by saying mine, if I became king, I would outlaw fragrance for sure. I would make it absolutely illegal immediately. Not in five years. Now. ’cause I feel that in my world, that’s the number one thing that we need to do to take care of our health.

[00:08:39] If there’s one thing that you could change, one thing that you could bring awareness to, to dramatically increase bone health. What would that be? 

[00:08:49] Margie Bissinger: I think exercise. I really do. I think there’s many things that contribute to bone health, but I think so many people don’t realize that at even childhood, that exercise stimulates bone.

[00:09:01] And I think, you know, there’s so many, I think our society in general, a lot of people are couch potatoes. They’re on the computer. And I think, there’s so much that can be done with exercise that isn’t at a very young age to really build bone at all levels. And I think people miss the opportunity and they don’t realize how powerful of a tool exercise is.

[00:09:22] So there’s many things I would do, but if you’re asking as a physical therapist, I think that exercise and the correct, the right type of exercise. People just don’t have the knowledge to know what they can do that will really make a difference. 

[00:09:36] Dr. Z: And when should people start that? I mean, start thinking in terms of the right types of exercise for bone health? Is there an age that you would say, Hey, you really need to start thinking about this now, or is it just from the beginning. 

[00:09:48] Margie Bissinger: I think the truth is that we build by 18 and by 20 in men. We build, we have our peak bone, you know, the most bone we’re going to have. So, and not the peak bone. The peak bone is actually like around 30, but 80 to 90% of our bone we have by a young age.

[00:10:06] So what we do in our, when we’re young, really, really matters. So people just doing activity, you know, we used to do hopscotch. The two things are resistance and impact.

[00:10:18] So jumping, doing activities that put forces through the bones really are molding the bones. So I think at all ages, and I think it’s very important for our children, they don’t realize that besides, you know, besides the exercise, even eating what they do matters.

[00:10:33] So it’s not, this is not something that people, and the problem is people think about it, oh after menopause or you know, as I get older. It’s an older person’s issue.

[00:10:43] It’s not if we can build more, it’s sort of like a bank. You build your bone, then you may lose some. But the more you build when you’re younger, you have more to draw from. So I think we could change the trajectory of osteoporosis by starting at all ages.

[00:10:58] Even the pediatricians, oh, what exercise is your child doing? Do some hopscotch or do some, you know, climbing, do some jumping. I think all ages and, you know, pre menopause, menopause.

[00:11:10] I mean, I think the strength training is just something that really all ages should be doing as people get older. It’s not something, oh, I have osteoporosis. I need to do that. I think it’s something that all along can empower people, as well as balance.

[00:11:25] You know, the balance and the Qi Gong and things. As we get older, we lose our balance, but it doesn’t have to happen that way. We can keep practicing and makes a big difference.

[00:11:35] Dr. Z: Mm mm It’s so good. I’m thinking ’cause I have seven children and five of which right now are in school. And they have physical education, yet what you’re proposing is something even deeper than this. There’s something we’re missing. I mean, you know, going back to my benevolent despot example, if you became Queen and you could see like, this is the law, it’s like we need to do things differently.

[00:11:57] It’s like we need to have the kids be interactive in a different way. Because it all starts with school lunches. It all starts with the activity. It all starts with, yes, you can’t outdo sitting down for eight hours by having a half an hour in PE or 10 minutes on the playground.

[00:12:15] So it’s almost like we need a cultural shift because if not, how are we going to get outta this mess. Because we haven’t talked about it, but would love to hear your thoughts on obesity and, and growing rates of children because we are creating a pandemic of osteoporosis in 60 years. And that’s what I see. 

[00:12:32] Margie Bissinger: I couldn’t agree more on the other thing, which you, as with your background, you total appreciate; posture. These children, their actual curve in their neck is changing.

[00:12:43] Dr. Z: Yeah.

[00:12:43] Margie Bissinger: Because they’re over their phone and that’s gonna affect your skeleton, that’s gonna affect everything: your balance, your strength. It’s so very important. So I think if people could just realize these little things can make such a huge difference. 

[00:12:57] Dr. Z: Mm-hmm. That’s powerful. That’s powerful. I appreciate it.

[00:13:00] Um. Let’s dive right in. Let’s dive right into some practical things. I would love it if you could kinda just to keep us on track because you know, my mind’s going in a million directions, but I’ll love it if you could speak to parents. Um, well, let me take that back.

[00:13:14] Let’s speak to the young adults, right? Let’s speak to the twenties and thirties and let’s go into the forties and fifties and sixties. I would like to really kind of go decade by decade for just a minute and be like, look, you’re in your twenties. Think about this. Alright, you’re in your thirties, you’re having a couple kids. Think about this for you and your kids, and as you get older and middle age.

[00:13:30] I would love some good recommendations, because it seems like it needs to be a little different. Because I’m finding it myself, right, 45 years old, I can’t do the same kind of exercises I was doing in my twenties, nor should I. And I’m finding as well as we age, we need to modify, and that’s where Qi Gong can go into play.

[00:13:48] So anyway, totally off script here, but I just love the conversation that we’re having. Can you do that? Maybe even start in the single digits. Go decade by decade, what kind of good little popcorn recommendations can people have?

[00:14:00] Because we have people listening all over the world from all different angles right now in all different age groups. So how do we reach everybody?

[00:14:07] Margie Bissinger: I think in terms of our kids, let them play.

[00:14:10] You know, as I said, the bones we see force is placed upon them. So if they’re doing jumping, if they’re doing jump rope, if they’re doing normal activities and engaged in athletics and sports, they’ll be okay. You know, they will do okay. They’re doing, whether it’s gymnastics or things that they’re just getting forces through their bones.

[00:14:30] And if they’re not, then have them do jump rope or things that they can. But I, I think being active is really important and just doing all sorts, a myriad. I think that’s the other problem. Sometimes people are doing one sport.

[00:14:44] Dr. Z: Yep.

[00:14:44] Margie Bissinger: One sport.

[00:14:45] Dr. Z: Yep.

[00:14:46] Margie Bissinger: All year round, so they’re only exercising a certain set of muscles. But I think, you know, running, doing, playing basketball, just enjoying life and doing many different sports and just, you know, being active in that way.

[00:14:59] Not on the couch. You know, I think the sit to stand. Like little things. You know, teaching them good posture. 

[00:15:07] When they’re sitting, I think at the desk, get them a sit to stand desk or something that they can raise, so they, they change positions. Being in one position, the body was not meant to be in one position for a period of time.

[00:15:18] So teaching just good mechanics, it’s not hard. It’s just people don’t know it, so they’re not teaching them, not to be rounded over, how to sit, how to move, you know? So little things like that should be taught in elementary school instead of seeing everybody slouched over. So things like that.

[00:15:35] And then the eating. Oh my goodness, the eating and just a whole foods based diet is so important and, you know, getting rid of all the junk and toxins that they’re exposed to.

[00:15:47] And you know, for the bones it starts early on because one of the problems is digestive issues and a lot of the inflammation and issues can start in childhood. So I think good habits and making sure if there is something going on that it’s nipped in the bud and figured out. The earlier the better.

[00:16:06] So for our kids. I think just being active, looking at their posture and doing activities, you know, in terms of the exercise and the eating is very important. And being relaxed, you know, I see we live in such a stress society. There’s so much stress put on everyone and really at a younger age, and that has so many negative health consequences in terms of the bones. The cortisol, they’ve done studies and that reduces the activity of the osteoblasts, which are the bone building cells, and it increases the activity of the osteoclast cells that break down bone.

[00:16:44] So I think learning relaxation techniques, whether it is a Qi Gong meditation, even breathing, just realizing that we don’t need to be so stressed out. And seeing the effect of stress on kids, there’s just a lot that can be done.

[00:16:59] As we get older in the twenties and this and that, I think the strength training, I really do. I think, keeping our muscles strong and doing full body activities, you know, doing squats, really learning to stabilize our muscles and our core, doing dead lifts, doing overhead press, you know, there’s just things that we can do. As well as in mind body, whether it’s, you know, the Qi Gong, which I love. It can be yoga. Also, I’m a big swimmer, so whatever you like.

[00:17:26] But you want things that also put forces on the body and impact. You know, as I said, for younger people who don’t have, I mean really for all people, but some people as they get older and they have issues, they can’t do the jumping and the impact.

[00:17:37] But jumping, they found really increases bone density. It’s the forces on the bones that say, Hey, we need some more bones here. You know, we need more bone here. So whether it’s a resistance, or weight, the machines at health club or impact, you know, jumping and having forces go through the bone.

[00:17:55] So I think to make sure that they have strength training and impact, balance cardiovascular, let’s say. And by that age they can do serious, you know, as long as it doesn’t hurt them, like jumping in different things.

[00:18:07] Then as we get older, preme, I would say that sort of stays, stays the same, you know, and through preme, you know, through and even through menopause. Again, it’s really the similar type things that are making a difference. If you can’t. If someone has issues or they’ve already lost, you know, hopefully they won’t lose the bone.

[00:18:28] But if they’ve already, you know, menopause is an area that people really lose bone. So what changes there is now, I really believe there’s things that can be done to prevent that bone loss in terms of either bioidentical hormones, you know, just optimizing hormones and realizing that there’s prevention that can happen.

[00:18:46] But at those ages, the same thing. You know, it’s not, that’s the beautiful thing, Dr. Z. Is that It’s older people are doing strength training, are doing impact. I mean, that’s what the research has shown. Now, again, depends on the situation.

[00:19:01] If someone’s healing from a fracture, or their bones are very brittle, there’s things that need to be done. But you know, and that’s why I think it’s a really good idea for people to work with the physical therapist initially to just make sure. But I think that really all ages, the strength training and the resistance and the posture exercises and balance and cardiovascular as well.

[00:19:28] Dr. Z: I think of the Blue Zones, and I would like it if you could speak to people briefly that just don’t wanna go to the gym and they don’t wanna be doing traditional strength training in the way that we see it. And when you look, I know you’re familiar with the Blue Zones one commonality. What’s that? 

[00:19:47] Margie Bissinger: Yes. I, I love the blue zone.

[00:19:48] Yeah. And 

[00:19:49] Dr. Z: one commonality is none of the Blue Zones quote exercise. It’s not part of their lifestyle. Their lifestyle is movement. Their lifestyle is like you mentioned squatting. And I saw the documentary and a 102 old, beautiful Okinawan woman getting up and down, squatting on the floor, playing with her great-great-great grandchild, and that’s a different life, so.

[00:20:12] For these people, for those of us, myself included, who was like, I really don’t wanna be like sitting here doing a stupid bicep curl. There’s a million other things I could do with my life. What other kind of fun things? I’m thinking gardening, I’m thinking of whatever. But what activities could you encourage people to think about specifically for bone health that maybe they’re just not considering?

[00:20:34] And I would love to kind of go outside the box here. 

[00:20:37] Margie Bissinger: You know, you’re so right because in other societies, it’s interesting. One of the women who’s a physical therapist, who I do a lot of things with, who teaches this Onero™ program, which is really a phenomenal program that based on the research in Australia, but she grew up in Romania.

[00:20:53] And, and she was showing slides of, you know, they’re carrying babies around and doing things where we’re, we live a life of comfort, so we are pushing a stroller, which requires almost no effort. You know, there was her, I don’t know, maybe 80-year-old and she’s carrying stacks of hay up and putting it places, you know, and, and so she’s getting the same thing that you’d be doing from lifting.

[00:21:15] So you’re absolutely right. You can do functional activities that require, that require effort. In terms of, you know, we don’t live in that kind of society right now where we’re on a farm. I mean, anything that you could do in your life where you’re somewhere and you’re pushing, you know, so, and I’m trying to think of an actual activity where you’re pushing and you’re doing, I mean, that’s what we’ve done in the gym.

[00:21:40] We’ve simulated that, so that we can gain our muscles. But if there was a way you could just go back to the farm or go back and do things, you know, work. I mean, I just, my son and daughter-in-law just had a baby and there’s a lot of work involved, playing with the baby. Lifting. Yeah.

[00:21:57] Dr. Z: Yes.

[00:21:57] Margie Bissinger: Doing things, there’s a lot of work involved in that, and so I think you can see in your daily life where you can, using good mechanics, doing everything. I mean, even silly things. If you’re vacuuming in the house doing that.

[00:22:11] The big problem is people round out. So doing that with your legs, you know, there’s a lot of, there’s a lot of places in life where you can do things, you know, similar to that. Or just, things that they did do in other cultures that didn’t have the comfort that we do. So Yeah. It’s so, so true. 

[00:22:30] Dr. Z: You know, embrace the activity, embrace the strain, because you know, it might be 10 pounds, but you can carry that, right. Carry the things. And I think that’s this whole mentality is I’ve been challenged all the more, not to be a lazy parent.

[00:22:45] To get down there, you know, again, I’m 45. I’m not saying I’m old, but I have a baby. I have an infant. Like get, I could choose, do I get on my knees to change a diaper on the floor or do I just keep her on the changing station where, and then I find myself all day. I’m really not really on the ground ever. Like I need to squat.

[00:23:02] Like just that mentality of motion movement. Anyone can garden, by the way, I wanna encourage everybody. You could join a garden club. You don’t even need a backyard. There’s so many places that would love your volunteering, just picking and weeding and all the motion. But I love it.

[00:23:18] It’s just this, don’t be afraid to move and try to put strain on your muscles and your body. Dr. Gabrielle Lyons, I know you know her, just heard her share a talk on, the muscle strength that we develop in our forties and fifties are the primary indicator of whether or not we’re gonna live to a hundred and how well we live.

[00:23:39] And I would love if you could kind of speak into that a little bit and then we can dive into more, cancer, Alzheimer’s, chronic disease. But that concept of longevity and really, look, if you’re middle age, this is serious. It’s like you could get by in your twenties. You can’t because you’re losing muscle at such a fast rate at your forties and unless you’re really intentional.

[00:23:58] So any advice or any encouragement you could give because, again, I’m in that population and I’m seeing it’s a battle and I have to be really intentional and that’s something that, you know, I have to change my whole life around this. Yeah. 

[00:24:12] Margie Bissinger: I mean it’s really interesting ’cause I’ve always exercised my whole life.

[00:24:15] And then when I had a summit and I had Dr. Belinda Beck on and she was the researcher who did this, it was called the Lift More study. And they took people with osteoporosis, you know, who had fractures in the past. So people with low bone density. And they had them, they wanted to see ’cause a lot of people says, oh, don’t do that much as you get older.

[00:24:36] They wanted to see what happens. And anyway, these people, it was a very, they lifted five sets of five repetitions. It was called 85% of one repetition max. So it, it was hard that you couldn’t do seven. And they found, the people did amazing.

[00:24:51] They improved their bone density, the architecture of the hip. They actually changed and they significantly reduced their falls and fractures. So it was amazing research. And so then they took that, they put it in the clinic.

[00:25:04] And anyway, when I interviewed her, I said, anyone doing this in the United States, one person? Where is she? 25 minutes from where I live in New Jersey, so I’ve been doing it now for over a year and it is amazing.

[00:25:17] There are people, I mean, I’m 66, there are people older than me. Everybody’s getting strong. Everybody you know, everybody is doing things. They’re changing tires, they’re putting their suitcase up. There’s just nothing better-

[00:25:30] Dr. Z: I love it 

[00:25:31] Margie Bissinger: -than being strong and empowered. Love it. And this can happen for everyone. And then even the balance, the Qi Gong, there are people who’ve been doing this and you’re moving. You’re moving through it, so you get that sense of balance.

[00:25:43] And they’ve said, you know what? I didn’t trip or I trip, but I didn’t fall because I’d been practicing this. And then these people go on to live active amazing lives. And, and you can build the muscle. Doesn’t matter where you start. Every, and again, the nutrition’s a big part of it it’s important. But everybody, and I know everybody can do this and at whatever level, wherever you start. I encourage you because, and the other thing is with this study, it was twice a week.

[00:26:11] 30 minutes, twice a week. Yeah. So it doesn’t require tons of time. It just requires, you know what, I’m gonna add this to my program.

[00:26:19] So yeah. So that, I just think it’s exciting. I think it’s exciting when you do these. And I work with seniors all the time. and I’m, I mean, I’ve never felt better. I do like all sorts of great things.

[00:26:30] And, you can have that active life. You can be on the floor with your grandchild and you can, you know that, that is true. Just lifting and walking up the stairs up and down and doing everything. That requires strength. But you can have that strength and you can do that. It’s certainly not something that is. You know, it, it’s definitely doable. And I see that every day. ’cause I see couch potatoes who, ugh, osteoporosis. I have to exercise.

[00:26:55] And then they’re like, oh my gosh, thank you so much. This has been the best thing ever. 

[00:27:00] Dr. Z: Now I know that everyone listening, there’s a variety of different, spiritual backgrounds and let’s just not dive into the spiritual aspect as much because we wanna encourage people to find your peace, your center.

[00:27:13] Margie said it brilliantly. We, we need to fix the stress problem ’cause it’s absolutely annihilating your bone health in addition to just chronic disease in general. But you mentioned Qi Gong several times and I wanna ask if you could guide us into this intentional movement therapy.

[00:27:30] ’cause that’s really what it is, balance. Why is Qi Gong so powerful and in terms of, context around intentional movement. Because when I, I’m envisioning you doing Qi Gong, every motion and every way you’re doing it is very much intentional and you’re putting a lot of effort maybe not strenuous effort, but it’s not like you’re just skipping around. There’s something powerful in intentional movement. I hope. If not then correct me, but that to me is the key to this whole thing and, and intentional movement.

[00:28:01] How can that help with bone health and prevent falls and fractures? ’cause it seems like we’re missing that piece. So hopefully you could riff on that for a minute. ’cause I think there’s power in that.

[00:28:10] Margie Bissinger: Yeah. As a physical therapist, it’s always been important. As I said, my background is orthopedic, so I worked with all sorts of athletes and it’s always important that people regain their balance because you lose that after an injury. You know, oftentimes something’s swollen and you don’t have the same, it’s called proprioception where your limb is in space.

[00:28:28] So balance has always been something physical therapists work with. And it was very interesting. They did numerous studies years ago seeing, well, what’s really best? And you know, is it good to go on these expensive machines that, that, you know, change your balance?

[00:28:42] And they found out, they found one of the best things was Tai chi or chi, you know. Or, just that movement therapy. And my feeling on that is because you’re moving in space. So it’s not, I think it’s great to stand on one foot and that’s great for balance, but you need to be moving forward, moving sideways, and you experience all the different terrain so that you have that in your system if you do trip, if you do lose your balance.

[00:29:07] So that’s one part Yes. About intention. It’s mind body. You’re focusing on the present. You know, so often we’re doing things where our mind is somewhere else. But when you’re doing the Qi Gong and the Tai Chi, you’re really focusing on the present, the energy. And that’s such a beautiful thing. And it’s very powerful and it’s relaxing.

[00:29:27] You’re stimulating meridians in so many ways, it’s so helpful. And, and then there’s a lot of challenges to your balance in Tai Chi and Qi Gong. You’re on one foot, you’re moving, you know, I think what they found, the research, there’s good research on this, in terms of really helping balance.

[00:29:45] And it relaxes people, you know. It really reduces cortisol, stress hormone. And so if you like it, you know, we have in my community we do a Bone Strong Qi Gong. ’cause there are certain movements, you have to

[00:29:57] Dr. Z: love that

[00:29:57] Margie Bissinger: Be careful if someone does have osteoporosis. What they do have to be careful of is rounding. You really don’t wanna do activities that round the back.

[00:30:05] You can do everything just with a neutral spine because they found that puts for the fractures happen in the front of the spine. And so by when, when they do rounding exercises, that puts more force there. So, not that you can’t do that, but we wanna try to minimize that.

[00:30:22] So when we’re doing the Qi Gong for the bones, we wanna be in a elongated posture and just eliminate, you know, not do the rounding postures. And so, yeah, so it, it’s, it’s just a very beneficial thing. People love it.

[00:30:36] You know, the other thing I think that’s so good, let’s say you have a shoulder injury. This is what I found as a physical therapist working with people, I can only lift it a certain degree. I can only lift up to here.

[00:30:48] But if you’re not thinking like that and the mind blocks you and you’re thinking, I’m gathering energy. All of a sudden the arm will go higher. So you’re not thinking in terms of, okay, let’s lift 10 times. Let’s gather energy, or let’s hug a tree. Or, you know, let’s bring the energy down and we’re doing squats.

[00:31:05] So it’s sort of a different mindset and it’s not as limiting. If anything, it opens you up to more. So, yeah, so it’s really great. Everybody. I helped the state of New Jersey. I created a program that really is used for seniors all over the state, and, and it was called Move Today, but we added, I wasn’t sure if I should throw in some Tai Chi or not, so I threw in some easy things and truly, it’s everybody’s favorite piece of it. 

[00:31:29] Dr. Z: Yeah. ‘

[00:31:30] Margie Bissinger: cause they’ve just said, you know what? I didn’t fall because I’ve been practicing this. 

[00:31:33] Dr. Z: Yep. It’s so important. Every and every time you mention the rounding and the shoulders, I think of my other grandma. 

[00:31:40] Margie Bissinger: Oh. Um, 

[00:31:40] Dr. Z: who wasn’t as warm and cuddly and loving as my one that we mentioned with the fall earlier.

[00:31:45] My other grandma would hit me in the back. Slouching, you’re slouching. And this was before cell phones. I mean, when I was a teenager, cell phones weren’t around. We didn’t have internet in my home. And I just developed this rounding of the shoulders and Nope, Nope.

[00:31:58] And I, I remember especially going through chiropractic college, the exercises that we could do. And there’s some, and if you can, maybe you got a quick minute. Are there certain like posture exercises. ’cause I know of a wonderful set that I was taught at school?

[00:32:10] I’m curious what your take would be, what kind of exercises can people do even now to help with their posture or or reach?

[00:32:17] Margie Bissinger: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

[00:32:18] I think a couple things. Number one, I think visualizing, if we add visualizing that makes it, mm-hmm. 

[00:32:24] Dr. Z: Mm-hmm. 

[00:32:25] Margie Bissinger: So you visualize your spine as lengthening. ’cause so often we walk around compressed. So just 

[00:32:30] Dr. Z: all I’m doing it, walk me through it. 

[00:32:32] Margie Bissinger: Okay. So we’re visualizing that either our head is a helium balloon.

[00:32:36] Yep. Or it’s attached to a helium balloon. Alright. So it’s, so it’s lengthening us. Okay. So that’s just something we should all day long think about this time lengthening. 

[00:32:45] Dr. Z: Yep. 

[00:32:46] Margie Bissinger: The second thing is the neck. What happens so often is we get something called forward head, where our, where our head comes forward.

[00:32:53] And so what we wanna do, we want, what, what I found is we can’t say, okay, where’s your head? We’re too busy in life doesn’t work. You know, if you teach someone, make sure your head doesn’t work.

[00:33:04] But what does work is maybe three to five times a day, you just do these exercises. So you remind the body, oh yeah, yeah.

[00:33:11] So this one’s really good. There’s many ways to do it, but you can just put one hand on your sternum, like here and one hand on your chin. And then you’re just bringing your chin away from it. So it’s sort, it’s sort of, it’s sort of like you’re just doing like gen, very gentle. But we have a natural curve in our spine, and when we do that, if you put your hand there, it flattens that.

[00:33:33] So it just takes you out of this position and this position so bad because it compresses all the nerves going to your head, eye strain, headaches. So let’s go through that again.

[00:33:42] So this is probably, to me the easiest way to do it. One hand here, one hand here, and you just bring it back. And you can hold it for a second and you can hold it for three seconds if you want.

[00:33:54] But once you got that, you can just, you know, do it. You don’t have to do the, um, hand or you can put your hands in your neck. Yeah. But you don’t, this, your eyes just go straight. So that’s a really good, that’s a really good one for the neck.

[00:34:07] Then the shoulders, so, oh yeah. Be very simple. I think this is an easy one. Pretend someone’s shooting you and put your hands up. And you don’t wanna bring your shoulders, just, you don’t wanna go too far back.

[00:34:17] Just very gentle, back and down. Okay. And that does so real gentle, back and down. For maybe three seconds. 

[00:34:24] Dr. Z: Okay. 

[00:34:25] Margie Bissinger: What that does that wakes up these muscles.

[00:34:27] ’cause if we’re like this, our muscles are overstretched. Weak. So when we do this, we start strengthening them really easy. Or if that’s not a comfortable position, you can just even have your hands here and just don’t go too far though. So it’s just down, right, back and down.

[00:34:45] And then in terms of the low back.

[00:34:49] We, the key thing for sitting is for the low back, not to be rounded. Because if, you know, a lot of people think, okay, I’ll sit up straight. But if you’re low back and people who are listening can try this, if you round out your low back, what happens? 

[00:35:03] Dr. Z: Mm-hmm. 

[00:35:04] Margie Bissinger: Everything falls apart. Mm-hmm. And you get compression.

[00:35:07] You can get carpal tunnel, all sorts of things. So a really good thing is while you’re sitting, is just to think that you’re on, you’re, you’re sitting on a clock. You know, and there’s all the different numbers in the clock. And so, I mean, you can do something called the pelvic clock where you just to get your pelvis loose.

[00:35:24] ’cause a lot of people are so tight. Yeah. But just hitting each number. I bet you’re just hitting each number. This is actually a Feldenkrais exercise, but then when you wanna get to a good sitting position, you separate your legs and then you go from 12 to six. So you go 12 to six, close your eyes, and then you, you know, so it’s like a pelvic tilt almost.

[00:35:43] And then you’re arching. And then you go in smaller and smaller increments till you stop so that you’re in a nice, stable position. So those are really, those are some good ones.

[00:35:53] We could do standing too. You arch your back back. Yeah. I think those are good ones to start in terms of, you know, sitting posture at least.

[00:36:00] Yeah. 

[00:36:01] Dr. Z: We need to be doing the, I love this. Like, I’ve recently been diving into this concept of exercise snacking and this is what we need to do these little, and this is exercise! Again, you’re not at the gym, you’re not bench pressing here. And for those of you… you gotta go to Margie’s website, you gotta check out the resources ’cause there’s a lot of these little tidbits that help. So go to Margie Bissinger. Again, for those of you listening, M-A-R-G-I-E-B-I-S-S-I-N-G-E-R. Go to margie bissinger.com.

[00:36:32] And Margie, you’re reminding me of Paul Bragg. The famed founder of the first health food store in America, the founder of Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar that many people know. He wrote a series of books. And I got the Bragg Back Health book 23 years ago, and he basically shared his version of what you just walked us through. And a big thing that Paul did is what you also did is this touch aspect.

[00:36:56] Having our body feel and touch with our hands kind of puts a focus. Going back to Qi Gong and Tai Chi, this intentional movement. And what I like to do, I like to touch my abdomen when I’m sitting, like to make sure, oh, tighten up, tighten my core. Just a reminder and touch my shoulders just slightly back.

[00:37:12] But I love that. It’s so practical. Folks, these are the little things that make a difference because unfortunately we don’t live in one of the blue zones unless you live in Okinawa, unless you live in Costa Rica, we don’t here in America or in most countries that you’re listening to right now.

[00:37:27] And we have to be intentional because everything in our society, everything in our culture is hurting us. Truly hurting us, hurting our bone health, and contributing to chronic disease. So as we we land this plane, I would like if you could, you mentioned something that I never thought about before and it kind of broke my heart.

[00:37:46] Before our talk right now, we, we were having a little chat and you mentioned about how, you know, for cancer patients and Alzheimer’s and dementia and these end stage disease, as we get older, or just in general, if you have cancer, bone health is an afterthought. And you mentioned that like, oh, you’re right.

[00:38:03] You’re just thinking about saving a life. You just had a heart attack, you just got diagnosed with breast cancer or your early stage Alzheimer’s. Why is bone health such an afterthought and how do we flip the script and help people in that situation? 

[00:38:19] Margie Bissinger: You’re, you know, that’s what’s so sad because there’s so much that can be done, but as you said, they’re so worried about just saving the person’s life that, and there’s so many other things going on that they’re preoccupied with that until afterwards. Oh yeah. Let’s see.

[00:38:36] So my suggestion on this is. I think evaluation is key before anything, or even for everybody. There’s, most people don’t know about this for some reason, Dr. Z, I don’t know why. Most people do know about the DEXA test. That’s the basic bone density test.

[00:38:53] But we don’t know when we get a DEXA result, we have no idea. It’s just a measure of bone strength, not of bone quality. So we don’t know, was this person a couch potato and didn’t eat well, or have an issue growing up, have anorexia? Or are they actively losing bone? Is something going on that we need to deal with?

[00:39:13] We have no clue. So there’s a test called the CTX and it’s CI, I never pronounce it right, but it’s a really incredible blood test and what they do it turn it stands for C Terminal Telopeptide of type one collagen. And what that does, that looks at bone breakdown. And then there’s another test called P1MP, which is pro collagen type one and terminal propeptide. So I’m such a big believer in getting these tests.

[00:39:43] If you’re going on any cancer treatment, if besides the DEXA, see where you’re at when you start. And see what’s happening, you know, with your bones to start with. And then you can follow this, you can follow this.

[00:39:55] You can even check this three to six months are you losing bone? What’s happening? So I think this gives people, these two tests are so helpful, giving people so much information on what’s going on. So that’s number one.

[00:40:08] But number two, cancer’s tough and you’ll have, you know, there’s many different treatments, so always, check with your oncologist. But, but there are days, but any kind of exercise you can do. To prioritize it. They don’t tell you that. They say, oh, do what you can, but yes, people are walking or doing.

[00:40:27] But if there’s a way that you could add or even work with a physical therapist, you know, add some impact or add some strength training or you know, just to know the things that work. You know, even, even a little bit is gonna make a big difference. Or the Qi Gong.

[00:40:42] But just to prioritize even, you know, maybe the days you’re not feeling well, you can just do a little movement. But the days that you are feeling well, you wanna do this ’cause you, it can really help your bones.

[00:40:53] And the nutrition. You know, sometimes they’re like, and I know this, my mother had ovarian cancer, so I went and died unfortunately, at a very young age. But I went to so many, so many treatments and, oh, just, you know, we don’t care what you eat, just eat, just get the calories in. So she could have had the absolute worst diet.

[00:41:11] Not that that’s like that everywhere now. It’s not. Things have really improved. This is, you know, 23 years ago, I think. But, the point being is that, taking care of yourself during the cancer and eating, making sure you’re getting the calcium, the magnesium, you know, the protein, all of those things that are so important for bones and working on, you know, the supplements, vitamin D or K two, again, with your practitioner.

[00:41:36] But all those things are gonna make a big difference or make such a big difference that after you finished the treatment, then you didn’t lose as much bone as you needed to. Or, there’s just so many things that can be done and that people don’t think about. Okay, you know what I’m going to do some strength training on the days I feel good during treatment.

[00:41:56] Dr. Z: Hmm.

[00:41:56] Margie Bissinger: You know?

[00:41:57] And then the last thing has, when people are on the aromatase inhibitors, you know, a lot of people who have breast cancer What that does that blocks the estrogen. And so what happens? What happens with that is that, these lower estrogen levels can really be, it’s very helpful because they block the activity of aromatase that, you know, helps the convert the, androgen to estrogen.

[00:42:19] But anyway, the point is it lowers the estrogen. So it’s great for the breast cancer, but not good for the bones. So it’s just something that to talk to your oncologist and for certain people, if you’ve already lost a lot of bone. You know, and I’m a person, I’m not a medication person. To me that’s the last resort.

[00:42:36] But in certain situations with bone health, we don’t wanna fracture. So there are some medications that prevent the bone loss and that for certain people it really helps during treatment. And, um, anyway, so I just wanted to mention those things for people with cancer.

[00:42:52] Because I think I see a lot of people who’ve been on aromatase inhibitors and they lose bone and they wait till afterwards where if they were already low and high risk, they could have been on, there’s um, a medicine called Zometa, it’s zoledronic acid, and it really does help prevent bone loss.

[00:43:11] So, anyway, I can go on for a long time.

[00:43:14] Dr. Z: I’m looking. I, I mean, and folks, this is recognized but ignored. I mean, breast cancer, I’m looking at it right now, breast cancer.org. Osteoporosis from menopause or breast cancer treatment. And it goes into great depth into what Margie is just so eloquently describing here.

[00:43:29] I guess the bottom line is this, whether it’s heart disease medication, cancer medication, Alzheimer’s, dementia, the chronic diseases that people are being just inundated with right now, the drugs that are being prescribed are hurting your bone health and it’s, you’re not thinking like that, right?

[00:43:48] Because it’s not today, it’s 10 years from now, or if 20 years from now, or five years from now, we’re thinking about the side effects of, oh, what’s your blood pressure? What’s your blood sugar? What’s your inflammation? Gas, bloating. So I love this.

[00:44:01] This is a longer term picture into what I’m doing to myself because we’re seeing higher rates of osteoporosis. Why? Could it be because of all the treatments that people are on. So this is a stark warning. But I love what your take home message is.

[00:44:14] And this is not to encourage people to go natural or integrative. I hope you do consider an integrative route, if you are under, the guidance of a healthcare practitioner for a chronic disease, look at a blend of natural allopathic and conventional and herbal and all the wonderful things you could do. But don’t ignore the bone aspect.

[00:44:34] And that’s my warning that I’m getting right now from you. And I appreciate it. ’cause I never thought of it, Margie. I never thought of it and I never connected the dots. And your doctor’s not gonna tell you.

[00:44:43] They’re not gonna say, Hey, this drug’s gonna increase your risk for osteoporosis because you’re facing a death sentence. And the last thing they’re thinking about is 20 years from now and you falling. But guess what you falling 20 years from now can cause you to die.

[00:44:56] That’s the other problem. So how do we trade death for tomorrow versus death for today? That mindset needs to stop. And it’s just like, how do we just live?

[00:45:04] How do we live better and how do we balance all of this? So I’m convicted. This is powerful.

[00:45:09] Margie Bissinger: Yeah, one, one couple things is that in terms, it’s not to say don’t take the aromatase inhibitors. They’re really powerful and they really do they’re very helpful. So it’s not to not take them, they work.

[00:45:19] It’s just while you’re taking them you must, must address your bone. So get that CTX. Work with someone.

[00:45:25] Yep.

[00:45:26] And you know, it’s interesting ’cause the very first summit I had, that you were on Dr. Z, it was its natural approaches to osteoporosis and bone health. And I didn’t bring up anything about medications and I just thought, you know what? I didn’t wanna go there. I’m just gonna tell ’em.

[00:45:42] And that was really a mistake because there are a lot of people that say, under no circumstances would I ever go on a medication. And then they end up fracturing. And then, you know, as you said, 24% of people die within a year. Another 24% are in nursing homes the rest of their life.

[00:45:58] So the statistics are very dire. And if your bones are that weak, that really isn’t, and I’m not a person that is like a person that goes right a medication. Absolutely not. But I realized that that was doing people a disservice. That the integrative approach here is, if your bones are, there are now amazing medications that build bone, there are medications that help block.

[00:46:20] You don’t go on forever. You figure out root causes. You deal with everything else; the nutrition, the exercise. But in the meantime, so that you can build some more bone so that you aren’t at risk for fracture, they really can play a role.

[00:46:33] So I don’t want people being scared of them. Because if used properly, they, I’ve seen so many times now, where it, it’s really filled the gap in so that someone isn’t at high risk, they’ve improved their bone density, their quality, and you know, while they’re doing everything else. So sometimes it can really be helpful.

[00:46:53] But you did mention something important. A lot of the medications that we’re on, whether it’s the PPI, so many people are on for all sorts of things, the proton pump inhibitors for stomach issues, that’s a huge risk factor for bones. And even antidepressants, a lot of times they don’t say to you, one of the side effects is bone loss.

[00:47:12] Yeah. So that’s so true what you said. 

[00:47:14] Dr. Z: All right, I love it. Folks, I wanna empower you with something, and I get mixed results when I say these things about artificial intelligence and ChatGPT, it’s not going away. Just trust me on this thing. It’s replacing Google as we speak for search.

[00:47:28] Next time your doctor, or if you’re on any pharmaceuticals right now, and if you’re want to increase your bone health as you get older, just type up in Chat GPT say, what risk does this drug give to my bone health. Something. And just have a conversation with the AI and find out what the risks are. If there are risks.

[00:47:49] Because here’s my takeaway for everybody. I never thought about this. And I’m, again, as I get older and as I’m starting to care for older parents and, this is becoming real for me. And I feel we need to have a bone, i’m writing down, a bone repair protocol. 

[00:48:04] In our world, if you’re on an antibiotic, we always tell people you need a gut health protocol, right? You gotta reconstitute your microbiome.

[00:48:12] If you’re currently under a medication, whether it’s cancer, Alzheimer’s, or proton pump inhibitor or something, and that you know, because research has shown, is hurting your bone density and your bone health, you need to now flip the script and be more aggressive during the short season as you recover.

[00:48:30] And this is a wonderful journey, and that’s where you really gotta get plugged in, whether it’s joining Margie’s community or getting her courses, learning how to DIY it, do it yourself. Find a physical therapist, someone local that could help you, or even virtual.

[00:48:45] But that’s my big takeaway here, and I love this. Like, this has been such a great conversation. I just feel like we just touched the tip of the iceberg, but thankfully that’s what these things are for. This is awareness.

[00:48:56] This is a great just overview. We’ve talked exercise, we’ve talked potential drug interactions. We’ve talked just personal, just I wouldn’t say common sense. Like I’m sitting now, my tummy’s tight and I got good posture. Thank you, Margie. I wanna encourage people to think, you know, there’s a lot more, but I know we’re outta time here.

[00:49:13] So, what do you wanna leave people with? Any thoughts?

[00:49:15] I’m thinking, you know. I don’t know. I’m thinking too much ’cause I’m gonna end up interviewing again. So how would you like to end this? 

[00:49:23] Margie Bissinger: We talked about a lot of things. The key is not overwhelm. And if you get you don’t have to. Just take a breath.

[00:49:28] Dr. Z: Love it.

[00:49:28] Margie Bissinger: You don’t it. It didn’t happen instantly, you know? It just didn’t happen. And you can take your time. I’m such a big believer. One step at a time, then the next step, then the next. So you do one thing, maybe think, you know what, let me see what kind of exercise I can add to my life. Do that. Let me look at my diet. So you just do it gradually. And that’s what I’ve seen work.And also prioritizing your mindset. Okay, you know what? I am a stress case. What can I do? Maybe I can do the Qi Gong or take some breaths, or whatever it is. But I just wanna tell people that there’s so much hope, so much hope.

[00:50:03] And people look back and when you take action, I think instead of focusing on, oh, poor me, I have osteoporosis, I’m gonna fall, or you know, oh, I’ve just gotten over the cancer. You know, that just doesn’t get people anywhere, unfortunately, focusing on the problem.

[00:50:18] So you say, okay, well what are my solutions? And then you become empowered and then you can look back and really be proud of yourself because so many good things will happen. So that’s what I’ve seen.

[00:50:28] I. 

[00:50:29] Dr. Z: I love it. Folks, bone health starts in childhood. It needs to be a focus if you’re a parent. It needs to be a focus for your kids and for you as we age. You don’t wanna be thinking, oh, look at me, what happened? You don’t wanna be thinking about this when you’re 60, 70, or 80.

[00:50:43] It needs to be part of what you’re doing now, and it’s one of those just forgotten things. And we need to create that awareness. So thank you so much Margie, for being here and for sharing this message. I’m really been inspired and convicted and there’s some things I’m gonna start doing differently and I wanted to let you know that.

[00:50:58] And folks learn more. Go to MargieBissinger.com. And just dive in. Dive into her community, dive into her courses, learn how to DIY, this thing. ‘Cause a lot of things you could do on the cheap, doesn’t have to be super expensive biohacking stuff, and you could do this well.

[00:51:13] And as always, this is Dr. Eric Zielinski. My hope and prayer is that you and your family truly experience an abundant life and robust bone health as part of it. All right, we’ll talk soon. Bye-bye.