There is a class of drugs that is increasingly popular right now, the bisphosphonates. They include brand name drugs like Reclast, Boniva, Fosamax, and others. They supposedly help post-menopausal women slow or reverse their osteoporosis, which is a disease common in parts of the world where we eat too much and move too little. Basically, average Americans stop using their bones in the way they were intended by about the age of 13 – when they stop playing as children. The bones of the body, like the muscles, brain, or any other part, don’t function properly unless they are doing the task for which they are intended.

An interesting side note is that nations where the people eat very little dietary calcium, and at the same time tend to walk everywhere and work very hard to live, have almost no osteoporosis. The nations where the people consume the most calcium, like the United States, have the highest rates of osteoporosis.

So along come these medicines to the rescue. Because hey, you’re not going to get off your ass after all these years, are you?