There’s no better time than the present to take preventative measures to keep your bones strong. It is estimated that 55 percent of all people aged 50 and older living in the U.S., have low bone mass Osteoporosis literally means “porous bones.” This condition develops over many years and most often goes unnoticed. It is caused by the body either loosing too much bone or it is making too little. It’s often after a bone fracture, that the diagnosis is made. There is a lot you can do to keep your bones strong and prevent this condition from ever developing.
Weight Bearing Exercise
Exercise is helpful for maintaining strong bones for many reasons. It can help to build bone mass and improve balance and flexibility. Exercise can also relieve stress. Walking and other weight-bearing activities are best for supporting bone strength. If you’re just starting out and don’t have access to a gym, you can use a chair, wall, exercise bands or tubes, or light weights to boost your workout.
Ideally, you will want to do some weight or strength training, three times a week for at least 30 minutes at a time. It’s best to do compound movements, or functional exercises, that strengthen multiple parts of the body at once. Examples of compounds exercises include: squats, barbell and dumbbell presses, dips, all types of push-ups, deadlifts, and pull-ups.
Finally, you try using a vibration platform. Standing on one of these platforms for about 5–20 minutes daily will help you naturally keep your bones strong.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Make sure you give your body the raw materials to keep your bones strong. Eat an abundance of high quality organic or local grown fruits and vegetables. And eliminate refined and processed foods from your diet. Good sources of calcium include dairy products, dark green leafy vegetables, and seeds. Seeds are tiny nutritional powerhouses. Some are high in calcium including chia, poppy, and sesame seeds. If you eat fish, sardines and canned salmon are loaded with calcium due to their edible bones. Beans and lentil are another good source of calcium especially white beans. And don’t forget protein. About half of your bones’ structure is made of protein. If you don’t eat meat, then take a healthy vegetarian protein like a pea based protein product.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D improves your body’s ability to absorb calcium and improves bone health in other ways. Some people can get adequate amounts of vitamin D from sunlight. Aim to get about 20 minutes of sunlight exposure on your bare skin daily. To make enough vitamin D, you need to expose large areas of your skin to the sun without sunscreen, but only for short periods of time. The darker your skin tone, the more sunlight you will need to make enough vitamin D.
If you can’t get enough sun, you may likely need to take a supplement. LabDoor laboratory tests the best selling supplements and scores them. There are also great supplements from chiropractors, functional medicine doctors, and wellness companies. Studies show that people with higher levels of vitamin D have a lower risk of certain diseases. So keep your bones strong and reduce your risk of other diseases by making sure you’ve got adequate vitamin D.
Maintain a Healthy Life Style
Don’t smoke or be exposed to second hand smoke. The exact role tobacco plays in osteoporosis isn’t clearly understood, but it has been shown that tobacco use contributes to weak bones. It has also been shown that regular consumption of more than two alcoholic drinks a day increases the risk of osteoporosis. Avoid cola drinks because they contain phosphorus, which can increase the loss of calcium from the body through the kidneys. A study in 2006, showed that other carbonated drinks did not appear to have the same effect as cola. Finally, if you want to keep your bones strong, you may want to limit the amount of caffeine you consume. While there has been some studies linking caffeine to lower bone density, it’s not entirely clear. In general, consuming excessive amounts of caffeine is not part of a healthy life style.
Minimize Medications
If possible avoid medications that effect vitamin and mineral metabolism such as steroids, NSAIDS, and acid lowering medications. In addition, long-term use of oral or injected corticosteroid medications, such as prednisone and cortisone, interferes with the bone-rebuilding process. Osteoporosis has also been associated with medications used to combat or prevent seizures, gastric reflux, cancer, and transplant rejection according to the Mayo Clinic. If you can’t avoid these medication, talk to your physician about the best way to prevent bone loss.
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