How Healthy Are Your Bones?

Osteoporosis is normally thought of as a ‘female’s disease’, but the latest report published by the International Osteoporosis Foundation disagree with the notion, further stating that men has equal risk of getting diagnosed with osteoporosis compared to female.

It’s vital to remain active your whole life to avoid this fatal malady, and to stay active, you’ll need a healthy bone structure to make sure you can handle weight-bearing activities. Your diet, hormones, and physical activity determine your peak bone mass.

What’s Peak Bone Mass?

Your bone mass is the amount of bone tissue found in your body, and it will be slowly built up through your early life until you reach the age of 30. This is the reason why most people will advise you to maintain an active lifestyle while you’re still young. As you age, the peak mass will start to decline, and if you have a low number to begin with, you’ll be exposed to diseases associated with bone loss, such as osteoporosis. Without healthy bones, you’ll not be able to sustain any physical activity for a long period, and this will accelerate the aging process.

Your blood is slightly alkaline, so whenever you eat any acidic foods, it will leach the calcium from the bones to achieve a homeostasis state, and since most of the foods in our diet are acidic, it will speed up the rate of bone loss if we’re not careful with what we eat. Worst of all, this cannot be compensated by taking more calcium.

How To Prevent Bone Loss

Getting Regular Exercise

Any physical activity that applies stress on bones will cause it to maintain or increase density, provided that it’s done consistently. When the bone cells notice the stress, it will respond to this external stimulus by strengthening itself. Weight lifting is one of those activities that are beneficial to your bone health, as it allows you to perform isolation exercises to prevent any body part from being neglected.

If weight training is not your cup of tea, swimming can be chosen as another alternative. Not only does it help to keep your heart and cardiovascular system healthy, it is also good for those who’re currently suffering from bone related diseases, because water will help alleviate the stress on the bones, rather than putting stress on them. This helps to build up their tolerance level before they can handle any weight bearing activities on land.

The added benefit of performing physical activities regularly is an increase in muscular strength and coordination. A strong pair of legs will help stabilize your body and prevent you from falling, and this is important because fracture will greatly affect your bone health.

Getting Enough Calcium

Calcium is one of the building blocks of your bones. Our bodies will gradually replace the calcium of our bones with the new ones, and if the removal process is faster than the absorption process, they will get weaker and more prone to fracture. This is why a diet that contains plenty of calcium is vital to keep your bone healthy. If you body doesn’t get enough calcium from a diet, it will extract the nutrient from the bones.

Apart from learning to take enough calcium from a diet, you should also stay away from calcium draining substances. These include excessive amount of caffeine, protein, alcohol, salt, and soft drinks.

Getting Enough Vitamin D

Vitamin D helps to maintain bone health through the conversion of vitamin D into its active form. This process can be observed when your body detects a low level of calcium. It also helps with calcium absorption and regulation in the blood.

One great thing about Vitamin D is that it can be absorbed by the body through a well-rounded diet, or by exposing yourself directly under the sunlight. Beware that usage of sunscreen will greatly reduce the amount of Vitamin D absorbed by the skin, so make sure to get your daily dose of sunlight early in the morning to ensure adequate absorption while preventing skin related disorder.