Give Your Bones a Lift

Give Your Bones a Lift

Osteoporosis sounds like an old-lady disease.  But women of all ages should pay attention to it.

Here are some ways to prevent bone lost.

Don't skimp on calcium. Collagen makes up the soft framework of bones, but it's calcium that strenghtens and hardens it. Almost all of your body's calcium is found in bones and teeth. Because calcium is continuously being deposited in and remodeling bones in order to make them stronger, all women ages 20 and up need 1,000 milligrams (mg) of the mineral everyday.

Get your daily D. You need 600 international units (IU) of vitamin D daily to help your body absorb calcium (a glass of milk has about 100 IU). Your skin makes vitamin D from sunlight, but it's hard to produce enough if your are dark-skinned or aren't outside often during the day without sun protection.

Skip salty foods. We are supposed to consume no more than about 1 teaspoon of sodium per day; most of us take at least five times that amount. "When your body is overloaded with sodium, the kidneys respond by pulling calcium from your bones. The sodium and calcium are excreted together in your urine," says Joan McGowan, Ph.D., director of the National Institute of Health's division of musculoskeletal diseases. Studies show that each additional gram of sodium eaten per day increases bone loss by about 1 percent per year unless the lost calcium is replaced through foods and supplements.

Move more. Weight-bearing exercises (the kind that force you to work against gravity, like walking, tennis, and lifting dumbbells) strengthen muscles and bones. But half of us do not fit in even 30 minutes of daily activity. If this describes you, aim for ten-minutes bursts of moderate to vigorous weight-bearing activities three times a day.





Posted by: Georgie



Credit:parents magazine