“It's never too late to take care of your
beloved bones”
If you did not break a leg in skiing
accident, you would rarely pay much attention to your bones. “Most women often
overlook health of the bones” - by Kendall Moseley, MD, an endocrinology doctor
at Johns Hopkins Bayview Hospital. According to the latest survey of the
National Osteoporosis Institute, approximately 94% of the interviewee replied
that they do not worry about the bone status, although among 5 women under 30
years old, there will be 1 person having osteoporosis or problems of bone
structure - a starting symptom of chronic osteoporosis. Fortunately, the
protection of bone is actually very easy if you practice good habits in daily
life.
The truth about bone
Outside, bones look sturdy, but in fact,
they are living tissues composed of numerous layers of collagens, proteins and
minerals. All of these substances are tightly pressed together to form your
shinbone, making bone may withstand pressures up to 1200 pounds without
breaking. That's why the athletes like snowboarding professionals-Shaun White
can confront the tragic accident but still can walk.
The impressive thing is your bones are
always able to restructure and renew, due to this feature, the bones are often
resolved and reinvent, give you a completely new skeleton every 10 years.
However, bones loss is much more than reconstructed bones when you are over 30
years old. That’s why you must reserve your bones source now by adding
nutrients that bones need: calcium. (Another compound that is good for bone
health is estrogen concentration - a major compound that promotes bone
formation. This compound is reduced when you are over 30 years old and makes
your bones more brittle)
Eating habits for bone
Natural
foods to boost your bone health
Strict vegetarian diet of Gwyneth Paltrow
became the ideal diet when she admits its effect to osteoporosis at about 30
years old. “Women eat low calories often have bones that are strong double than
their true age” - by Bart Clarke, MD, endocrinologist at Mayo Clinic.
Unbalanced diet will make your bones hardly
absorb vitamins and minerals. The study demonstrated that 20% content of dairy
foods cut will cause 68% of women do not absorb enough calcium from food. If
you do not like milk or cheese, you can absorb calcium through beans and nuts
such as almond. Protein from plants or lean meat help bones grow evenly.
Physical exercise
Exercise improves bone strength and it also improves flexibility
Of course, sport is good for bones than
negative habits of addiction, but overload exercise can be counter-productive
to your bones. “When a woman reduces too much fat (BMI coefficient is under
18), the ovaries will stop producing estrogen, causing delay in bone
regeneration process” – according to Felicia Cosman, M.D, endocrinologist,
clinical director of the National Osteoporosis Institute.
In addition, the study also demonstrated
that too high-intensity exercises could make bones be more vulnerable. Overload
training in the pool, bicycle or exercise machine will reduce the bone
hardness. Scientists point out the moderate-intensity exercises such as
walking, running, weight loss action is the major factor promoting skeletal to
resolve more minerals.
Clarke advices that you should do aerobic
activities to lose weight (such as running on the stairs or martial art) 3
days/week and do endurance exercises (such as squat, push-up, muscle train) for
15 minutes, 3 days/week. With this busy intensity and exercise, women can
increase the stiffness of bone by 2%/year, even when you pass the age of 30.
If your life is too pressure (for example,
having little time to relax, depending on diet, or respite is not stable), then
your bones are at risk, even if you consume enough 1000 mg calcium per day. The
amount of stored caffeine, salt, and alcohol will make your body hardly to
absorb minerals. Typically, too much absorbed caffeine will lose calcium before
calcium is absorbed completely into the body. You can control this by not
drinking more than 2 cups of dark coffee a day, or you’d better drink a cup of
milk coffee in the early morning (milk substance can provide a small amount of
calcium).
Besides, do not drink more than 1-2
alcoholic beverages per day, and maintain daily sodium is not over 2400mg
(equivalent to a teaspoon). The special medications such as tranquilizers or
pills can decrease the supply of calcium. That's why you need to advice
carefully with your doctor about harmful side effects to the bone when
participating in any treatment regime.
The effect of gravity to bones
The
effects of prolonged weightlessness on the human body
Gravity not only pull your face and chest
down but also to pull some bone areas by putting gravity down on foot and put
pressure on the discs. This process speeds up when you get older: Women tend to
be shorter by 1/3 inch each decade after the age of 40, and at the age of 80,
most are reduced 1.3 inches in height. Since you can not do anything to
eliminate the effects of gravity, so you can only reduce their speed by adding
nutrients for your bones.
