Hearing a funny joke makes you crack up – well yes, if the joke is good but literally no, if your spine is strong, it shouldn’t!
Our bones allow us to move, provide us support and protect our delicate internal organs from accidents and injuries. Our bones are also storehouses for some of the essential minerals like calcium and phosphorus. These minerals are released from the bones when we need them for varying body processes. Bone health is therefore important to keep our mineral stockpiles replenished and to avoid fractures from weak and brittle bones.
Bones are constantly remodeling its structure – old bone is replaced by new bone. Estrogen plays an important role in this process. After age 30, we loose more bone than we gain. With age and menopause, estrogen levels drop, impairing the remodeling process and resulting in net bone loss (also known as osteoporosis). This state of bone loss reduces calcium stores. To make it worse, calcium absorption from food we eat, also goes down with aging, creating an environment of negative calcium balance in a women’s body. These changes start few years before menopause and last many years after. Many women do not eat right, or don’t perform the right kind of physical activity for the bones to stay strong and healthy in the first place, and then get worse when these age related changes hit them.
It is important to focus on bone health while you are still young. Strong bones help delay and minimize many age related changes.
What affects bone health?
- Being a woman – men can also get weak bones but less frequently than men
- Getting old
- Race (white or Asian) and family history of Osteoporosis
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Smoking and drinking
- Calcium intake
- Eating disorders
- Certain medications (Long term steroid use and some of the anti heart burn medications)
- Hormones levels – excess of thyroid hormone (hyperthyroidism), lack of estrogen (testosterone in men)
How to keep bones healthy and strong:
There is not much we can do about our gender and age related changes in our bodies. But we can certainly take some steps to keep our bones strong to minimize bone loss at an older age.
- Physical activity – Weight bearing exercises such as walking help maintain bone mass and reduces bone loss
- Eat right – Consume diets rich in calcium and vitamin D (vitamin D helps with calcium absorption from food). Dairy products are rich in calcium but there are many other options if you avoid or cannot digest dairy products. Dark leafy greens (bok choy, Chinese cabbage, kale, collard greens, broccoli, and turnip greens), figs, salmon, sardines, almonds, and tofu are all great powerhouses of calcium. We also need magnesium and potassium for strong bones and potatoes are a good source of both these minerals. Oily fishes (salmon, tuna and trout), mushrooms, and eggs are rich in Vitamin D. Exposure to sunlight also helps boost production of vitamin D in our body.
- Avoid smoking and drinking
In short, you are never too old or too young to take care of your bones. Having a healthy lifestyle, eating a well balanced diet, incorporating physical activity in your daily routine and avoiding smoking and alcohol will get you to a great start for your bone health. And if your healthcare provider has not addressed bone health yet with you, its time you bring the topic up and get customized advice and strategy for your particular bone health needs.
I will cover osteoporosis and possible diagnostic and treatment strategies in another article – till then go break a leg!
