DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH YOU NEED TO EXERCISE to get real benefits in bone density? Regular exercise can help prevent the bone density loss that occurs with aging. Be sedentary at your peril. Today we explore how you can promote your bone health; how to make your bones strong.
I recently wrote about how vitamin D supplementation may not be associated with a lower risk of bone fractures:
But what can you do to optimize your bone strength? Let’s examine exercise — types and duration — that can help you dodge bone issues. First, a look at poor bone health.
Poor bone health
Bone is living tissue, one that constantly breaks down and replaces itself. Osteoporosis happens when the new bone formation does not keep up with the bone loss.
Osteoporosis results in bones becoming brittle and weak — even mild stresses such as coughing may result in a fracture. Fractures secondary to osteoporosis commonly occur in the spine, wrist, or hip.
Osteoporosis strikes men and women and can affect individuals of any race. The highest risk is among older women who are past menopause.
Your osteoporosis risk hinges, at least partly, on how much bone mass you attained in your youth. Our peak bone mass has an inherited genetic component, and mass varies by ethnicity. The higher your peak bone mass, the lower the odds you’ll get osteoporosis.
Bone density peaks at about 30 years of age. Women lose bone mass more rapidly than men. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteoporosis
I approach osteoporosis risk-reduction with a two-pronged approach: 1) maximizing peak bone mass; and 2) minimizing bone loss.
Osteoporosis risk-reduction — Peak bone mass
To optimize your peak bone mass, have a healthy lifestyle during the bone-forming years, especially adolescence. Here are the components:
- Nutrition. Adequate calcium and vitamin D intake are important. Children ages 9 to 18 should consume about 1300 milligrams of calcium daily, preferably from calcium-rich or calcium-fortified foods. A meta-analysis of 19 randomized trials showed a small increase in total body mineral content in children receiving calcium supplementation (300 to 1200 milligrams daily) compared with those taking a placebo.
- Physical activity. Exercise promotes bone health. On the other hand, excessive physical activity can harm bone health.
- Avoid smoking. While cigarettes damage bones, quitting can improve bone density (within one year of cessation).
- Avoid alcohol. Chronic heavy alcohol use, especially during adolescence and young adult years, can dramatically hurt bone health, increasing the future risk of osteoporosis.
- Avoid eating disorders. For example, anorexia nervosa, an increasingly common eating disorder in female adolescents, is linked with drops in bone mineral density and increased fracture risk.
Nutritional disorders in adolescence (such as inflammatory bowel disease, cystic fibrosis, and celiac disease) can interfere with bone formation. In addition, congenital disorders such as cystic fibrosis appear associated with low bone mass.
Osteoporosis risk-reduction — Minimizing bone loss
Alas, I am beyond peak bone mass time. My goal is to stabilize my bone mineral density (BMD) or reduce my rate of bone loss.
Please use this free link to Medium to learn more:
