4 Tips to Prevent Osteoporosis

Did you know nearly 44 million Americans area affected by osteoporosis?  It is most prevalent in women age 50 and older, can strike at any age; including men. Physical activity and exercise is the most important way to build and keep bone mass and prevent osteoporosis. This begins from childhood and lasts throughout your entire life.

4 Tips to Prevent Osteoporosis

1. Weight-bearing activities such as running, racket sports, dance and aerobics directly improve bone health. When you build strong muscle you can actually stimulate growth of bone tissue. So let’s get physical and get out there regularly doing some kind of activity or exercise.
2. Bones crave a well-balanced diet rich in both calcium and vitamin D.  Calcium helps replace worn out bone cells with healthy cells. So consume plenty of yogurt, cheese, soybeans, milk and leafy green vegetables. Vitamin D is necessary to help the digestive system absorb calcium. Your body produces vitamin D naturally from the sunlight. Try getting 15 minutes per day without sunscreen. You can also take a supplement when you don’t consume enough vitamin D rich foods such as egg yolks, saltwater fish, liver and fortified milk.
3. Quit your vices of smoking cigarettes which contributes to bone loss making bones weaker and subject to fractures. Consuming more than 3 alcoholic drinks per day creates the same scenario. For women, both smoking and drinking may contribute to early menopause which increases the risk for osteoporosis.
4. Bone density test can determine if you are at risk for osteoporosis; a disease that causes bones to become fragile and more likely to break. Your T-score is your bone density compared with what is normally expected in a healthy young adult of your sex. A T-score of -1 or above is considered normal with -2.5 and below to indicate you have osteoporosis.  No matter what your T-score is you can still begin a bone-healthy lifestyle to slow bone loss and retain bone mass by following these 4 tips to prevent osteoporosis.

List of resources, all worth checking out. 

Osteoporosis Preventionfrom MayoClinic.com

Women’s Diseases Men Get Too from Men.WedMd.com

Bone Density Test from MayoClinic.com

Osteoporosis Fact Sheet from WomensHealth.gov

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Cheers to a Healthy Day!

Lou Ann