Prevention
Getting adequate calcium and vitamin D is an important factor in reducing your risk of osteoporosis. If you already have osteoporosis, getting adequate calcium and vitamin D, as well as taking other measures, can help prevent your bones from becoming weaker. In some cases you may even be able to replace bone you’ve lost.
The amount of calcium you need to stay healthy changes over your lifetime. Your body’s demand for calcium is greatest during childhood and adolescence, when your skeleton is growing rapidly, and during pregnancy and breast-feeding. Postmenopausal women and older men also need to consume more calcium. As you age, your body becomes less efficient at absorbing calcium, and you’re more likely to take medications that interfere with calcium absorption.
How much calcium and vitamin D?
Pre-menopausal women and post-menopausal women who use HRT should consume at least 1,000 milligrams (mg) of elemental calcium and a minimum of 800 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day.
Post-menopausal women not using HRT, anyone taking medication which increases the risk of osteoporosis, such as steroids, and all men and women older than 65 should aim for 1,500 mg of elemental calcium and at least 800 IU of vitamin D daily.
Getting enough vitamin D is just as important as getting adequate amounts of calcium. Not only does vitamin D improve bone health by helping calcium absorption, but it also may improve muscle strength.
Although the body can create vitamin D from sunlight, the long Uk winters can leave our vitamin D levels depleted. Dark skinned individuals, if you’re housebound, or if you regularly use sunscreen or you avoid the sun entirely because of the risk of skin cancer, tend to have lower levels of vitamin D. Although vitamin D is present in oily fish such as tuna and sardines and in egg yolks, you probably don’t eat enough these on a daily basis, supplementing with vitamin D is a good idea.
As for calcium, dairy products are one, but by no means the only, source. Almonds, broccoli, cooked kale, canned salmon with the bones, oats and soy products such as tofu also are rich in calcium. If you find it difficult to get enough calcium from your diet, consider calcium supplements. Supplements are inexpensive and generally are well tolerated and well absorbed if taken properly. Sometimes calcium supplements can cause constipation. If this is a problem for you, drink more water and try using a fiber supplement. In addition, check the type of calcium you’re using. Calcium citrate tends to be better absorbed and less constipating.
Exercise
Exercise can help you build strong bones and slow bone loss. Exercise will benefit your bones no matter when you start, but you’ll gain the most benefits if you start exercising regularly when you’re young and continue to exercise throughout your life. Combine strength-training exercises with weight-bearing exercises. Strength training helps strengthen muscles and bones in your arms and upper spine, and weight-bearing exercises — such as walking, jogging, running, stair climbing, skipping rope, skiing and impact-producing sports — mainly affect the bones in your legs, hips and lower spine. Swimming, cycling and machines such as elliptical trainers can provide a good cardiovascular workout, but because they’re low impact, they’re not as helpful for improving bone health as weight-bearing exercises are.
Maintain good posture
Good posture — which involves keeping your head held high, chin in, shoulders back, upper back flat and lower spine arched — helps you avoid stress on your spine. When you sit or drive, place a rolled towel in the small of your back. Don’t lean over while reading or doing handwork. When lifting, bend at your knees, not your waist, and lift with your legs, keeping your upper back straight.
Don’t smoke
Smoking increases bone loss, perhaps by decreasing the amount of estrogen a woman’s body makes and by reducing the absorption of calcium in your intestine. The effects on bone of second-hand smoke aren’t yet known.
Avoid excessive alcohol
Consuming more than two alcoholic drinks a day may decrease bone formation and reduce your body’s ability to absorb calcium. There’s no clear link between moderate alcohol intake and osteoporosis.
Limit caffeine
Caffeinated drinks can increase the loss of calcium moderate caffeine consumption — about two to three cups of coffee a day — won’t harm you as long as your diet contains adequate calcium.
Avoid Fizzy Drinks. Researchers have discovered that those women who drank cola regularly – regardless of whether they opted for regular or diet versions – had a significantly lower bone mineral density in their hip compared to those who didn’t drink cola drinks. The researchers believe the high levels of phosphoric acid in cola and fizzy drinks may be to blame. Researchers suggest that a diet low in calcium and high in phosphorus may promote bone loss, tipping the balance of towards calcium loss from the bone.
Protein
Protein is essential in our diets to build tissue during growth and to repair and replace tissue throughout the life cycle. It is also needed for fracture healing and proper function of the immune system. However, protein also increases the body’s need for calcium by increasing calcium excretion.
The recommended intake of protein is:
44 grams for women
56 grams for men.
