How to Combat the Natural Aging Process of Bone Loss?
Bone Density is an essential aspect of health and disease prevention, which extends potential lifespan. More importantly, it enhances your quality of life. Although it is normal for bone density to decrease with age, it is not necessarily inevitable. With the right lifestyle, bone density can increase with age.
Your bones are continuously changing — new bone is made and old bone is broken down. When you’re young, your body makes new bone faster than it breaks down old bone, and your bone mass increases. Most people reach their peak bone mass around age 30. After that, bone remodeling continues, but you lose slightly more bone mass than you gain.
Here are five critical lifestyle issues that will help you maximize your bone density and decrease your risk of osteoporosis.
Maintain reasonable alkalinity in the diet
Almost all foods in our diet are acidic, except fruits and vegetables, which tend to be more alkaline. Eating five servings of vegetables a day helps to buffer the acid content of the other foods. Similarly, fruit offers the same beneficial effect, but fruit also has more sugar, so we limit fruit to one to two servings per day. If we don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables, the body must buffer the net acidity in our diet internally. This means a negatively charged ion (anion) must be utilized to neutralize a positively charged hydrogen ion (proton). A significant source of these anions is bone. When anions are taken from bone to neutralize protons, it leaves the calcium and magnesium unattached and consequently, they are quickly excreted from the body via the kidneys. Scientific literature documents that calcium and magnesium excretion increases with an elevated acid load in the diet. Bottom line: vegetables will save your bones. As a side note, soda has added phosphoric acid which is detrimental to bone density.
Avoid cigarette smoke
Cigarette smoke, whether it’s active or passive, decreases your bone density.
Hormones
We can supplement with hormones, known to have a positive effect on bone density. The three hormones are estradiol, testosterone, and progesterone. These hormones are the construction engineers for bone. Maintaining optimal levels of these hormones as we age, will ensure maximum movement of bone-strengthening minerals into our bones.
Bone-building blocks
Adequate intake of bone-building blocks like calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, vitamin C, vitamin K, boron, manganese, copper, zinc, and protein (forming the matrix-or framework-of bone). Do not rely on food alone. Broad spectrum, high potency nutritional supplementation is imperative. Ask us about our supplements and experience the difference they can make.
Resistance exercise
The catalyst driving these building blocks into the bones is resistance exercise. Any exercise that stresses the bone falls into this category. Lack of bone stress results in a decrease in bone density, a process occurring with age and accelerated rate if having prolonged bed rest. For the lower body, our weight bearing segment, resistance exercise entails upright exercises, such as walking, jogging, stair climbing or any other sport played on the feet. For the upper body (non-weight bearing and comprising the top of our totem pole), resistance exercise requires weight lifting or calisthenics.
If you’re concerned about your bone health or your risk factors for osteoporosis, including a recent bone fracture, please contact us for a bone density test. This comprehensive analysis of your bone density will determine your rate of bone loss. We can help you slow bone loss and achieve optimal health at any age.
* Some text taken from WebMD
