Osteoporosis Prevention: Mucho Misinformation About Osteoporosis

Osteoporosis prevention should be a vitally important subject to everyone because it’s a horrible, painful disease that destroys the bones and causes suffering for millions of women – and men. Research suggests that the real cause of osteoporosis is hormonal, rather than simply reduced calcium as many believe. As we age, some women stop producing as much estrogen while others produce too much. Either way, there is a lack of balance in the system. For men, osteoporosis isn’t as common, but it does happen and it’s related to a change in the production of testosterone.

About Osteoporosis And Soft Drinks

Our lifestyle often aggravates the disease. An example of an aggravating factor is soft drinks like Coke, Pepsi, Sprite, etc. When we drink these beverages, our bodies are instantly flooded with large amounts of both carbon dioxide and acid. Calcium is the main protector of a too-acid body and to counterbalance this increased acidity it pulls calcium from wherever it can – in this case, the bones. The body works hard to save the essential organs that keep us alive, considering other body part of lesser importance. Iif your bones become porous and brittle, well at least you’re still alive.

We Don’t Fall & Break A Bone …

Low mineral density in the bones is the official definition of osteoparosis. We’ve all heard about an elderly person falling and breaking a bone, but more often it’s the other way around – that is, the bone breaks and then the fall occurs. Yes, balance and eyesight can be a problem but this is well often the case than we once thought.

Osteoporosis Prevention, Magnesium And Other Factors

Another contributor to weak bones is a lack of magnesium. In fact, magnesium is needed in half the amount of that of calcium. Assuming no already-existing osteoporosis, a good preventative is 1500 milligrams of calcium supplement combined with 750 milligrams of magnesium.

Other factors that increase the likelihood of osteoporosis are smoking or have been exposed to high levels of certain minerals like lead or cadmium. And surprisingly, when it comes to bones, overweight people are at an advantage because it requires strong bones to carry around the excess weight, whereas the very underweight are more likely to have weak bones.

Two Important Ways To Stave Off Osteoporosis

Two very important ways to build your bones are:

1. Weight bearing exercise. This doesn’t just mean lifting weights but also exercise that requires us to move the entire weight of our bodies. Good examples are skipping, jumping, aerobics, walking and running.

2. Increase your calcium intake. We usually think of dairy products when we think of calcium, but in point of fact there are better sources. Further, it’s harder to absorb calcium from dairy products.

Calcium in dairy foods (source: US Dept of Agriculture Nutrient Database)

Sweetened condensed milk – 869 mg calcium per cup
Ricotta cheese – 509 mg per cup
Plain skim milk yogurt – 452 mg per 8 oz
Skim milk – 300 mg per cup
Milk, 3.25% fat – 290 mg per cup
Plain whole milk yogurt – 275 mg per 8 oz
Cheddar cheese – 204 mg per oz

Calcium in non-dairy foods:

Enriched self-rising cornmeal – 483 mg per cup
Enriched self-rising white wheat flour – 423 mg per cup
Frozen collards, cooked – 357 mg per cup
Frozen rhubarb, cooked with sugar – 348 mg per cup
Sardines canned with bone – 325 mg per 3 oz
Frozen spinach, cooked – 277 mg per cup
Green soybeans, cooked – 261 per cup
Fresh spinach, cooked – 245 mg per cup
Cornflakes – 237 mg per 1.33 cups
Fresh collards, cooked – 226 mg per cup

As always, the genuine answer is osteoporosis prevention, rather than osteoporosis treatment, so use wisdom in earlier years to avoid this painful disease. Choose to remain young, active and healthy regardless of your age.