Bones are important to us for a whole variety of reasons. They not only create the structure of our body, but they also provide us with protection and enable us to do all the tasks that we do, whether they are big or small. They give us balance and support and make us look healthy, young, and youthful. But as you grow old, so do your bones. This results in a lot of complications like fractures, weak bones, pain, and loss of independence, among others. Now, there’s nothing that we can do about the ageing process, but there are a lot of things that we can do for our bones. All it takes is a little change in our lifestyles, and we can ensure that we don’t have to face problems like osteoporosis or other ailments.
These include doing simple and little things like doing exercise, taking care of your diet, getting high-quality supplements from physician’s choice to provide additional support to your bones, and other things like that.
Here are some of the ways that you can do that:
1. Increase Your Calcium Intake
Calcium plays a major role when your bones are concerned. It keeps them healthy and strong and prevents breakage and damage. If you have a low level of calcium in your bones, it will decrease the bone density. Low bone density leads to an early loss of bones. If you want to stay away from osteoporosis and other bone-related ailments, then you need to increase your intake of calcium. An adult should usually take around 1000mg of calcium each day. You can do that by consuming more foods like broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, and other greens or you can take beans which are high in calcium. So are chickpeas, cheese, milk, yoghurt, and calcium-rich fruits like oranges and apples.
2. Enjoy Early Morning Sunlight
The one thing that most of us neglect, or can’t do for some reason is to take benefit of the sunlight in the morning. We have to expose ourselves to the early morning sunlight so that our bodies can soak up the light and produce vitamin D. vitamin D helps our bodies absorb calcium and break it into usable pieces. Foods that are rich in vitamin D are milk, orange juice, sardines, egg yolks, and tuna, among others.
If you don’t take the necessary amount of vitamin D, you could fall prey to vitamin D deficiency which can cause osteomalacia, or it can enhance the effects of osteoporosis as well as cause rickets in children.
3. Avoid Excess Salt
You might not know this, but salt is calcium’s enemy, so to speak. Salt causes your kidneys to expel a lot of calcium that could have been put to better use in our bodies. In women after menopause, excess amounts of salt can lead to less bone density, and that can lead to weaker bones and fractures. Salt can decrease the amount of calcium that your body has, even if you are eating all the right things and taking all the right supplements.
So make sure that you avoid any foods that contain lots of salt, especially processed foods. Use spices and herbs to flavour your food instead.
4. Quit Smoking
Smoking is not only injurious to your lungs, but it also causes a host of other problems as well. This includes creating issues for your bones. It can cause your body to lose its ability to absorb calcium effectively and thus decreases the bone density and the bone mass. The U.S. National Institute of Health stated that smokers are at more risk of bone fractures and other bone-related issues as compared to non-smokers. Also, women who smoke are more likely to experience menopause earlier than women who don’t smoke. This can result in early bone loss and deterioration.
5. Say No to Soda
We all drink sodas with our food, especially if it is fast food. We drink sodas when we’re at home when we are with friends and anywhere else that we can. What we don’t know that drinking soda in excess causes an immediate decrease in bone mineral density. This highly increases the risk of fractures. The reason is that drinking soda increases the level of phosphates in your blood. This leads to a sudden and precipitous decrease in your body’s level of calcium and increases the excretion of calcium through your urine. When the calcium is not absorbed properly, and the existing amount is being depleted, it has a very negative effect on your bones.
6. Drink in Moderation
Just like some people love sodas, others like to drink. They either do it in a bar or at home. No matter where it is, you have no idea what excess drinking can do to you, whether it is your bones or otherwise. As far as bones are related, doctors suggest that you should avoid drinking more than one drink daily for women, and for men, it is not more than two drinks in a day. If you drink more than that, it can cause low bone mass as well as damaged bone formation. This not only leads to more chances of getting fractures, but it also leads to delayed healing if you ever get a fracture.
7. Drink Less Coffee
This is something that a lot of people might have a problem with. We can go without drinking and without junk food, but who can stay awake in the office without a few cups of coffee in a day? Well, we are here to tell you that the caffeine in the coffee can do a number on your bones, and it can hinder your body’s ability to absorb calcium. This leads to low bone mass and low bone density.
Doctors suggest that people keep their coffee to 2 cups a day and not more. And if you are doing that, then you should avoid other drinks that contain caffeine.
8. Exercise Daily
Regular exercise is always good. Not just for our bones but our overall health. It keeps your body in great shape and decreases the chances of fractures and other issues. Make sure that you work out regularly so that you can maintain your health and improve it.
Conclusion
See? Not difficult at all. Just make a few tweaks to your daily habits, and you can enjoy your life for longer and increase your quality of life as well.
