Osteoporosis Prevention: Tips On Making Your Bones Stronger

Osteoporosis is a health condition linked to weakened porous bones, which causes up to 1.5 millions of fractures a year in the US. This is a very serious disease which, unfortunately, has no known effective cure now. Risk factors of osteoporosis include age over 50, prolonged menopause, genetic factors, a lack of exercise, a lack of certain vitamins, nicotine or alcohol abuse, excessive use of certain medications, and so on. The good news is: osteoporosis is among the preventable diseases, and it is very important to keep osteoporosis prevention ideas in mind when making choices about your daily activities, diet and lifestyle.

Check out some tips for effective osteoporosis prevention:

• Exercise regularly. To keep your bones strong and healthy, do plenty of cardiovascular and outdoor exercises, like walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, weight lifting, all possible forms of strength training. Such exercises can increase strength and density of your bones and prevent osteoporosis.
• Take proper doses of calcium. This is a key rule for strong and healthy bones. Add to your diet the greens, dairy products, broccoli and other foods rich in calcium. You can opt for using special calcium supplements. Daily dose of calcium recommended by the Institute of Medicine, is 1 mg a day for women below 50, and 1.2 mg for women above 50.
• Take proper doses of Vitamin D. This is one more very important factor for an effective osteoporosis prevention because only sufficient doses of Vitamin D can help our bones absorb calcium. Regular sun exposure is the best way to receive essential doses of vitamin D. Specialists say that only 15 minutes of moderate sunlight exposure a day can be enough. However, it is possible to get Vitamin D from other natural sources like foods (oranges, milk, mushrooms, fish and so on) or special supplements.
• Enrich your diet with Vitamin K as well. This vitamin is also necessary for an effective osteoporosis prevention. It can assist in blood coagulation and maintaining excellent bone health. Leafy green vegetables are the best natural sources of Vitamin K.
• For an effective osteoporosis prevention, it is essential to give up smoking. Nicotine abuse is linked to estrogen loss in a female body, which in turn causes reduced calcium absorption and weaker bones.
• Also, it is necessary to avoid alcohol abuse. Drinking only 2 alcoholic drinks on an everyday basis can cause a serious reduction of calcium absorption and damage your bone health to a great extent.
• Master the most effective stress management techniques. It was proven that increased and prolonged stresses are linked to less healthy bones. Massages or yoga, aromatherapy or doing sports, watching comedy movies or knitting – choose the technique which will work best for you and assist you greatly in osteoporosis prevention.

Author Info: Hi! My name is Carla and I am a 5th year medical student at HYMS. I am interested in alternative medicine and I have done months researching the topic of herbal medicine. Besides, I like interviewing people and learning more about their experiences with one or another type of herbal treatments. I am willing to contribute to this site with my knowledge, and I would be happy to help you out to the best of my ability with any specific questions or problems related to alternative medicine.

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