When you think about osteoporosis or “weak, brittle bones” do you picture an elderly woman shuffling along with a walker, hunched over and unable to sit up straight?

Do you think osteoporosis is just a disease affecting women?

Well, if you believe that you don’t have to think about osteoporosis until you’re way into your 70’s or 80’s…then you’re wrong!!!

Osteoporosis usually affects older, thin women BUT you can be in your 30’s or even 20’s and have weak bones especially if you’re on certain medications which are known to weaken your bones.

Osteoporosis also affects men.

So what’s the big deal about osteoporosis?  You may even say to yourself, “I’m too young to worry about weak bones….I’m only 25!!!!

Well, the Health and Wellness Queen wants you to know that you’re at the most crucial point in terms of bone health and bone density.  Bone density refers to the stability and strength of your bones.  The more dense your bones are….the less likely your bones will break….on their own or if you slip and fall.  If your bones are particularly brittle, they can break if you’re bending down tying your shoe, reaching up putting dishes away or even if you bump against a wall. 

Your bone density is at its peak in your teens and twenties.  During these early years, your bones are continually breaking down and building more bone tissue which requires lots of calcium, vitamin D and other minerals to make your bones strong….able to withstand the stress of your daily life.  By the time you’re in your 30’s your body continues to remodel your bones but now…you’re breaking down more bone than you’re building.  So that means……you have until you’re about 30 to build up your ”bone bank” because after 30, you’re making more bone withdrawals than bone deposits. 

So here are 5 things that can you do NOW to build healthier, stronger bones that will last for life!!

1.  Get enough calcium and vitamin D in your diet.  That means at least 1000 to 1500mg of calcium (in your food or in a calcium supplement) and at least 400 to 800 units of vitamin D.

2.  Exercise.  With strength training to build stronger muscles and with weight bearing exercises which places increased stress on your spine, hips and leg bones which helps stimulate the remodeling process and continue to keep your body building more and more bone matrix/tissue.

3.  Don’t smoke.  Smoking increases your risk for developing weaker bones.

4.  Get tested.  Get a bone density scan if you’re at risk for osteoporosis (you don’t eat dairy or take calcium supplements, you have a family history of osteoporosis, you are of Caucasian or Asian descent, you have a thin frame, you smoke, you take corticosteroids chronically or you have an eating disorder).

5. Avoid excessive amounts of alcohol…which can decrease your body’s ability to absorb calcium. 

So let’s toast to your bone health and start building stronger bones today!

To your wellness,

The Health and Wellness Queen

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 13th, 2007 at 10:15 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.