Bone Health... Why Is It So Important?
We’ve all heard about osteoporosis but unless you belong to the older population, and/or you’ve broken a bone or two, you possibly haven’t given it much thought.
So what is osteoporosis?
The simple answer is when bones become brittle and fragile due to loss of tissue, typically as a result of hormonal changes or deficiency in calcium and vitamin D. Bone is a living and active tissue that is constantly renewing itself. Old bone is broken down and replaced by new bone material, but the balance between the breakdown of old bone and the formation of new bone changes at different stages of our lives. In childhood and adolescence new bone is formed very quickly which allows our bones to grow bigger and stronger. Bone density reaches its peak in our mid to late twenties. After that, new bone is produced at the same rate that old bone is broken down. From the age of about 40, bone starts to be broken down more quickly that it’s replaced. This leads to a loss of density and can lead to brittle and fragile bones which will obviously make them more prone to breaking if we have a fall.
If you’re young you may not worry about this so much but you really probably should. Breaking a bone when you’re elderly will have an enormous impact on your quality of life. And you don’t even have to have a bad fall to break a bone if you have osteoporosis. A minor bump could be all it takes. If you’re older and less steady on your feet then your risk increases.
I have to admit that it’s only in very recent months that I have given my own personal bone health any thought. I go through phases where I track and log the food I eat in MyFitnessPal and in the past I only ever really looked at the ratio between my proteins, carbs and fats but a few months ago I began to take notice of whether I was getting the recommended daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. I was shocked to find that on most days I was only getting about 20-30% of the daily recommended amount of calcium. My mother has osteoporosis. I have clients with osteoporosis. I know the impact this condition has on their lives. I began to think about how I turned 40 last year and how I had been mostly unhealthy and sedentary from the ages of 18-30ish. I wondered if I had been active enough in my childhood and whether I had nourished myself back then with enough calcium and vitamin D to balance out the damage of my early adult life.
Who knows?
Unless I get a DEXA scan I won’t know, however, I do know that I can start to look after my bone health now. I believe that we should all try to eat a balanced diet and get everything our body needs from our food but I have started to take calcium supplements. By tracking the food I eat, I KNOW I’m not getting enough of it.
So is calcium all you need to have strong and healthy bones?
No. Bones also need to be put under stress in order for them to grow strong. We need to incorporate the type of exercise that will do that. Lower impact activities like swimming or cycling doesn’t do that. Those types of exercise are kind to our joints but doesn’t do much for strengthening our bones. We need a bit of impact. It doesn’t matter if you can’t or don’t want to run. Brisk walking will do. Exercise to music classes. Lifting weights. Even bodyweight only exercises can help to stimulate bone growth.
If you weren’t thinking about your bone health before reading my rambles, then I hope that you are now. We should have the mind-set that it’s never too late to start. And what if you’ve already been diagnosed with osteoporosis? Do you just throw the towel in, give up and think there’s no point? Not if you want to improve your quality of life. There’s so much you can do. Next time you go for a walk, pick up the pace. Not only will this help to strengthen your cardiovascular system, it will also help to stimulate new bone growth. If you’re not already strength training, perhaps start thinking about incorporating this type of training into your routine. You don’t need to have a gym membership to strength train using your own bodyweight. And work on your balance. I cannot stress this enough. As we get older we tend to become less stable and lose our balance.