You don't often hear of people dying from osteoporosis. But it actually is the indirect cause of death from complications from broken bones or fractures.
Osteoporosis is the loss of bone density. When this happens, our bones become brittle and extremely vulnerable to breaks or fractures from everyday activities, such as a fall or in some cases, even bending over.
Also, osteoporosis can weaken your backbone so much that vertebrae compress, cause stooping, and lead to people becoming shorter. I think we've all seen this in both men and women.
So while we often see the effects of osteoporosis in older people, the interesting thing about it is that bone density is built when a person is young. Your peak bone mass is reached by age 30.
So if we want to avoid problems in old age, we have to make preparations in the early years. Therefore it is very important that children and young adults get the nutrients they need to build strong bones while they have the chance.
The key to building strong bones is calcium intake. Kids don't get as much calcium as they used to because, back in the day, milk, which is loaded with calcium, was often the only thing available for kids to drink. Now, however, with the proliferation of soda, sports drinks, bottled water, flavored water, energy drinks and so on, milk rarely is the beverage of choice.
Sadly, many parents don't understand the importance of calcium in their kids' diet and therefore don't insist upon it.
But don't misunderstand: While calcium intake is crucial in the younger years, it is to be continued throughout life. The Institute of Medicine recommends the following amounts of calcium:
Age 0-1 210-270 mg.
Age 1-3 500 mg.
Age 4-8 800 mg.
Age 9-18 1,300 mg.
Age 19-50 1,000 mg.
Age 51+ 1,200 mg.
Besides milk, other dairy products are great sources of calcium, such as yogurt and cheese. Many orange juices are fortified with calcium. Salmon has a lot of it. Calcium is also contained in fresh produce, especially green leafy vegetables. You can also take calcium supplements.
One very tricky component to calcium intake is vitamin D. You see, it's very important to recognize that without vitamin D, calcium cannot be absorbed by your body. In other words, if you don't have an adequate consumption of vitamin D, you can consume all the calcium in the world, but it wouldn't sink in!
So anyone who consumes calcium must also consume vitamin D to make sure the calcium is absorbed.
Oh, by the way, aside from aiding in the absorption of calcium, vitamin D is great for your health for a number of other reasons. But that is a blog for another day. Some people who view vitamin D as the great cure-all for everything from the common cold to cancer, recommend enormously high amounts of it. But in general, it's safe for anyone older than one year to take up to 2,000 IUs a day.
In addition to a diet rich in calcium and vitamin D, exercise can also help building strong bones. Just like with nutrition, it's better if you start early, but if it's too late for that, better late than never.
Weight lifting is especially good for your bones. I'm so inspired when I see older folks in the gym pumping iron! Good for you! And I'm happy to report I see our seniors in the gym more and more these days. I can only assume the message is getting through. Yea!
One more thing to keep in mind: smoking and drinking make osteoporosis worse. Hmmm...deja-vu. Seems like I warn against alcohol and tobacco no matter what the subject.