Download Three Key Components to Keeping Bones Healthy Adequate

Unless you’ve just broken a bone, or
happened to be sidelined for a stress
fracture, most people don’t give their
bones a second thought. In America
there has been an increase in osteoporosis over the last decade and researchers are working hard to find an answer
to this debilitating problem.
Three Key Components
to Keeping Bones Healthy
1. Adequate dietary calcium
and Vitamin D
2. Normal estrogen production
3. Weight bearing exercise
Adequate Calcium
Although our bodies have a large
calcium reserve (our skeletons) ideally, our dietary calcium intake should
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support our daily needs. If you like
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dairy products and are not lactose
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intolerant, then this may be a relatively
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How much do we need?
The recommended amount of
calcium is 1000-1200 mgs/day.
Two to three glasses of milk (ideally
skim) provide approximately 600-900
mgs. of calcium. Add to that some
cheese and yogurt and you will be close
to this daily recommendation. The table
on the back lists some good sources of
calcium to help you reach your daily
needs. While dairy and cheese are the
obvious best choices, there are other
good choices as well. Tofu is also a good
source of calcium along with broccoli, mustard and collard greens, kale,
shellfish, canned salmon with the bone,
sardines, puddings and custards.
Normal Estrogen Production
Estrogen allows for healthy bone formation. Right before, during and after
menopause, when women begin to
produce less estrogen and ultimately
very little at all, the risk of osteoporosis
increases dramatically. However, there
may be times long before becoming elderly where you might be putting yourself at risk for osteoporosis. Women,
who don’t menstruate regularly, or at
all (who are not on birth control), are at
high risk for stress fractures, premature
osteoporosis and possibly increased
risk of complications due to osteopo-
rosis. Estrogen is a key component in
regulating menses (periods). Please
check with a health care provider if you
have concerns about the regularity of
absence of your period.
What about calcium
supplements?
Especially for lactose intolerant individuals, reaching the daily recommendation of 1000-1200 mg. can be very
difficult without supplementation.
Therefore, it is often recommended
that a supplement of calcium carbonate or calcium citrate with vitamin D
be taken. Supplements don’t have to
account for the total calcium requirement, as your diet should be providing
some as well.However, calcium from a
supplement is not as readily absorbed
as calcium from foods, therefore many
people do supplement the full-recommended amount.
Vitamin D
Recently the recommended amount
of Vitamin D, also very important in
bone health, was increased to a range
of 1000-2000 IUs, (although the RDA
for Vitamin D remains 600 IUs) per
day. These amounts are often not
contained in calcium supplements,
so an additional Vit. D. supplement
may be necessary.
Calcium Blockers
3 A diet high in phosphorus (soda –
regular or diet) and low in calcium
increases risk of osteoporosis.
Do yourself a favor and make sure
you are drinking your milk or getting your calcium, somewhere in
the diet.
3 Moderate
to high alcohol intake
has also been linked to an increased risk of stress fractures. If
you drink, do so wisely and limit
the quantity. Your future may depend on it.
Weight Bearing Exercise
Participating in weight bearing exercises can help keep your bones dense,
i.e. compact. Weight bearing refers to
any exercise that requires weight to
bear down on the skeleton or bones
such as jogging, walking, and weight
lifting. However, biking and swimming, although good exercises, are
not weight bearing.
Who is at Risk?
Women more often suffer from osteoporosis than men, but that does
not exclude them. Individuals who
are small framed, short in stature,
light in weight, smoke and or drink
alcohol, and have a family history
are at increased risk of osteoporosis.
Men are more likely to experience
osteoporosis in their later years.
Common Calcium Sources
FoodServing Size
Skim Milk
Plain low-fat yogurt
Fruited yogurt
Swiss Cheese
Tofu (with calcium sulfate)
Salmon (canned with bone)
Dried figs
Orange Juice (calcium fortified)
Broccoli
Pinto Beans
Edamame
Almonds
Calcium content (mg.)
1 cup
300 mg.
6 oz.
235 mg.
6 oz.
1 oz.
311 mg.
270 mg.
1/2 cup
260 mg.
3 each
80 mg.
3 oz.
205 mg.
3/4 cup
225 mg.
1/2 cup
40 mg.
1/2 cup
1/2 cup
1 oz. (23 nuts) 45 mg.
35 mg.
75 mg.
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us information
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Twitter
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For more
visit:
@du_nutrition
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For more information visit:
studenthealth/nutrition-service
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For studenthealth/nutrition-service
more information visit:
https://studentaffairs.
duke.edu/studenthealth/
nutrition