Give your bones a longer life

Press, 13 February 1986, Page 17

Give your bones a longer life

“Bodywork”

by

PORTER SHIMER

Osteoporosis is a weakening of the bones that happens in old age, right? Thinking like that can cause osteoporosis. True, symptoms of osteoporosis usually do not appear until later, but research indicates that youth and young adulthood are the best times for preventing the condition.

“We’ve got to get people taking precautions earlier in life because you can do very little to reverse osteoporosis once it has occurred,” Dr Jon Block, a bone specialist from the University of California, told Prevention magazine. What sort of precautions, and how early in life?

“The best place to start

is in the womb, so a child has strong bones when born,” according to Dr David Fardon, an orthopedic surgeon and the author of "Osteoporosis, Your Head Start on the Prevention and Treatment of Brittle Bones” (Macmillan, 1985). “Then it’s important to get kids into good habits as toddlers and teen-agers, so they won’t have to make any drastic changes later in life when they’re set in their ways.” Research points to three basic requirements for building durable bones: getting enough calcium, getting enough vitamin D and getting enough exercise. As Dr Robert Heaney of Creighton University told Prevention,

“If you go out and buy a bottle of calcium supple-

ments, you’ll realize some benefit, but If you’re striving for maximum results, you’ve got to make sure the other pieces of the puzzle are there.” Vitamin D The recommended daily figure of 400 lUs of Vitamin D is not a problem for most people because it is obtained through sunshine and because many whole milk products are fortified with vitamin D. Calcium Research indicates that between 1000 and 1500 mg of calcium a day should be consumed, with the upper figure of 1500

mg being advised especially for pregnant, nursing and postmenopausal women. (For good calcium sources, see below.) Try not to go over 2000 mg dally, however, as. constipation and even kidney stones can be the result. Exercise Nothing too tough is required here. Any form of exercise that invites the bones to defy gravity (walking, jogging, cycling, racquet sports, and weightlifting) can give bones the stress they need to remain strong. The key, the experts say, is not so much difficulty as consistency. Find something you like to do (walking comes highly recommended) and try to do it at least three times a week.

And something else you might try to do consistently is to limit alcohol, cigarettes, caffeine and salt, all of which have been shown to interfere with calcium absorption and hence the bone-build-ing process. “If lifestyle changes are made early and not just when the prospect of osteoporosis is imminent, there’s a good chance the condition can be avoided,” Dr Heaney told Prevention. Nearly 10 per cent of the U.S. population Is plagued with some form of osteoporosis, and an estimated 50,000 people every year DIE from the condition. With these statistics in mind, you might want to try fitting a few more of the following foods into your diet.