Osteoporosis actually derives from the term “porous bones.” When you have osteoporosis, your bones become weak and brittle. These porous bones can be so brittle that even a mild bang or stress like bending over can cause a fracture. A major cause of this weakness in the bone structure has lack of calcium, phosphorus or other minerals in the bones.
When someone suffers from osteoporosis, it is usually just a matter of time before they fracture a bone. There are many things one can do to both prevent a reduction in bone density as well as improve the condition and health of your bones.
CALCIUM AND VITAMIN D
Ensuring that you have sufficient calcium and vitamin D in your diet is important in reducing your likelihood of developing osteoporosis. But what if you already have osteoporosis? You can still prevent your bones from deteriorating further by taking adequate amounts of calcium and vitamin D.
It is often the case that you may replace some of the bone mass that you have lost. But simply taking supplements is unlikely to work if you have other issues going against you.
BUT HOW MUCH CALCIUM SHOULD YOU TAKE?
That is a difficult question but we know that a person’s need for calcium varies over their lifetime. Calcium is in greatest demand during childhood and adolescence, when your skeleton is rapidly growing. Also during pregnancy and breast feeding. Postmenopausal women, who have less estrogen, need more calcium as do older men.
With age, the body absorbs calcium less efficiently. Also, during your later years, you are more likely on one of the medications that interferes with calcium absorption. The absolute amount of calcium that you take may matter very little if the calcium is not absorbed by your body. It is essential that you not only take calcium but the form of the calcium is also critical.
For calcium to be properly absorbed by the body you must have the correct balance of acids in your digestive system. In addition, additional minerals and phosphorous must be present and in correct proportions. So the question of how much calcium to take is much more complex than you may originally think.
WHAT ABOUT GOVERNMENT RECOMMENDATIONS?
The government publishes RDA (recommended daily amounts) for vitamins and minerals. One issue that you should know is that these amounts are considered the minimum you should have from all sources (food, water and supplements) assuming that you are a healthy adult weighing about 150 lbs. If you are suffering from osteopenia or osteoporosis, you are already deficient in many vitamins and minerals. Therefore, the RDA is insufficient to help restore your bone health.
The value and usefulness that you derive from taking these bone nourishing vitamins and minerals depends not only on the amount that you take but also on the combination and their source. Especially when speaking of calcium the amounts that you need is highly dependent on having a balance of other minerals and having the correct acid levels in your digestive system to effectively absorb the calcium.
Taking adequate amounts of vitamin D is equally as important as calcium. Vitamin D improves bone health by helping calcium absorption and also improves muscle strength. Vitamin D is continuing to be studied and recent findings suggest that vitamin D may also protect against certain types of cancer. It is generally considered safe to take up to 2,000 IU of vitamin D per day. Check with your doctor if you want to take higher doses.
WHAT ARE SOURCES OF CALCIUM?
Good natural sources of calcium include dairy products, almonds, broccoli, cooked kale, canned salmon (with the bones), soy products such as tofu and oats. Calcium supplements are another way to get calcium. Calcium supplements tend to be fairly inexpensive and most people believe that the body absorbs most supplements easily if taken properly – but this is NOT true. Many people take huge amounts of calcium supplements but little if any of the calcium is actually absorbed into the blood stream and little of this calcium ends up building stronger bones.
A COMPLEX SOLUTION
Many elements are involved in ensuring that the vitamins and minerals that you get through the foods you eat and the supplements you take are able to be used by your body. Just taking large amounts of vitamins or calcium, alone, does not guarantee good bone health. As with fine cooking, it is not necessarily the ingredients that make the sauce special, but the amounts and ways in which they are combined.
