Ms. Muscles Fitness Blog: Building Better Bones

Building Better Bones

    All bones may not be created equal.  Yet they are, in fact, created.  Created through sound nutritional practice and being physically active.

   Our bones are continuously breaking down and rebuilding. This process, known as remodeling, occurs throughout our lifetime and can cause the bones to become weak if the breakdown process is faster than the buildup of new bone.

    Our bone density is a result of the maximum bone mineral mass that was attained in our bodies during young adult life and of subsequent age-related bone loss. Our peak bone mass is typically achieved in the early 20s - 30yrs old.

   Proper diet and exercise will build this peak bone mass and is commonly referred to as our "bone bank." Increasing one's bone bank can reduce the incidence of osteoporosis, or progressive bone loss, and other bone problems later in life.

   Experts agree that adolescents can increase their bone mass, or bone bank, by as much as 20%. There have been several studies to determine whether increases in calcium intake and physical activity enhance their bone mineral status.

   One such study, published June 2004 in Journal of Pediatrics, states that exercise is more critical than calcium for adolescent bones. "Although calcium intake is often cited as the most important factor for healthy bones, our study suggests that exercise is really the predominant lifestyle determinant of bone strength in young women," said Tom Lloyd, Ph.D., professor of health evaluation sciences, Penn State College of Medicine, Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center.

      The type of exercise performed is very important. Walking may be safe, yet physical impact and weight-bearing exercises better stimulate bone formation.  Strength training, impact exercises such as running, and simply using muscles against gravity all create compressive forces to drive calcium into bones and stimulate bone formation.

    Osteoporosis is a disease of progressive bone loss that affects 10 million Americans, mostly women, and 34 million more have low bone density. One in two women and one in five men over age 65 will sustain bone fractures due to osteoporosis. In the elderly, a broken hip makes you four times more likely to die within three months. Many of these people end up in nursing homes or alone, depressed, frightened, and isolated.

      According to the Surgeon General's Report on Bone Health and Osteoporosis, our medical expenses to treat broken bones from osteoporosis is as high as $18 billion a year.  That does not take in to account the loss of work or care of patients.

   It is never too late to strengthen your bones and musculature.  Muscles support our skeletal system and the functioning of all joints. Common sense will tell you that stronger muscles make for stronger joints which results in less aches and pains from osteoarthritis and/or back pain.

   In Prescription Alternatives, Professor Earl Mindell and Virginia Hopkins detail that: "In a recent study on bone and exercise, older women who did high-intensity weight training two days per week for a year were able to increase their bone density by one percent, while the control group of women who did not exercise had a bone density decrease of 1.8 to 2.5 percent. The women who exercised also had improved muscle strength and better balance, while both decreased in the non-exercise group."

   Calcium is important, indeed it is what gives our bones strength. But, your body also needs vitamin D, along with other nutrients, to assimilate it into the bones and a good strength training program to retain calcium.  These minerals are found in our foods such as whole milk, green leafy vegetables, and soybeans.

   Be sure you get at least the minimum requirements for the following vitamins to support your bones:

   *Calcium 9-18yrs=1,300mg, 18-50 yrs=1,000mg, over 50yrs=1200mg
   *Vitamin D until age 50=200IU, 51-70yrs=400IU, over 70yrs=600IU