As a mom, it’s important to have strong bones to keep up with the demands of daily life. Learn about the best ways to support and maintain strong bones.
Healthy and strong bones are essential at every age and stage of a human being’s life.
Strong bones provide the body structure, protect organs, anchor muscles, and store calcium. Understanding how diet, exercise, and other lifestyle factors affect your bone health can help you to know what you need to do to support your bone health and strength.
Factors that can affect your bone health
Diet
A healthy diet is the first step toward achieving healthy bones. A diet low in calcium and vitamin D can lead to reduced bone density and an increased risk of osteoporosis (a condition that causes your bones to be less dense and weak) and fractures.
Age
Your bones change as you age. New bones are made, and old bones are broken down. As you advance in age, you lose more bone mass than you gain. The likelihood of developing osteoporosis as you age depends on how much bone mass you gain by the time you reach the age of 30 years and how fast you lose it after that.
Physical activity
When you are physically inactive, you are at a higher risk of having weak and brittle bones than more active people.
Eating disorders and other conditions
Food intake restriction and being underweight can weaken your bones. Conditions such as celiac disease and weight loss surgery can lead to malabsorption of calcium and other nutrients that increase the risk of osteoporosis.
Alcohol abuse and smoking
Chronic alcohol consumption is associated with a decrement in bone length, bone dry weight, and mineral content. Similarly, tobacco smoking leads to low bone density, decreased bone healing, and the formation of new bones.
Hormone level
As a woman, bone loss will increase during menopause due to a decrease in estrogen hormone levels. Increased levels of thyroid hormone can also cause loss of bone density.
Ways to maintain healthy bones
A healthy and balanced diet
A balanced diet will help you achieve the required amount of calcium
to maintain healthy bones. Dietary sources of calcium include dairy products, green leafy vegetables, fish where you eat the bones, soy products, and almonds.
Vitamin D is important for both muscle strength and healthy bones. Sources of vitamin D include exposure of skin to sunlight, oily fish, eggs, and foods fortified with vitamin D such as breakfast cereals. A balanced diet will also help you maintain a healthy body weight. Being underweight increases the risk of developing osteoporosis and fractures.
Physical activity
Bone is a living tissue that becomes stronger when you exercise.
Weight-bearing and resistance exercises are the best kinds of activities for your bones. Weight-bearing increases bone density and improves bone health. It’s an activity that you perform while on your feet and legs that works the muscles and bones against gravity. During this activity, the muscle and tendon apply tension to the bones, which stimulates the bone to produce more tissues. As a result, bones became stronger and denser. This reduces the risk of osteoporosis and fractures.
Weight-bearing exercises include brisk walking, running, jumping rope, football, hiking, push-ups, and squats among others. Resistance exercises such as weight lifting combined with other high-impact exercises such as jumping and jogging are a good combination for maintaining strong bones.
Healthy lifestyle
Smoking is not only bad for your bones but also for your heart and lungs. Heavy smoking for a long time can increase greater risk of osteoporosis. It is also associated with a high incidence of bone fractures, low bone density, and fewer teeth. Chronic alcohol consumption affects bone mineralization which leads to weak bones.
Osteoporosis is one of the most common bone problems you can experience as you age. If undetected, it can progress for a long time without symptoms. Building strong from childhood through adolescence to adulthood can help you prevent osteoporosis and fracture later in life. Having regular balanced meals, being physically active, and avoiding alcohol and tobacco smoking are some of the strategies that can help you build and maintain healthy and strong bones.