Protecting Your Bones:
Prevention
Bone density tests conducted by a physician can let a women know if she is at risk for osteoporosis, or how strong her bones are. The information provided by these tests can help women monitor their diets and improve their exercise routines in order to prevent osteoporosis even before any serious symptoms begin to show.
One of the most effective and simplest methods of prevention for osteoporosis is adequate calcium intake. Calcium, the mineral that strengthens teeth and bones, will make your bones healthier and prevent fractures, especially in the hips, wrist and spine. It is recommended that at least 1500 milligrams of calcium a day be included in diets of postmenopausal women. Foods with Vitamin D are also helpful in preventing osteoporosis. In addition a good diet, an exercise routine that includes lifting weights is also recommended. Very low alcohol intake and kicking the smoking habit will significantly decrease the risk of developing osteoporosis as well.
For older women, using a progesterone cream can also encourage new bone growth and mass. Progesterone not only helps to prevent and treat osteoporosis, but can also help decrease menopausal symptoms, as most women who are at risk for osteoporosis are also experiencing menopause, and the loss of estrogen can accelerate bone loss.
Treatment
The effects of osteoporosis are extremely difficult to reverse, so prevention, whether before the onset of the condition or in the early stages, is the best cure.
Menopause hormonal therapy can help to treat osteoporosis, but recent studies have shown that hormonal therapy can increase the risk of heart disease and strokes in some women. Alternatives to this treatment include Evista, which is a drug that works in much the same way as estrogen, but doesn’t increase the risk of breast cancer. Calcitonin, a natural hormone that stops bone loss, can also treat osteoporosis. However, this treatment, taken by injection or nasal spray, can be rather expensive.
Diet continues to be the best treatment for osteoporosis, even in addition to other treatments and medications. Here are some nutritional choices to help you build an osteoporosis prevention diet:
*Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables a day. There is a direct link between adequate fruit and vegetable consumption and bone health, so it’s definitely necessary to consume five fruits and vegetables a day. If you know you’re at risk for osteoporosis, try to increase your intake, especially of green, leafy vegetables, like spinach and broccoli, which are very rich in calcium.
*Get some sunshine. Spending some time outside every day can provide adequate Vitamin D intake. Being outside for at least 20 minutes per day can help Vitamin D to do its job in your body-which is to facilitate calcium absorption. Other dietary sources of Vitamin D include eggs, salmon, tuna and cod liver oil.
*Stock-the dietary kind. Making stock from vegetables and meat when preparing soups and stews will help to increase calcium intake as well. Using chicken, beef, or lamb to make stock is a great idea, an addition to vegetables like potatoes, carrots, and cabbage. Adding a little vinegar to the stock, you can extract even more calcium from the bones, and use the stock in gravies, soups, and rice.
If you want to learn more about osteoporosis, treatment, symptoms, along with recipes that are rich in calcium and Vitamin D, visit the National Osteoporosis Foundation (www.nof.org) and Fight Fractures, (www.fight-fractures.com). With the proper diet, women of all ages can prevent the fractures and bone breakage caused by osteoporosis, and women experiencing menopause can find the supplement and diets they need to treat the disease.
