How To Combat Osteoporosis

Many people, especially women, know that adequate calcium intake is important to health. However, national nutrition surveys show that less than 50 percent of adults aged 20 and older are consuming the calcium they need to maintain bone health and minimize bone loss that occurs with aging. Unfortunately, many consumers do not know how much calcium they need and many mistakenly believe that they are consuming enough.

Calcium is an essential nutrient your body needs every day. And it is not just important for women. Optimal intake is crucial for children, adolescents, men, and older Americans too. The majority of calcium in the body makes up your bones and teeth and keeps them strong. However, beyond bone health, calcium is also needed to regulate certain body functions. Without calcium, muscles would not contract normally, blood would not clot, and nerves would be unable to carry messages.

Calcium and bone health go hand-in-hand. Increasing scientific evidence indicates that adequate calcium intake reduces the risk of several major chronic diseases, most notably osteoporosis, a potentially crippling disease of thin and fragile bones.

If you do not get enough calcium from your daily diet to regulate body functions, your body will leech or 'rob' the calcium off your bones to make up the difference. Over time, this can reduce bone strength and lead to osteoporosis. Optimal intake of calcium throughout life, from early childhood and adolescence through the post-menopausal and late adult years, reduces the risk of osteoporosis. Activities such as walking, dancing, yard work, and tennis also benefit bone health from childhood through later years. However, according to Kristine Clark, Ph.D, RD, Director of sports nutrition at the Center for Sports Medicine at the Pennsylvania State University, “The effect of weight-bearing exercise on bones affects only those bones that are being used.” Therefore, Dr. Clark suggested that “participating in a variety of physical activities is important to be sure that the entire skeleton benefits from activity.” She stated that this is equally as important as eating a variety of foods to obtain optimal health.

Research suggests that calcium also helps protect against colon cancer, high blood pressure, and recurring premenstrual syndrome, and possible cardiovascular disease and kidney stones.

Your calcium needs extend throughout your lifetime. It is essential during childhood to young adulthood, the years that bones are forming and growing. However, bones continue to accumulate calcium and become stronger even after we have stopped growing. The calcium that you provide to your bones when you are young is one factor in determining how well they will hold up later in life. Gender plays a significant role in the
need for calcium. Pregnancy increases calcium requirements because of the needs of developing baby and because alterations in calcium absorption and metabolism occur throughout pregnancy. Lactating women need calcium to meet their own needs and the requirements for milk production. During menopause and post-menopause, the body produces much less estrogen, increasing the risk of osteoporosis, which in turn increases calcium needs.

Older adults-both women and men-over the age of 65 need more calcium to combat calcium deficiencies. ‘A certain amount of bone loss is a normal consequence of aging,’ stated Nancy Wellman, Ph.D, RD, Professor and Director, National Policy & Resource Center on Nutrition and Aging at the Florida International University. For instance, the age-related decline in the body’s ability to absorb calcium can interfere with calcium levels. Also, lactose intolerance can lead to avoidance of calcium-rich foods. ‘A decrease in physical activity among the elderly exacerbates the problem of combating declining bone strength,’ stated Dr. Wellman.

Remember that calcium is essential to good health. You also need exercise and a balanced and varied diet to help reduce risk of disease and promote health.

(Source: International Food Information Council Foundation.)