The dangers of insufficient calcium

Osteoporosis is a silent bone disease meaning “porous bones”. Getting enough calcium in your diet ensures protection against bone loss. Bones are living tissue, constantly in the process of rebuilding. When the rate of bone loss is greater than that of bone rebuilding, it causes thin, porous bones that break easily. Osteoporosis causes pain, disability, and loss of independence.

However, it is treatable and the amount of bone loss can be prevented. One in two women over 50 and one in five older men will suffer from a fracture due to bone loss. More than 28 million Americans have bone loss or are at high risk of developing it. The national cost of bone loss and associated fractures is estimated at $10 billion and rising.

Your bones develop in stages. From birth through adolescence, new bone is built faster than old bone is removed, so bones grow larger and denser. During adolescence, bones grow stronger at an even faster pace than before given sufficient calcium. Bone mass peaks between ages 20 and 30, then bone loss can outpace formation. After menopause in women, bone loss speeds up because of a loss in estrogen, a hormone that helps protect bones.

Good nutrition with a wide variety of foods is critical to overall health and healthy bones. Healthy bones need a variety of nutrients including calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, and others. Calcium plays an important role in muscle contraction, blood clotting, and bone health. When your diet provides enough calcium, your body deposits it in your bones, where it rebuilds and strengthens bone tissue. If calcium levels in the body drop below normal, calcium will be taken from bones and put into the blood to be used for other body functions. That’s why it’s important at all ages to consume enough calcium to maintain adequate levels in the body.

Nearly half of U.S. children and adults do not eat enough calcium. The National Academy of Sciences recommends the following amounts of calcium per day for various ages.

• Age 4-8 – 800 mg calcium
• age 8-18 – 1300 mg calcium
• age 19-50 – 1000 mg calcium
• age 51 and older – 1200 mg calcium

The National Institute of Health Consensus conference and the National Osteoporosis Foundation support a higher calcium intake of 1,500 milligrams per day for postmenopausal women not taking estrogen and adults 65 years or older. However, no one should take more than 2500 mg of calcium per day. In addition, the body can only absorb 500 mg of calcium from food or supplements at any one time. Therefore, calcium intake should be spaced evenly throughout the day.

Everyone needs calcium in their diet, everyday, to build and maintain healthy bones. Milk and foods made from milk are the most concentrated sources of calcium. One cup of reduced fat milk has 300 mg of calcium and one cup of nonfat yogurt has 490 mg. Some people avoid milk products because they don’t like these foods, do not eat any animal products, or have lactose intolerance. In that case, a diet with calcium fortified juices, cereals and pasta of 300 to 400 mg calcium per serving can be substituted.

The risk for osteoporosis increases if too little bone is formed during youth, or too much is lost later in life, or both. Size and quality of bone may be genetically determined, but other factors also influence bone health. A family history of bone loss or bone fractures, a lifelong low-calcium diet, Caucasian or Asian heritage, lack of exercise, low body weight relative to your height, smoking, drinking excess alcohol, lack of menstruation, and taking certain medications are all risk factors for Osteoporosis.

While you can’t control all your risk factors, you can make lifestyle choices that will decrease your risk for developing osteoporosis. These include: eating a balanced diet rich in calcium, regularly doing weight-bearing activities, avoiding excessive alcohol, and not smoking. Building healthy bones at any age helps prevent bone loss later in life.

Recent studies have shown that the risk of osteoporosis is lower for people who are active, and especially those who do load-bearing, or weight-bearing activities at least three times a week. A study conducted by the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASMBR) measured the bone density of athletes, showing that Bone Mineral Density (BMD) is higher across all sports, particularly weightlifting, gymnastics, and soccer. These athletes’ legs, hips, spines, and arms demonstrated bone density that was on average 13% higher than non-athletes.

How can exercise prevent bone loss? Muscle pulling on bone builds bone, so weight-bearing exercise builds denser, stronger bones. The more bone mass you build before age 25 or 30, the better off you will be during the years of gradual bone loss. Exercise can also help you maintain bone density later in life.

The best exercises for building bone are weight- or load-bearing exercises. These include weightlifting, jogging, hiking, stairclimbing, step aerobics, dancing, racquet sports, and other activities that require your muscles to work against gravity. Swimming and simply walking, although good for cardiovascular fitness, are not the best exercises for building bone.

Thirty minutes of weight-bearing exercise daily benefits not only your bones, but improves heart health, muscle strength, coordination, and balance. Those 30 minutes don’t need to be done all at once; it’s just as good for you to do 10 minutes at a time.

If you already have osteoporosis, you might wonder whether you should exercise at all. The answer for most people is YES. You should speak to your doctor to learn what types of exercises you can safely do to preserve bone and to strengthen your back and hips. Keep in mind, however, that exercise alone can’t prevent or cure bone loss.

Exercise Tips:

• Even if you do not have bone loss, you should check with your health care provider before you start an exercise program.

• Remember to warm up before starting and cool down at the end of each exercise session.
• For the best benefit to your bone health, combine several different weight-bearing exercises.
• As you build strength, increase resistance, or weights, rather than repetitions.
• Remember to drink plenty of water whenever exercising, especially here in Arizona.
• Vary the types of exercise that you do each week.
• Combine weight bearing and resistance exercise with aerobic exercises to help improve your overall health.
• Bring your friend along to help you keep going or better yet, bring your family and encourage them to be healthy.
• Add more physical activity to your day; take the stairs vs. the elevator, park further way, and walk to your co-worker’s office rather than emailing.