THE GOOD
Calcium Calcium is essential for having strong bones and preventing osteoporosis. Calcium can be found in green, leafy vegetables, almonds, legumes, and cereals, but the easiest way to get calcium is dairy. 250 millilitres of milk gives the same amount of calcium as 5 cups of broccoli, or 165 grams of almonds. Three serves of dairy a day is sufficient, and one serve is equivalent to 250 millilitres of milk, 200 grams of yoghurt, or 40 grams of cheese. Dairy is high in fat, so consider reduced or low-fat dairy products instead - these usually contain a similar amount of calcium. Teenagers, women over 50, and men over 70 require slightly more calcium than usual. Vitamin D Vitamin D helps the body to absorb calcium, so not having enough vitamin D means you have to consume more calcium to achieve the same effect. The easiest way to get Vitamin D is exposure to the sun, as human skin produces vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. Osteoporosis Australia recommends eight minutes exposure, 4 to 6 times a week. If you have fair skin, consider avoiding doing this between 10am to 2pm to avoid sunburn. THE BAD Increasing your bone density is not limited to adding foods to your diet, it also includes removing some foods. Certain nutrients act in the opposite way to vitamin D, inhibiting your body from absorbing calcium, therefore contributing to low bone density and osteoporosis. These nutrients are: Sodium Sodium, if consumed in the appropriate amounts, is fine. The problem is that salt is everywhere, and many people consume double the recommended daily sodium. To avoid salt, remove fast food and processed foods from your diet. Processed meats, frozen meals, bread, and breakfast cereal all contain large amounts of sodium. If you have difficulty lowering your sodium intake, try increasing your potassium intake (bananas, tomatoes, orange juice), as this will help decrease the loss of calcium as a result of excess sodium. Phosphoric Acid Many popular soft drinks contain phosphoric acid, which will cause your body to lose calcium. The occasional soda is fine, but like salt, many people consume far too much soda. In addition to this, soft drink contains no calcium, and people choose soft drinks over drinks that do contain calcium, such as milk or orange juice. Caffeine Caffeine also causes your body to lose calcium, at a rate of about 6 milligrams of calcium per 100 milligrams of caffeine. Caffeine is found in large quantities in coffee, and some soda. Whilst tea also contains caffeine, studies show that tea does not affect bone density, so consider switching from coffee to tea in order to get your morning caffeine. When you consider that many people’s routine consists of coffee in the morning, soda in the afternoon, and alcohol at night, in conjunction with a diet that is high in salt, it is easy to understand why osteoporosis is such a common problem in Western societies. Manage to cut out these problematic food and drinks, whilst increasing your calcium and vitamin D intake, and you’ll have no problems with low bone density and osteoporosis. Osteoporosis Australia Further reading here.
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