Osteoporosis is a degenerative bone condition afflicting millions of people. Post-menopausal women are especially vulnerable, because low estrogen levels tend to accelerate bone loss. Excessive caffeine or sugar intake has been shown to exacerbate this condition. Preventing osteoporosis requires proper nutrition and exercise.
The first line of defense against loss of bone tissue is proper calcium nutrition. Calcium is used for numerous functions throughout the body, and if your calcium levels are low, your body will break down bone tissue to get what it needs. Not good. The best sources of dietary calcium are dairy products and leafy greens. Like you haven’t heard that a couple hundred times before, right? Well, listen up — what follows may be new information for you. There are some foods you should avoid when eating your calcium. Phytates in grains bind with calcium and inhibit absorption. So do the oxalates in spinach, chocolate, and coffee. Adding milk to your coffee for extra calcium just isn’t helping.
Calcium by itself won’t build a molecule of bone tissue! That’s why the millions of calcium supplements that are handed out every year don’t make a dent in the osteoporosis epidemic. Two reasons: To use calcium, your body must have adequate supplies of magnesium, vitamin D, silicon, fluoride, zinc, copper, phosphorous, manganese, boron, and possibly others that we don’t yet recognize. Multi-nutrient synergy is essential for bone growth! Calcium pills don’t work by themselves – take a high quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement.* Your body will not build any new bone tissue unless it has to. Weight training stresses the skeleton in multiple directions and stimulates your body to create new bone tissue. Vibration training (whole-body vibration) has been proven to increase bone density.
People must accept the fact that the only way to beat osteoporosis is through proper nutrition and weight bearing exercise. Exercise utilizing Whole Body Vibration equipment has proved to be a superior way to increase bone density.
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*Incidentally, not just any old vitamin supplement will do. Click here for current recommendations for quality nutrition supplements.