Are you an aging athlete who is concerned about your bone health?

Do you want to do what you can to help preserve your bone health?

Are you overwhelmed by the numerous studies and claims out there?

I know I am, so I was pleased when I received my December issue of Nutrition Action Health Letter.  There is an article written by Bess Dawson-Hughes the director of the Bone Metabolism Laboratory at Tufts University. It’s quite informative and I will try to give a short overview of the info.

She starts off with letting us know that for the most part we don’t realize our bone mass is low until we have a break. There is a test for it and women 65+ and men 70+ should have it. Unfortunately there are fewer and fewer operating scanners because reimbursements have fallen so low that only hospitals can afford them.

However aside from testing there are a number of things we can do ourselves to help our bone mass. Genes and lifestyle play a role, however genetics plays a more limited role the older you get. By 65 lifestyle really drives the change in bone mass. Diet and exercise are risk factors you can change.  Funny how that recommendation seems to pop on most any illness we are trying to avoid.

Let’s talk about diet. We need to get an ample amount of calcium and Vitamin D. You should be able to get most of your calcium from food however you may need to supplement. A quality Calcium Supplement 500-600mgs twice a day is better than a large dose once a day. Vitamin D is hard to get from food and if you don’t get much sunlight to make it then she recommends a Vitamin D supplement 800-1,000mgs a day.

There are foods that create acids in the body that lead to bone breakdown. I didn’t know that. They are cereal grains and proteins ( animal and plant). The good news is fruits and vegetables provide alkali to the system which is good. However cutting protein (depending on the individual) and/or cereal (even whole) grains will lower your acidic load.

Finally exercise is hugely important, both aerobic and strength. The ones that put a load on bones are better for the skeleton. Swimming and bicycling (great exercise) don’t count because they don’t put that load on your bones. Exercise info    www.nof.org/exercise

To see the full report you need to be a subscriber to Nutrition Action Health Letter which is published by The Center for Science in the Public Interest. www.nutritionaction.com