If You Don’t Take Care of Your Body, Where Are You Going To Live?

True in the 1960’s – even more true today.  We expect to live into our 80’ and 90’s.  We expect to enjoy those extra years.  We can, with a little planning and action NOW.

If YOU don’t take care of your body, where ARE you going to live?  That is the real question.  Women start to rapidly lose bone at Menopause.  This is totally natural and used to be unavoidable.  Without action on your part, you could develop Clinical Osteoporosis and Fractures and wind up in a nursing home.  You can avoid these complications of natural aging.

Cedar Valley Bone Health Institute of Iowa offers a Complete Bone Health Evaluation.  DXA, VFA, specific blood tests not usually done in annual check-ups, full history, an examination and full consultation usually take 30 minutes focused on bone health alone.  We can Prevent Osteoporosis if we start early enough.  Prevention is far better than treatment, and ideally should start decades before menopause.

You must be prepared to Take Control of those issues you can control:  Calcium, Vitamin D, Protein, Vitamins & Minerals, and Exercises for Balance, Strengthening and Posture.  Everyone should do these Natural measures for best results, whether taking Osteoporosis Medications or not.  For younger persons and for some individuals over 50, they are enough all by themselves.

Calcium is best absorbed when eaten in foods.  You want to consume 400-500 mg  in each meal to get 1200 mg every day.  If you do not get enough calcium in your diet alone, Calcium Citrate pills are much better absorbed than Calcium Carbonate pills, if you take antacids or are over 50.  Adora Premium Chocolates are a delicious way to get 500 mg calcium in only 30 calories.

Your skin can make Vitamin D3 from the Sun at mid-day in the summer.  Doing that risks Skin Cancer because you cannot use sun block if you want to make Vitamin D.  The sun is high enough above the horizon only 5 months of the year in Iowa.  Plus, we lose our ability to make enough Vitamin D as we grow older.  Over half of Iowans are low on Vitamin D as summer ends in September.  7 out of 8 Iowans are low by mid April when we can first get a few minutes a day of Vitamin D.

New studies presented at National Osteoporosis Foundation and American Society for Bone & Mineral Research meetings in the last 3 years have shown we need much more Vitamin D than we thought just 3 yers ago.  The easiest and safest move is to take extra Vitamin D3.  The amount of D3 in your multiple vitamins and minerals, in your calcium supplements, and in your milk combined are rarely enough.  Test for 25-hydroxy Vitamin D Level, in order to tell if you are taking enough to get between 40 and 80 ng/ml in your blood.

Bones and muscles are both well over 80% Protein.  (Calcium is added for stiffness in bone.)  Protein need not be from animals, but getting enough protein in a vegetarian diet takes constant attention.  Most people should get 1 gram of protein for every kilogram of their body weight.  An easy calculator and advice on where to get protein, as well as calcium and vitamin D3 can be found on my blog site www.BoneDocBlog.com.

Vitamins & Minerals from a diet of many different fresh fruits and vegetables is tedious and difficult.  I prefer a Multiple Vitamin & Mineral Supplement as an easy way to be certain I have optimal levels of all those trace nutrients.

Daily Exercises for Balance, Strengthening and Conditioning of your whole body, are important.  Include specific Postural Exercises to maintain upright posture of your spine.  This decreases the chance of developing “humpback” or kyphosis in later years.  A minimum of 20- to 30 minutes daily standing and walking is needed, along with specific exercises for balance.

While women are more likely to have bone health issues and fractures, you are not alone.  One-quarter of all Clinical Osteoporosis patients are men.  Talk to the men in your life about bone health.  Make sure they, and your daughters, are following the guidelines above.

Take Control of your Bone Health.  Start today by getting a Complete Bone Health Evaluation.  I have never evaluated anyone for bone health and not found at least one detail that we could improve upon.  Go to www.BoneDocBlog.com, www.CVBoneHealth.com, or call 319-233-BONE (2663) for further information.

Jay Ginther, MD

Categorised in: Osteoporosis