STAY STRONGER LONGER

    No one expects to break a body bone but when one of the 206 bones in our bodies snaps, everything changes.  A break may mean doctor’s appointments, x-rays, perhaps surgery, physical therapy, a cast, or even more surgery, physical therapy, and months of limited mobility.  If you are over age 40, you may feel concern that this fracture may point to many more to come.  What you fear is osteoporosis, the disease that leaves your bones brittle and prone to more fractures or broken bones.  Eight million women and two million men who are over 50 have osteoporosis and another 34 million have osteopenia, a stage of bone decline that leads to full-blown osteoporosis.  But there is a protection plan.

   The most effective way to protect bones is to make sure you are getting enough calcium during your lifetime.  Dairy products like fat-free milk and yogurt are excellent sources.  If you are lactose intolerant, go to other sources like canned sardines and salmon, cheddar cheese, and tofu (if prepared with calcium sulfate).  “Each body can handle up to 600 mg in one 8 hour period and absorbs only about 30 % of that.  This comes close to the daily amount required “according to Ethel Siris, MD.  It should be noted that calcium carbonate should be taken with meals,” says Director of the Osteoporosis at Columbia Medical Center in New York City.  Calcium citrate can be taken any time of the day. At elevated levels the mineral can cause kidney stones and a slightly heightened chance of heart attack.

   Three ounces of fish includes 21 g of protein, a cup of low-fat milk also provides 305 mg of calcium.  Tofu prepared with calcium sulfate is a good non-dairy source of the mineral.  Fat-free plain yogurt has 452 mg of calcium.  An egg yolk contains 100 % of your daily vitamin D needs..  Manufacturers sometimes fortify orange juice with calcium.  Some cereals are enriched with both calcium and vitamin D.  You can’t absorb calcium without vitamin D.  A glass of vitamin D-fortified milk has about l20 IU.  Vitamin D in it and is synthesized by the skin when sunlight touches it.  A blood test can confirm if you are getting enough vitamin D so stick to a limit of 4,000 units of vitamin D daily, but best to stay under that unless diagnosed with a severe deficiency.  Dr. Siris recommends a supplement with 400 IU of vitamin D (as cholecalciferol).  When you increase protein intake for a woman up to 154 pounds (to 77 grams per day) a multi-university study published in Aging Health showed 56 grams.  Add another 21 g a day to improve bone strength with – poultry, fish, lentils and beans.