Osteoporosis Prevention: What You Can Do Right Now

How can we prevent osteoporosis as we age? Lynette Sheppard provides some useful tips.

According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation,

Women can lose up to 20% of their bone density in the 5 to 7 years after menopause.

Preventing Osteoporosis: What You Can Do Right Now — Lynette Sheppard, Aspen, Summer Trees

So it makes sense to prevent bone loss before approaching menopausal age.

The most important preventative and restorative measures are actually quite simple.

You can start this regimen right now.

Exercise

Weight bearing exercise is critical for bone health. Walking, jogging, and lifting small weights are ideal. Swimming and biking are great aerobically, but do not provide as much weight bearing exercise.

Balance exercises such as yoga and tai chi can help you guard against falls.

Exercise Combats Depression

Vitamin D

Osteoporosis Prevention Max Ernst 1891-1976 — Max Ernst 1891-1976

The easiest, most natural way of getting Vitamin D is through exposure to sunshine. UVB rays (ultraviolet radiation) turn cholesterol in our skin to Vitamin D.

Obviously, we don’t want to burn our skin or increase our risk of skin cancer. However, sunshine does have significant health benefits. Vitamin D not only promotes bone health, but may exert a protective effect against multiple diseases and conditions such as cancer, type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.

Worried about skin damage with sun exposure? There is a middle ground. Apply a sunscreen with a sun protection factor (SPF) of at least 15 when you’re outside for an extended period and weari a hat and shirt around midday.

You may also want to take Vitamin D3 supplements, especially if you live in northern latitudes. Scientists don’t yet know the optimal daily dose of vitamin D for each person. Most multivitamin products contain between 600 and 800 IU of vitamin D. Up to 4,000 IU of vitamin D a day is considered safe for most people.

Calcium

Calcium is tricky these days. Calcium supplements have been linked to heart disease especially in women (Anderson et al., 2016). There is also a link to kidney stone formation (Sorensen, 2014). So, unless you have low calcium diagnosed by a physician, you may not wish to take additional calcium supplements. Instead, get your intake from food sources of calcium:

dark, green, leafy vegetables
dairy products
canned salmon or sardines with bones
tofu.

The Institute of Medicine recommends that total calcium intake, from supplements and diet combined, should be no more than 2,000 milligrams daily for people older than 50.

Prunes

That’s right, prunes. Turns out that prunes increased bone density in post menopausal women in two key studies (Hooshmand et al., 2016; Rendina et al., 2013). So run out to the store and buy some prunes (or dried plums as they are sometimes called).

Don’t smoke

Smoking accelerates bone loss and increases the possibility of experiencing a fracture.

Osteoporosis Prevention What You Can Do Right Now2

Limit alcohol intake

Consumption of more than two drinks of alcohol a day has been associated with bone loss (Berg et al., 2008).

Testing

Get a baseline bone scan if you are post menopausal. Mild osteopenia is common post menopause and many effects can be ameliorated by the modalities listed above. If the scan shows abnormalities, discuss remedies with your physician.

Remember, it’s never too late to prevent osteoporosis and maintain a healthy bone regimen.

For more on prevention visit

International Osteoporosis Foundation
The National Osteoporosis Foundation (USA)
The National Osteoporosis Society (UK)

References

vitamin_d_cover__40709-1459364012-220-290 — Buy it here

Anderson, J.J.B., Kruszka, B., Delaney, J. A.C, Ka He, Burke, G. L., Alonso, A., Bild, D.E., Budoff, M., Michos, E. D. Calcium intake from diet and supplements and the risk of coronary artery calcification and its progression among older adults: 10‐Year follow‐up of the multi‐ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA). (2016). Journal of the American Heart Association, 5:e003815.
Berg, K.M., Kunins, H.V., Jackson, J.L., Nahvi, S., Chaudhry, A., Harris, K.A., … Arnsten, J.H. (2008). Association Between Alcohol Consumption and Both Osteoporotic Fracture and Bone Density. The American Journal of Medicine, 121(5), 406–418.
Hooshmand, S., Kern, M., Metti, D., Shamloufard, P., Chai, S.C., Johnson, S.A. Payton, M.E, Armando, B.H. (2016). The effect of two doses of dried plum on bone density and bone biomarkers in osteopenic postmenopausal women: a randomized, controlled trial. Osteoporosis Int., 27(7), 2271-2279.
Rendina, E., Hembree, K.D., Davis, M. R., Marlow, D., Clarke, S.L., Halloran, B.P., … Smith, B.J. (2013). Dried Plum’s Unique Capacity to Reverse Bone Loss and Alter Bone Metabolism in Postmenopausal Osteoporosis Model. PLoS ONE, 8(3), e60569.
Sorensen, M.D. (2014). Calcium intake and urinary stone disease. Translational Andrology and Urology, 3(3), 235–240.

Lynette Sheppard is a former Nurse-Manager, head of Intensive Care and Coronary Care units in Santa Rosa, California for 10+ years, with a focus on both allopathic and alternative medicine. She is the author of Becoming a Menopause Goddess and blogs at Menopause Goddess.