Osteoporosis is referred to as the silent disease because until a fracture happens, it has no signs or symptoms.
1 in 3 Women over 50 will experience osteoporosis fractures, compared to 1 in 5 men. Bone health is not exactly top of mind when we think of fitness… However, integrating bone density facilitators in daily diet and exercise is essential for women at any age.
Risk factors of osteoporosis (Osteoporosis Australia):
- Rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory conditions.
- Low hormone levels, early menopause.
- Conditions leading to malabsorption, e.g., celiac disease, inflammatory bowel disease.
- Thyroid conditions – overactive thyroid or parathyroid.
- Some chronic disease, e.g., chronic liver or kidney disease.
- Breast cancer
- Diabetes
- Depression
Lifestyle factors that increase the risk of osteoporosis:
- Low levels of physical activity.
- Smoking.
- Excessive alcohol intake.
- Weight – thin body build or excessive weight
If you are wondering what your osteoporosis risk is; here is a quick risk test supplied by the international osteoporosis foundation. Take the test.
The above information may see women believing that osteoporosis is inevitable. But never underestimate the power of daily exercise in promoting bone health and delaying or preventing osteoporosis.
Ladies and gents – bone health solution is daily exercise!
Bones are living tissue, like muscle they can grow or shrink. Loss of bone density occurs when bones lose minerals, such as calcium, more quickly than the body can replace them.
Sadly, weight loss activist promoting the exclusion of some wholefoods; have seen women turn away from calcium-rich dairy foods. Without an adequate replacement from non-dairy calcium-rich sources, we have seen the risk of deteriorating bone health start to rise in women.
Exercise will aid the metabolism of calcium from foods such as dairy, together with the sunshine vitamin D, exercise facilitates the bone-building process.
The best bone-building exercises are weight-bearing because these exercises force the body to work against gravity. Exercises, such as swimming or bicycling, can help build and maintain strong muscles and have excellent cardiovascular benefits. Still, they are not the best way to exercise for bone density.
Bones, like muscles, respond well when “stressed,” or in other words, when forced to bear more weight than they are used to. Some good examples are walking, running, lifting weights, jumping, or dancing.
Research into preventing or delaying osteoporosis shows that; we do not have to accept the frailty of an aging body. Daily bone building exercises allow us the choice to live life with WELLth.
Start exercising today and download your 9-minute cardio core and strength beginner workout. The link is below for you.
Live well with Health and WELLth!
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