Maintaining Healthy Bones

Why is excercise important in building and maintaining bone mass?

Why is diet important in maintaining healthy bones?

Health food supplements for bone health

Why is Exercise Important in Building and Maintaining Bone Mass? (top)
Bones can adjust their mass or density in response to stress - what this means is that when bones are subjected to exercise, they will bend slightly to absorb the impact. Normally, bones have movement of about 0.1% - 0.15%; if the bones are subjected to a force that tries to bend the bones more than this, our body responds by adding extra new bone to that area. When less stress is sensed by our bodies, bone mass is removed.

In simple terms, the more we gently stress our bones, the more bone is deposited to keep the degree of bend within the 0.1% - 0.15% parameters. Consequently, the more physically active we are, the more bone we will build, and a greater amount of essential nutrients such as Calcium, Magnesium and Vitamin D will be required. In general, active people need to build and replace more bone than people who do little exercise.

Why is Diet Important in Maintaining Healthy Bones? (top)
The process of building, replacing and repairing bone is controlled by many different factors and, like all living tissues, bone is just as dependent on proper nutrition as other tissues in the body.

Our bodies need a wide range of different nutrients, vitamins and minerals to maintain healthy bones, the most important of which are Calcium, Magnesium, and Vitamin D. Trace minerals such as Boron and Manganese also play a role in calcium metabolism. Vitamin B6 is also used to provide tensile strength and structure of proteins in bone tissue.

Food Supplements for Bone Health

Calcium

Vitamin D
Magnesium
Boron

Calcium (top)

Calcium is the key component of bone, and essential for bone health throughout our lives. Consumed calcium is ionised in our stomachs by the action of stomach acid, so that it is converted into a form that can be readily absorbed in the small intestine for use by our bodies. The amount of Calcium needed in our diets may vary according to our age, sex and lifestyle. Currently, the Recommended Daily Intake - the amount required to avoid deficiency - in the UK and Europe is 800 mg/day, although some expert groups suggest higher levels may be appropriate for optimum bone health, depending on age, lifestyle or other health factors.

*Taken from recommendations of

The National Osteoporosis Society

A Healthy Calcium Diet (top)

The table below gives an approximation of the calcium content of common, calcium rich foods. Sometimes for reasons of dietary choice or lifestyle (such as people who are following a calorie restricted diet or weight loss programmes), individuals may find it difficult to maintain an optimally balanced diet that provides enough caclium for their individual needs. These people may wish to supplement their diet with Food Supplements, or may be advised to do so by their health professional. 

Whilst it is important to ensure your diet has enough calcium to support healthy bones, it is not advisable to exceed 2000mg/day and there is evidence to suggest that some people (such as men suffering from prostate cancer) should make sure that their calcium intake is kept at close to RDA levels.  For this reason, it is important for individuals to assess their own diet and lifestyle, and adopt a level of supplementation to bring their intake in line with optimal levels of calcium required for healthy bones for their own individual circumstances.  For some people this may mean finding a supplement that provides 50% of the daily calcium requirement to top up or add to existing intakes.

Vitamin D (top)
Vitamin D is necessary for healthy bones and teeth, as well as having a role in blood cell formation, nervous system maintenance, and in maintaining adequate levels of insulin in our blood.

The most important role of Vitamin D is in maintaining blood levels of calcium, which it does by increasing calcium absorption and uptake from food, as well as controlling how much calcium we lose in our urine. When more calcium is needed than is available to us in our diet, Vitamin D transfers calcium from our bones to our bloodstream.

Dietary sources:- Much of our vitamin D is synthesised in our skin on exposure to sunlight - however we may also need additional supplies in our diet. The Recommended Daily Allowance (EU) which is defined as the amount required to prevent deficiency, is 5 mcg / day. Dietary traces of Vitamin D are found in avacado, egg yolks, butter and fish oil.

Supplements: - Vitamin D may be included in a multi-vitamin supplement, and should be included in supplements specifically made to support healthy bones.

Magnesium (top)
Magnesium is an important cofactor for several enzymes in the body that are involved in maintenance of normal nerve and muscle function, energy metabolism and the formation of bones. About 60% of the magnesium in our body can be found in our bones. Magnesium can help increase calcium absorption and helps to maintain bone density.

Dietary sources: - good sources are artichokes, nuts, beans and shellfish.
The Recommended Daily Allowance (EU) is 300mg/day, and is defined as the amount required to prevent deficiency

Supplements:- Magnesium may be included in some multi-mineral supplements, and should be included in supplements to support healthy bones.

Boron (top)
Boron is a trace mineral that plays a role in helping calcium absorption and reduces the amount of calcium excreted in the urine.

Dietary sources: - Cabbage is a good source of dietary Boron The RDA has not yet been established.