How To Build Healthy And Strong Bones Early In Life

Anything that is strong needs a basic framework to stand upon. That basic framework could either work like the foundation of a building or like the skeleton in our body. What is interesting about the skeleton in our body is that even though we build up our bones till almost the age of 30, there is always more addition of tiny bone cells going on in our body. And yet, we find that as we grow old, our body seems to forget this fact and lose the bone density. This is because after achieving the peak bone mass for our body, our body tends to lose more bone cells than it adds. The equilibrium is disturbed which causes us to feel pain in our bones and feel like we have an inability to keep them all together.

In our youth, we may never give a second thought to osteoporosis or our bones growing weak, we all know in the back of our minds that when we will get to that ripe old age of mid 70s, we will have to face the demon of weak bones. You can prepare yourself in your youth so that you do not have to face that problem so adversely but know that one day or the other you will have to face it. You could be lucky as to never having to face the problem and having healthy bones but it is more about preparation than about luck. You should know your family history because it all boils down to your genes. Having weak bones in old age is just like any other disease when it comes to family history.

There are other factors as well which can help you build strong and healthy bones. You can increase your calcium intake, a mineral which is very important for the development of teeth and bones. You need to pair up calcium-rich foods with foods rich in Vitamin D, as Vitamin D helps in the absorption of calcium in our body which consequently goes to our skeletal system’s development. You can also boost your bone density by increasing your intake of foods rich in Vitamin K as it reduces the amount of calcium that is excreted out of our body, making it available for re-absorption. Adding potassium-rich foods in the diet can decrease the acidic buildup in our body as it neutralizes the acids that remove calcium from our body.

Aside from the diet, there are other basic things that you should do to maintain a healthy body, which also help in maintaining healthy bones. You should exercise more. Weight-bearing exercises like running, walking, jumping rope, skiing, and stair climbing keep bones strongest. Decrease the amount of caffeine that you take as it decreases the body’s capacity to absorb calcium. Excessive alcohol consumption can also lead to fragile bones but moderate drinking can actually boost the bone build-up. Quit smoking as it prevents the body from efficiently absorbing calcium.