Protecting Aging Bones

Having healthy bones is essential for good health, particularly for senior citizens. Poor bone health means an increased risk for fractures.

Too many people think that having a stooped back or a broken hip is a natural part of aging. It does not have to be that way. It is most important to exercise good bone health practices from an early age, but it is possible for senior citizens to improve their bone health later in life.

Why Bone Health Is Important

The bones protect the vital organs and allow the body to move. Bones are a living tissue that constantly rebuild and remodel themselves throughout life. This is why bones heal after a break. To create strong, hard bones, three minerals are required: calcium, phosphorous, and protein. Because the body does not create its own calcium, it needs to be included in the diet. Bone strength reaches its peak in the early thirties.

After that point, the bones begin to lose their calcium, which makes bones less dense and weaker. This happens in both men and women, but it hits women especially hard after menopause because at that time, women stop producing the hormone estrogen. This hormone helps to keep calcium in the bones. The loss of calcium due to the loss of estrogen is called osteoporosis, and it causes the fracture threshold of the bone to drop considerably. This is why women so often break bones during a simple fall.

Keeping Bones Healthy

There are ways for senior citizens to keep their bones healthy and restoring strength to them, even though they never will be as strong as they were in youth. The two most important things a senior citizen can do to protect bone health is to eat a good diet, that includes a lot of calcium-rich foods, and exercise.

Weight-bearing exercises are best for building stronger bones. These exercises include walking, jogging, golf, tennis, and bowling. Strength training exercises are very good, too. Lifting weights or doing bicep curls with soup cans can even help build strong bones. It is simply a matter of making the bones work against the weight. Swimming, while not a weight-bearing exercise, is always good because it helps agility.

A bone-healthy diet includes calcium-fortified foods such as dairy products and broccoli, regular servings of meat or fish, adequate amounts of Vitamin D, decreased intake of alcohol, coffee, and fiber, and limiting salt.