In this medical health video learn how nutrition can directly affect Osteoporosis.
Read the full transcript »
Nutrition and Osteoporosis Shahram Hormozi: About 10 million Americans suffer from osteoporosis, about 34 million Americans have a reduction in their bone mass. People at greatest risk are postmenopausal women. Women are four times at the risk. Caucasians thin females are more prone to osteoporosis and people who lead a lifestyle that's sanitary and don't engage in weight-bearing exercises are more prone to developing osteoporosis in their living life. Jennifer Williams: Osteoporosis is a bone disorder in which you see demineralization of the bones. So the bones become more porous and more subject to fracture overtime. It's most commonly seen with aging so as we aged we have an increased risk for bone loss. It's also common in patients who have chronic illness who receive steroids and any inflammatory illness. Shahram Hormozi: Histologically, there is a reduction in the mineralization of the bone as well as the reduction in the tubercle of the bone and the size of the tubercle in the bones. It is usually diagnosed radiologically. Jennifer Williams: People at the greatest risk for suffering from osteoporosis would likely be the elderly postmenopausal women and anyone who takes chronic steroids. Shahram Hormozi: We usually start seeing osteoporosis in the postmenopausal period. So patients who are -- people who are hitting that age and are going through the changes should start having their bone mineral density checked and supplement to their calcium and vitamin D and take if needed. Jennifer Williams: The nutrients most important to bone health are calcium and vitamin D. Some other nutrients involved in bone health are vitamin K, vitamin A, fluoride and magnesium. And the best way to ensure that patients receive adequate nutrients for bone health are to eat a variety of dairy foods. So dairy foods like milk and yogurts and cheeses are probably your higher sources of calcium and vitamin D. You can get some vitamin D and calcium from dark green leafy vegetables like spinach or kale or collard greens but those sources of calcium are not as readily absorbable in the GI tract as dairy or animal sources. Shahram Hormozi: Osteoporosis and bone mineralization is exclusively controlled by hormones and minerals within the body and intake of adequate supplements. Vitamin D and calcium are in direct control and contributes greatly to the mineralization and the buildup of bone, and they are crucial and essential for healthy bone buildup. Jennifer Williams: Calcium and vitamin D supplementation can be beneficial for the prevention of osteoporosis but even if you've already been diagnose with osteoporosis, calcium and vitamin D supplementation are good for avoiding progression of the disease. So you can still optimized some of your bone density with adequate calcium supplementation. Shahram Hormozi: Vitamin D and calcium are the two biggest nutrient factors in bone buildup and they are published Recommended Daily Allowances of both agents. At this time, the Recommended Daily Allowance of vitamin D is 400 International Units per day. There are lot of experts who think this is too little and they are pushing for change to about 1,000 to 1,200 International Units per day. In terms of calcium, it depends on age. In the younger age, the Recommended Daily Allowance is about 1,500. Once you reach adulthood, it's about 1,000 milligrams a day and once you become older and therefore more prone to osteoporosis, the Recommended Daily Allowance goes about 1,200, 12 grams a day. Jennifer Williams: So the best food sources are mostly your dairy products; low fat milk and yogurt, low fat cheeses. Ice-cream can be a great source but it's also loaded with saturated fats, so you want to try and stick with your low fat dairy sources. As far as vegetarian sources, the best vegetarian sources are your dark green vegetables. Predominantly, the leafy vegetables like kale or collard greens, mustard greens, beet greens, any of your dark green, leafy greens. Unfor
Copyright © 2005 - 2014 Healthline Networks, Inc. All rights reserved for Healthline.