Osteoporosis: walking is not enough.

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is where we lose bone density and our bones become more brittle and weaker. This makes us prone to bone fractures from a simple bump or a minor fall. The most common areas of Osteoporosis are hips, spine, and wrist….. not the type of bones you want to break when you are over 50.

Exercise can help….but is walking enough?

Most of us know that one of the things we should do to help prevent Osteoporosis is weight bearing activity.
Walking is a weight bearing activity and is a popular form of exercise but it doesn’t really do much to place a stress or load on your bones.
Walking can be more effective if you do a hilly course at an honest pace, include some stair climbing or include some short sections of jogging.
If you are noticeably overweight then walking a flat course may work as your bones will be carrying a load and “bearing weight”.
If the stairs or jogging are not your thing then you should add some strength training to your exercise schedule.
Strength training can work your whole body and with the right exercise selection you will get many more health benefits than just “weight bearing “exercise for bone density.

Women and men.

Women are more prone to Osteoporosis than men because after menopause women have a more significant drop in their hormone levels than what men do. By the age of 70 though men and women have about the same rate of bone loss.

3 things you can control.

When you are over 50 to get or keep strong bones and help prevent Osteoporosis there are some lifestyle factors that you can control and it is generally accepted you need these three things:

1. Bones…. They need a stress or load placed on them.
2. Calcium…. Women and men over 50 yo need about 1300mg per day. Dairy products and canned fish with bones are excellent sources of calcium and the nutrition labels will show how much calcium they have.
3. Vitamin D…. Sunshine is the best source.Depending on your skin type 5-10 min sun exposure on the arms in Summer and 7-30 min in Winter.

Famous people who have had Osteoporosis: Sally Field, Britt Eckland, and Kirk Pengilly (INXS) was diagnosed when he was 37yo.

Thanks to Osteoporosis Australia for their information.