It’s important to maintain bone health

“What do you think it would be like if you did not have any bones in your body,” I asked a group of fourth-grade students. The students proceeded to slump down in their chairs or fall limp to the floor. They understood the importance of our bones in giving our bodies structure and support. Some of them went on to say we would not be able to walk or get out of bed in the morning if we did not have bones. They also understood the important role bones play in our movement.

Because bones are such an integral part of our bodies, it is important to maintain good bone health. We can do this through diet and exercise.

There are many nutrients that contribute to bone health. The most well-known is calcium. Calcium helps our bones by giving them strength and density. We can get calcium in our diets from eating a variety of calcium-rich foods such as milk, cheese, yogurt, sardines, fortified orange juice, collard greens, spinach and broccoli.

Vitamin D is another important nutrient for bone health. Vitamin D helps our bodies to absorb the calcium. Without this vitamin, our bones can become thin or brittle. Vitamin D is not found naturally in foods in very large quantities, so we must consume it from foods that have added Vitamin D (such as milk) or from supplements. Our bodies also make Vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. However, people who live in the northern part of our country do not have adequate exposure to sunlight to produce enough of this vitamin.

Vitamin K can also play an important role in your bone health. Studies have found that maintaining adequate amounts of Vitamin K can reduce your risk for bone fractures. Foods that contain Vitamin K include kale, spinach, collard greens, Swiss chard, Brussels sprouts, parsley, romaine lettuce, and broccoli.

In addition to these, and other nutrients, weight-bearing exercise is a way to keep your bones healthy and strong. Weight-bearing exercise is any exercise that puts weight or force on your bones. Walking, jogging, weight-lifting, dancing, and climbing stairs are all examples of weight-bearing exercise. Swimming, while an excellent exercise for heart-health, is not a weight-bearing exercise because of the buoyancy in the water.

Maintaining a healthy diet and getting an adequate amount of exercise can help strengthen your bones and reduce your risk of developing bone diseases such as rickets, osteopenia, osteoporosis, and osteogenesis imperfecta.

For more information on this topic, please contact Christina Rittenbach, Stutsman County Extension agent, at 252-9030 or christina.rittenbach@ndsu.edu.

Tags: life, health