Did you know approximately one in two women over age 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis?
Even though osteoporosis is common - 80% of osteoporosis patients are women - many are still not aware of it.
Osteoporosis is a condition that weakens bones, making them fragile and more likely to break.
It develops slowly over several years and is often only diagnosed when a fall or sudden impact causes a bone to break (fracture).
There are many factors at play here! Many think "age" is the biggest factor, as our bones tend to weaken over time.
However, your gender plays a colossal role. Why?
First and foremost...
Women tend to reach their peak bone mass around the age of 25 to 30 years (the skeleton stops growing and the bones are their strongest & thickest). Even then, women tend to have smaller, thinner bones than men.
Secondly, this get's worse after menopause!
The hormone, estrogen, plays an important role in maintaining bone strength. However, during menopause - the estrogen level drops, resulting in increased bone loss.
In fact, if your peak bone mass before menopause is less than ideal, any bone loss that occurs around menopause may result in osteoporosis.
There typically are no symptoms in the early stages of bone loss. However, once your bones have been weakened by osteoporosis, you might have signs and symptoms that include:
Here are a few lifestyle changes you might want to start working on (even before menopause, if possible) to help reduce the risk of osteoporosis during menopause!
Orthopaedics recommend 1,300 mg of dietary calcium intake every day.
That's basically consuming 84 grams of Parmesan cheese daily (as 28 grams has 331mg of Calcium).
Other calcium rich foods include - greek yoghurt, sardine, salmon, poppy seed, chia seed, beans, lentils, almonds, whey protein, tofu and more!
Maintaining adequate vitamin D levles helps the body absorb calcium better.
Vitamin D is mainly produced in the skin following sun exposure, and is found in very small amounts in foods like - salmon, herring, sardines, cod liver oil, canned tuna, egg yolks and mushrooms.
If you want to know more; here's an article that explains more about how you can fight Vitamin D deficiency.
Doing most type of physical activity most days of the week for 30 to 40 minutes is recommended.
This will help reduce bone loss, improve muscle strength, and also reduce the incidence of falls and fracture.
There are two main types of physical activities that are most beneficial to the bones:
(1) Weight bearing exercise
This refers to any exercise where your feet and legs bear your body weight. Example, walking, running, aerobics, tennis, etc.
Studies have shown a drastic improvement in bone mass when this activity is performed at high intensity.
(2) Resistance training exercise
This is a type of "strength-training" exercise. Unlike weight bearing, this includes some kind of weight like - machines, dumbbells, ankle or wrist weights - to create resistance.
This helps to build muscle mass and places a force on the bones of the involved body part.
Your doctor can prescribe & recommend you some over-the-counter treatments that may help. Such as:
Other than medication, doctors may suggest other techniques that can help ease your pain!
Yes, other than using pain relieve medicine, there are natural "alternative" that can help relieve the symptoms of osteoporosis.
Turmeric contains a compound called curcumin, which helps to build and repair bone mass.
Researchers in UK have stated that consuming 1,500 mg of curcumin for 12 months, can improve your bone density by upto 7%.
This herb has been used by Native American's as medicine for years! It contains phytoestrogen that prevents bone loss.
An animal study done in 2008 found that black cohosh promotes bone formation and improves bone density as well.
So, even though Osteoporosis sounds like a scary menopausal symptom. It is definitely manageable in the long run. We just need to start early!
Just reach out to your doctor and ask them for an X-ray & bone density test today!
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Provitalize has natural herbs like turmeric and moringa leaf, it gives your body phytoestrogens, which works exactly like estrogen in the body, effectively replenishing your estrogen levels in your body and reducing menopause symptoms like osteoporosis, joint pain, weight gain and more...
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A healthy gut also helps to boost estrogen levels, promoting stronger bones and reducing your risk of osteoporosis.
We’ve also added absorption boosters like piperine extract to boost the effectiveness of all the natural herbs and probiotics in Provitalize.