| Do you remember your mother telling you to finish | | | | told you, the best time to build strong healthy bones |
| your glass of milk before you could be excused from | | | | is in childhood, but lifelong calcium intake can help to |
| the dinner table? Did she also tell you to finish your | | | | make up for any early deficiencies. |
| plate of spinach if you wanted muscles like Popeye? | | | | The Surgeon General recommends eating vegetable |
| Good old Mom; she was right, you know! Research | | | | protein sources like beans, nuts, seeds and green |
| has always supported the health benefits of including | | | | vegetables. These are the most favorable sources of |
| calcium and certain nutrients into our daily meals. | | | | protein to insure bone health. Vegetarian diets should |
| Research findings also support the role that protein | | | | be designed so that adequate protein intake is |
| plays for living a healthy lifestyle. As we age, keeping | | | | consumed. Grains, rice and potatoes are not enough. |
| adequate amounts of protein in our diets is | | | | Experts also say that supplements or some animal |
| necessary for bone health. | | | | products may help in maintaining muscle and bone |
| The Bony Facts | | | | mass. It will also prevent frailty. Keep in mind that the |
| Bone is a living tissue, and it's responsible for | | | | diets should be designed for the elderly. Animal |
| supporting and protecting other organs as well as | | | | products should not be the major source of protein |
| storing minerals and helping us with movement. As | | | | in the diet. |
| we age, it is inevitable that we feel the effects of | | | | Studies on Protein intake |
| daily stress and wear and tear. For example, your | | | | This research study was conducted over a 7- 10 |
| back might ache after sleeping or a knee might throb | | | | year period and followed 1000 elderly women. The |
| after a daily jog. Mother Time can't be stopped from | | | | study found increase bone loss and risk of hip |
| visiting, but you can prepare for her arrival. Being | | | | fracture in those with a higher ratio of animal protein |
| proactive is one way to insure that your bones will | | | | to vegetable protein in their diet. The scientists |
| last a lifetime. To prevent bone weakness and | | | | concluded that protein requirements were necessary |
| density loss, consuming the right amount of protein | | | | for maximizing bone health, but most of it should be |
| as well as exercise and living a healthy lifestyle are | | | | derived from green vegetables, beans, nuts and |
| recommended. | | | | seeds, more than an animal source. |
| What is Osteoporosis? | | | | Another study undertaken, compared protein intake |
| According to the US Department of Health & Human | | | | with bone mineral density in the heel in 75 year old |
| Services and the Office of the Surgeon General, | | | | women. They discovered at a later age, a higher |
| each year an estimated 1.5 million individuals suffer a | | | | range of protein intake (above 80 grams a day) |
| fracture due to bone disease. Osteoporosis is called a | | | | contributed to better bone density. Their study |
| silent disease because people often don't know that | | | | supports the importance to insure adequate intake of |
| they have it until they break a bone. As we age, our | | | | protein as we age. |
| bones lose density or mass. As a result, bones | | | | Conclusion |
| become weak and may break more easily. The facts | | | | Protein should be a part of our daily diet for many |
| presented by the Surgeon General suggest a serious | | | | health benefits, including good bone health. Animal |
| problem. | | | | products should not be the only source of protein. |
| Here are just a few findings, according to the US | | | | Green vegetables, beans, nuts and seed provide a |
| Department of Health and Human Services: | | | | great source, especially for the elderly. Protein |
| - There is documentation that cites alarming high | | | | supplements can be included in our maintenance |
| numbers of bone fractures in the elderly. These | | | | program, but it alone does not insure good bone |
| accidents are primarily caused by bone disease. The | | | | health. Vitamin D and other nutrients are often |
| most common cause for breaking bones is | | | | recommended because they help as we age in our |
| Osteoporosis. | | | | digestive efficiency. They also maximize the |
| - Hip replacements and reports of people over age | | | | absorption of nutrients that we have in our diet. |
| 50 having to go to an emergency due to a broken | | | | Exercise will help to maintain muscularity in later years. |
| hip is close to 10 million individuals in the United States | | | | Make no bones about it; our bones are living tissue |
| alone. | | | | that helps us function daily. Our organs, and other |
| - Researchers are predicting a rise in osteoporosis | | | | tissues and body parts rely on it for support and |
| and the risk of developing it as we age is a 50% | | | | functioning. Like our appearance, with time the bones |
| chance. | | | | change and it's a natural process that can't be |
| - It affects all genders and although it is more | | | | prevented. From the time we are born, our bones |
| prominent in women, it can also strike men. | | | | are changing. The loss of bone density is inevitable, |
| Osteoporosis puts you at a greater risk of breaking a | | | | but we can insure a lengthy life of good bones if we |
| bone from having a minor fall, bending to pick up | | | | start early on a diet of calcium and protein. If we |
| something or doing something as simple as sneezing. | | | | provide them with a little help and daily maintenance, |
| These minor accidents or everyday movements can | | | | we have the capability of having them last us a |
| cause a fracture, and this is serious. Like your mother | | | | lifetime. |