Breast cancer awareness is not the only health issue that is celebrated in the month of October. October 20th marked a day of recognition regarding Osteoporosis, a bone disease that involves a lack of bone production or an overall weakening of the bones. Fortunately, this disease is largely preventable through education and some simple lifestyle changes.

What is Osteoporosis?

As stated above, it’s the weakening of your bones. However, in order to understand how this occurs, it’s important to understand the structure of your bones. If you place the material that makes up your bones under a microscope, you can see that the inner workings of it looks like a honeycomb. That are gaps and holes all throughout the inside of a bone. They’re actually porous. This allows your bones to have a little give to them, but still remain incredibly sturdy overall.

For someone who suffers from Osteoporosis, the gaps in the bones are much larger than the average person’s. This severely increases one’s chances of breaking a bone, because the structural integrity of their bones is compromised. The density is much less, leaving them with a higher chance of fractures and broken bones.

This can also occur in your vertebrae. As a result, people may lose height and their posture may become slightly bent or hunched over. This may lead to chronic pain and a lack of mobility. It’s easy to look upon Osteoporosis and think, “If I just don’t fall and stay careful, I shouldn’t have to worry about it,” and that is incorrect. This is a disease that slowly sneaks up on you and can greatly reduce your quality of life if you’re not monitoring it. Luckily, there are ways to prevent it or even reverse it.

Lifestyle Changes

There are medications that you can take to help reduce the rate at which your bone’s lose their mass and density. However, there are also lifestyle changes you can make in order to reverse the effects of Osteoporosis without having to take prescribed medicine. They are:

Exercise
It may seem counterproductive forcing yourself to lift weights when your bones are in a weakened state. However, your bones can become stronger, much like your muscles, by working out. Weight-bearing exercises force your body to work against gravity, with the added amount of pounds your placing on yourself, as well as your overall body mass. That means when you remove the added weight, your body is much more comfortable supporting itself. By doing repetitions of weight bearing exercises, you’re increasing your mobility and reducing your chances of falling.

Diet
To reduce or reverse Osteoporosis, your body needs a steady intake of Vitamin D and Calcium. These two supplements complement each other. Calcium helps your bones replace and repair themselves, but if your body doesn’t have enough Vitamin D, it can’t absorb as much calcium it needs. They work as a one-two punch, so make sure you’re eating foods that include both. This includes fish, dairy, egg yolks, and even some breakfast cereals that are fortified with Vitamin D.

It’s also important to watch the amount of alcohol you drink. It can mess with the balance of calcium in your body and the hormones that regulate vitamins for healthy production of bones. Not to mention, intoxication throws off your balance and makes you more susceptible to falls. It’s a good idea to drink in moderation when it comes to your bone health.

Celebrate World Osteoporosis Day

Your skeleton is very important, but it’s easy to forget about taking care of it. However, by understanding the structure of your bones, the significance of exercise, and the proper diet to maintain it, you’ll be celebrating this holiday the right way!