Today it seems that every woman is concerned about bone health. Recently, on a commercial for a popular osteoporosis medicine, the actress stated that one morning a month was plenty for setting aside time to take something for bone health. If you choose your foods with bone health in mind, you may not have to set aside any time to think about it at all.
What is the # 1 reason you have bones? Would you answer "To hold you up and help you move"? That is actually the # 2 reason.
The primary reason for the bones in your body is to provide a massive warehouse of calcium and other minerals to support life. There is more calcium in the body than all other minerals combined. When blood calcium levels go up, your body can immediately store the extra in this bony warehouse. When blood calcium levels drop, your body can go right to that warehouse and liberate calcium to stabilize the blood.
Calcium supplements are sold more than any other mineral, but there is so much more involved in getting calcium from the gut to the bones than simply taking a supplement. Calcium is absorbed and stored in a 3-part process:
The first step is to put good calcium and mineral rich foods in your body. Minerals come from the earth. Your best source of nutrition is from nutritious foods grown and produced in earth that is fertile and not laden with chemical pesticides and other artificial soil support.
When calcium enters the stomach, it can either be absorbed, or not. The key ingredient to absorption is stomach acid. A person using acid-blockers and antacids may be unable to absorb the minerals they need. Many people believe that because they have to take antacids, they have too much stomach acid already--this has been shown quite often not to be the case.
Once the calcium has been absorbed by the GI tract, vitamin D steps in and puts the calcium into the blood. Like a truck delivering and receiving goods at the warehouse --Vitamin D is responsible for transportation in both directions. When calcium is needed in the blood, it will activate the transportation. If there is none available in gut from food, it will take it from the body tissue to get what the blood needs.
The third part of the process is almost always missed in any discussion of bone health, and that is the role that fats play. You cannot transport calcium into body tissue without essential fatty acids. They do the work of the final step. Specific fats, known as Omega 3 fatty acids, particularly those found in cod liver oil, are important in building strong bones. Cod liver oil also has vitamin D needed to transport calcium.
Your diet should include all the nutrition you need for good bone health. If it does, then you can think about your summer holiday, rather than worrying about osteoporosis, or taking medication.
nwhic.com
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