Contents:
- Medical Video: 5 Bad Habits That Make You Vulnerable to Osteoporosis
- Habits that can be the cause of osteoporosis
- 1. Keep yourself locked up all day at home
- 2. Lazy all day long
- 3. Love to eat salty food
- 4. Drink alcoholic beverages
- 5. Smoking
Medical Video: 5 Bad Habits That Make You Vulnerable to Osteoporosis
Osteoporosis is often regarded as a disease of the elderly, because bone density will usually decrease with age. That is why, many people try to prevent osteoporosis by fulfilling calcium needs, vitamin D, and regular exercise. Even so, not many know that the activities that you often do every day can actually be a cause of osteoporosis in old age. What are you doing?
Habits that can be the cause of osteoporosis
Bone loss or osteoporosis is the loss of bone mass which makes the bones thinner. As a result, vulnerable bones are brittle, porous, and easily broken. Most people think osteoporosis is a natural disease, as part of the aging process. Though unconsciously, various daily habits at a young age have contributed to this bone damage.
1. Keep yourself locked up all day at home
Glad to be quiet one day at home because the sun looked very hot outside? Indirectly, this could be the cause of osteoporosis. Yes, the sun is known as one of the best sources of natural vitamin D to support various bodily functions.
Uniquely, vitamin D from the sun has another important task in helping calcium absorption in the body, said by Dr. Jonathan Lee, as a bone specialist at Montefiore Health System in New York. The adequacy of calcium in the body will be used to build and maintain a healthy bone structure.
So, try to take the time to "meet" the sun in the morning or evening when the sun is not too hot.
2. Lazy all day long
Bone can be regarded as an important part of the body that acts as a support in the movement of the body. That is, the more often it is used, the bone structure will certainly be good, while bone function will weaken if it is rarely used.
This is supported by a statement from Dr. Laila S. Tabatabai, an assistant lecturer at Houston Methodist and Weill Cornell Medical College. According to him, lifestyles that are lazy and tend to avoid physical movement, it will make bone function decline because it is not sharpened optimally.
In addition to exercising regularly, you can prevent bone loss by multiplying activities involving physical movements. For example, going up and down stairs, walking, or taking the time to clean up the house rather than having to lie down all day on the bed or watching TV all day.
3. Love to eat salty food
Bone Specialist from Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, Dr. Frederick Singer explained that it turned out that there was a relationship between high salt intake and decreased bone density.
The amount of salt can usually be calculated from the amount of sodium contained in it. Now, when sodium levels in the body increase, the body will automatically release more calcium through urine.
As evidenced by the Linus Pauling Institute, a research institute located at Oregon State University in the United States, adult women run the risk of losing about one percent bone density each year, just because they consume one gram of sodium per day.
4. Drink alcoholic beverages
It's best to start reducing the habit of drinking alcohol if you don't want to experience osteoporosis. Yes, drinking alcohol is one of several habits that cause osteoporosis because it can interfere with the work of the digestive system in absorbing calcium.
Alcohol will also affect the function of the pancreas and liver, thus affecting calcium and vitamin D levels in the body. In fact, the hormone cortisol will increase accompanied by a decrease in the hormones estrogen and testosterone which further weakens bone density.
5. Smoking
According to the National Institute of Health of the Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center, states that smokers have a much lower bone density than non-smokers.
The reason is because cigarettes produce free radicals which are dangerous compounds that cause disease. These free radicals can kill cell components that are supposed to build healthy bones, explained by Dr. Edward Domurat, an endocrinologist at Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center. Similar to alcohol, smoking can also increase the production of the hormone cortisol which can weaken bone work.
Now, from now on try to implement a healthy lifestyle that can support bone function. Instead, avoid various habits that are believed to accelerate bone loss!
