Contents:
- Medical Video: Osteoporosis [Bone Disease] | Simple & Effective Natural Home Remedies for Osteoporosis & Arthritis
- Why are Asian women more susceptible to osteoporosis?
- How to prevent osteoporosis in women
- 1. Meet the needs of calcium and vitamin D
- 2. Sports
- 3. Stop smoking
Medical Video: Osteoporosis [Bone Disease] | Simple & Effective Natural Home Remedies for Osteoporosis & Arthritis
Osteoporosis is a condition when the quality of your bone density decreases, making bones become easily porous and cracked. The risk of women suffering from osteoporosis is four times greater than the risk in men. Even the latest research says if the osteoporosis rate in Asian women is higher than women of other ethnicities. How did it happen? Find out the answer below.
Why are Asian women more susceptible to osteoporosis?
Various studies say that Asian women have a higher risk of osteoporosis. There are several reasons why this can happen, namely:
- In general, calcium intake of Asian women is low. One reason is that around 90 percent of Asian women experience lactose intolerance, which causes them to be unable to consume animal milk products. In fact, milk is the main source of calcium in food which plays an important role in building and maintaining a healthy skeleton of bones.
- Most Asian women have a relatively small posture, because their skeletons are smaller than other ethnic groups. This makes their bone mass lower than the average bone mass of people around the world. As a result, there is a greater risk of fractures due to osteoporosis.
In addition to the various things mentioned above, basically all women around the world are more at risk of developing osteoporosis compared to men. This is due to a decrease in the hormone estrogen as a result of the menopause process. The hormone estrogen plays a role in the process of bone mass production and is able to control bone-forming activities (osteoblasts) and bone absorbers (osteoclasts).
In addition to menopause, women will also be more prone to osteoporosis if they have irregular menstrual cycles, get their first menstruation at a younger age, and experience menopause faster.
How to prevent osteoporosis in women
There are various ways that can be done as an effort to prevent osteoporosis in women, namely:
1. Meet the needs of calcium and vitamin D
Calcium is the main mineral that the body needs to build strong bones. While vitamin D is needed to maximize absorption of calcium and phosphorus in the body.
You can get calcium from milk, sardines, anchovy, tofu, edamame, spinach, kale, soy milk, and so on. While you can get vitamin D automatically when exposed to sunlight. In addition, you can also get a source of vitamin D intake from cod, salmon, beef liver, eggs, milk, button mushrooms and more.
2. Sports
Just like a muscle, your bones will become stronger if you regularly practice it. Exercising weight bearing and muscle strength can support bone formation so that it can prevent osteoporosis in women.
Weight training (weight bearing exercise,not weight lifting) will force your body to work against gravity when you move. Well, it encourages the body to form new bones. Weight training includes aerobics, up and down stairs, jumping rope, jogging, tai chi, walking, yoga, and so on.
Muscle training is also important in building muscles and bones to prevent osteoporosis. In addition, this type of exercise will make you more flexible so that it will reduce your risk of falling. Some examples of muscle strength training that you can try at home are push ups, sit ups, and lifting weights using dumbbells.
If you already have a certain chronic disease, you should consult your doctor before you do some of the sports mentioned above.
3. Stop smoking
If you smoke, you are encouraged to stop. Because, smoking can interfere with calcium absorption so that calcium stored in the body is actually wasted. As a result, your bones cannot function properly. In addition, female smokers are more at risk of developing health problems after early menopause than women who don't smoke.