Osteoporosis is a systematic skeletal disease characterized by the deterioration of the microarchitecture of bone tissue and low bone material density.
Osteoporosis is a preventable, treatable condition of weak, hollow, brittle bones that break easily. In its advanced stages, it is a painful condition affecting approximately 30 million Americans, 80% of whom are women, causing fractures, typically of the hip, wrist, and spine.
One in every 3 women and one in every men suffers a fracture because of osteoporosis sometime during their lives.
It is never too early or too late to improve bone health. Bones are living tissues. Throughout life, old bone is removed and replaced by new bone. Many factors affect the rate of bone addition and loss.
Many studies have assessed the extent to which increased calcium intake can mitigate the bone loss seen in the elderly and therefore decrease the risk and sequelae of osteoporosis.
Our bodies need calcium for proper heart, muscle and nerve function, to maintain blood pressure, and for blood clotting. If the diet doesn't provide enough calcium, we take it from our "calcium reservoir" (otherwise known as our bones).
If old bone is removed at a rate that is too fast, or if the rate of new bone replacement occurs too slowly, then gradually bones become porous and fragile. For example, 40% of the bone's density can be lost during advanced osteoporosis.
A lifelong adequate intake of calcium and vitamin D, as well as phosphorus, zinc, vitamins K and C, copper and manganese, helps bone health by increasing (as much as is genetically possible) the amount of bone formed during youth and early adulthood.
A delicate balance is required between multiple components of the diet in order to maintain an adequate mineral homeostasis. However a nutritional balance is not achieved, bone turnover may be altered
When recommended amounts of calcium are consumed during the bone-building years, maximum bone mass "reserves" with a consequent reduction in osteoporosis, and 50% fewer hip fractures later in life.
Bone requires total nutrition, this is because the integrity of bone tissue depends on the integrity of its cells, which like most other tissue, needs a broad array of macro and micronutrients.
Osteoporosis and diet
