Bone up on your health
It’s the manner of our ageing, rather than ageing itself which often causes us problems.
But, with healthy diet and lifestyle typically neglected in early life, it can often be hard to retrieve the situation when we start to pay attention to our health in middle- and old-age.
Take skeletal health, for example. More than 95% of bone mineral density is laid down by our late teens, meaning that childhood and adolescence represent a critical “window” to positively influence future bone health.
From our mid-20s onwards we enter a natural stage of net mineral loss (a process which accelerates considerably for women in the five years immediately following menopause), pushing us inexorably towards the critical point of depletion at which bones become brittle.
This is osteoporosis and is often referred to as a “silent” disease because of its insidious nature — usually the first indication that a sufferer has of their condition is a “minimal-impact” fracture of the hip, wrist or lower spine.
The tragedy here is not only that osteoporosis is very common in Ireland — half of all women and one in five men in this country will have an osteoporotic fracture at some point in their lives — but also that it’s very costly and very preventable.
Because, even after the critical teenage years, the dynamic nature of bone tissue means that it retains the capacity to strengthen even in middle-and old-age — if we do the right things.
The most obvious nutrient to consider here is calcium. This is the principal mineral or “building block” of bone tissue, and is readily derived from dairy products like milk, yoghurt and cheese, as well as from fruit and vegetables.
There’s a growing realisation that vitamin D is also critical to this process as it significantly enhances the rate of calcium absorption from the gut. While the richest dietary sources of vitamin D are oily fish, liver, eggs, and fortified milks and breakfast cereals, many of these foods are absent or low in the typical Irish diet.
Trying to boost vitamin D levels from sunlight exposure is also a risky business, meaning the best way to meet requirements is by taking a vitamin D supplement.
This is important, as many people in Ireland have low levels of vitamin D, especially during the wintertime.
The other nutrients important to bone health are less obvious. For example, high sodium intake (mainly from salt in processed foods) causes us to lose extra calcium in our urine.
Fortunately, high potassium intake, which we get mainly from fruit and vegetables, can have the opposite effect. And it’s not the only useful thing we get from fruit and veggies, because they’re also packed with vitamin C (especially citrus and berry fruits), vitamin K and folate (green leafy vegetables), also critical to bone health.
Apart from diet, there are a few useful lifestyle tips to consider. High alcohol intake has multiple adverse effects on bone metabolism (as well as increasing the risk of falls), while smoking is also associated with higher osteoporotic risk.
On the plus side, however, weight-bearing exercise such as brisk walking and lifting light weights can really enhance bone strength, probably due to the generation of tiny electrical signals called “piezo-electrical impulses” which draw mineral into the bone.
In essence, the formula might go something like this:
¦ start early in life
¦ persist with plenty of dairy (3-4 servings/day)
¦ a vitamin D supplement
¦ lots of fruit and veg (5 plus a day)
¦ minimal processed foods, salt and alcohol
¦ plenty of walking
None of it is rocket science, but a very wise investment for the future.
Fry 300g of Quorn mince in three tablespoons of olive oil. Add two chopped peppers, a large chopped onion, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a tin of cooked kidney beans and a tablespoon of curry powder.
Mix with boiled rice or noodles, season with coriander and serve cold (serves two).
Whisk together six eggs, 150mls of milk, and 100g of grated cheddar cheese.
Pour half this mixture onto a pan at medium heat. Add a layer of chopped spring onion, chopped pepper and drained tuna.
Pour in the rest of the mixture and cook for 3-4 minutes on low heat.
Garnish with grated cheese and chopped tomato (serves two).
Mung beansprouts are the immature shoots of the mung bean plant. They’re packed with vitamin C and folate, as well as vitamin K (good for the bones) and riboflavin (good for blood pressure control). They’re also rich in fibre, protein, iron and potassium, as well as being very low in fat, saturated fat, salt and calories — a genuine super-food.
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