Prescription #2 for Joint Health: Eat Well

The importance of vitamins and minerals in your diet:
Be sure to take the recommended daily requirements of vitamins and minerals. It’s very important to get adequate levels of calcium and vitamin D. The higher your peak bone mass, the less likely you’ll be to have fractures later in life. Maximum peak bone mass depends partly on your inherited ability to make bone, the amount of calcium you consumed over your lifetime and your exercise level. In most cases, bones weaken when you have low levels of calcium, phosphorous and other minerals in your bones. The loss of bone mass, known as osteoporosis, is more prevalent in women, but men get osteoporosis too. In fact, by age 65, men lose bone mass as fast as women do, and by age 75, one third of men have the disease. Premenopausal women and postmenopausal women who use Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) should consume at least 1,200 milligrams (mgs) of calcium and 2,000 international units (IU) of vitamin D every day. Postmenopausal women not using HRT and those at risk of steroid-induced osteoporosis should get 1,500 mgs of calcium and 2,000 IU of vitamin D daily. Men should consume 2,000 mgs of calcium every day. Good food sources of calcium include skim, low-fat and whole milk, low-fat plain yogurt, Swiss, cheddar and ricotta cheese, kale, broccoli, canned salmon with the bones, and orange juice and other products—such as tofu—fortified with calcium. If you find it hard to get the recommended amounts of calcium from your diet because you can’t eat dairy products, for example, try calcium supplements. Supplements—even plain old TUMS–are just as effective as calcium from food, are inexpensive, and generally are well tolerated and well absorbed if taken properly.OrthoEdge’s Prescriptions for Joint Health: Lose Weight | Eat Well | Exercise | Play It Safe