27/03/2022
[6 Habits That Are Bad for Your Bones]
People with osteoporosis are at risk for fractures. Avoid these behaviors to help strengthen your bones and protect your health.
When it comes to osteoarthritis, there are some risk factors â like your family history, age, and ethnicity â that you canât change. But there are many lifestyle choices that you can control â and by avoiding these habits, you can lower your rate of bone loss and better protect your health. Start by nixing these bad habits from your daily routine:
Bad Habit No. 1: Smoking. People who use to***co have lower levels of bone density, according to the National Institutes of Health Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center. Thatâs partly because smoking produces harmful atoms called free radicals, which kill off the cells that build bone, explains Edward Domurat, MD, an endocrinologist with Kaiser Permanente South Bay Medical Center in Harbor City, California. Smoking also boosts the production of the stress hormone cortisol (which weakens bones) and impedes the production of the hormone calcitonin (which helps build bone).
And if youâve already had a bone fracture, smoking could slow down the healing process by damaging your blood vessels, limiting the bodyâs ability to move oxygen through the body, Dr. Domurat says.
Bad Habit No. 2: Being sedentary. âSedentary patients are at risk for more rapid bone loss,â says Laila S. Tabatabai, MD, an assistant professor of clinical medicine at Houston Methodist and the Weill Cornell Medical College. The reason: You canât reap the bone-strengthening benefits of physical activity when youâre sitting on the sofa.
Like muscles, your bones become more dense and grow stronger when you exercise â especially when you perform weight-bearing activities like walking, stair climbing, and weight lifting, which require you to work against gravity. Plus, exercise can help boost your balance, posture, and flexibility, all of which can help lower your risk for a fall.
Bad Habit No. 3: Eating too much salty food. âThere is absolutely a correlation between high salt intake and lower bone density,â says Frederick Singer, MD, director of the endocrinology and bone disease program at the John Wayne Cancer Institute at Providence Saint Johnâs Health Center in Santa Monica, California and a trustee of the National Osteoporosis Foundation.
As your sodium intake goes up, your body releases more calcium in your urine, according to the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. In fact, adult women may lose 1 percent of their bone density each year by eating just one extra gram of sodium per day. The American Heart Association recommends getting less than 2,300 milligrams of sodium each day, while most adults should eat no more than 1,500 milligrams a day.
Bad Habit No. 4: Drinking too much alcohol. As with smoking, alcohol increases the bodyâs production of cortisol; drinking also lowers the hormone levels of testosterone and estrogen, further weakening bones.
Plus, not only does alcohol decrease bone density, says Imali Sirisena, MD, an assistant professor of medicine at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia, drinking too much in one sitting also increases the risk that a person will fall and fracture a bone.
Bad Habit No. 5: Staying indoors all day. Without vitamin D, our bones can become thin and brittle. Problem is, one of the main sources of vitamin D is produced by your body after youâre exposed to sunlight, so if you donât spend enough time outdoors, you may be lacking in this nutrient. For example, healthcare workers can be deficient because they spend their shifts inside and donât get exposure to sunlight, according to a review published in BMC Public Health in 2017.
If you canât get outdoors for your daily dose of vitamin D, aim to eat food sources such as salmon, egg yolks, and vitamin D-fortified foods, Domurat says. Or, talk to your doctor about taking a supplement.
Bad Habit No. 6: Skipping supplements. Calcium and vitamin D are essential for bone health. But many adults donât eat enough calcium-rich dairy, Dr. Singer says, and others donât want to expose themselves to sunlight, which can raise their risk for skin cancer.
To make sure youâre getting enough of both nutrients, talk to your doctor about starting a supplement that contains calcium and vitamin D, says Singer.
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