Is old age making it difficult for you to do the things you used to do? While the wrinkles and grey hair that come with age are harmless, you cannot say the same about the health-related changes. These include muscle, bone, and joint issues.
In some cases, diseases and conditions that come with age are inevitable. When you need help getting around your usual tasks, seeking aged care is a good way to help you get by. The doctors at Tweed City Family Practice know all there is to know about taking care of the aged.
Old-Age Conditions Are Now Preventable
Today, people are getting healthy and looking younger. While those who can afford to choose to undergo medical procedures, some are using natural means to defy age and remain strong.
Signs and conditions of aging are becoming easy to eliminate depending on your lifestyle. Apart from taking care of your skin, keeping your bones strong should be a priority.
How can you ensure that you are still moving and grooving past your 60’s? Here are 3 ways:
- Exercise
Did you know that 50% of age-related changes in bones and muscles are because people do not use them? Old age mostly comes with inactivity, leading to bone loss or wastage.
If you have been inactive, it is not too late to start working out, before you do that, however, consult a doctor to advise you on the best way to go about it so that you can keep safe while working out.
Exercises strengthen your bone and help prevent bone loss. Muscle-strengthening exercises such as lifting weights, heavy gardening, doing sit-ups, squats, and pushups. Simple activities such as climbing stairs, cycling, dancing, and hill walking are also great for making your muscles stronger.
Doing heavy work can also help in building your muscles. This includes activities such as digging, lifting jobs, and shoveling.
- Balance your hormones
Hormonal changes also result in bone loss. Estrogen in women and testosterone in men produce calcium that keeps bones strong. With age, these hormones levels decrease. This compromises bone health.
For women, estrogen levels especially decrease during menopause, while testosterone levels in men drop beginning from age 30.
Keeping your hormones balanced is, therefore, essential to bone health.
For women, eating some types of foods can help increase your estrogen levels quickly. These include seeds such as flax and pumpkin seeds, foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, fruits such as strawberries and peaches which are rich in phytoestrogens, and nuts like peanuts and walnuts.
- Eat lots of calcium and vitamins K and D
Your body needs calcium and phosphorus to make healthy bones. These minerals help to reduce the likelihood of osteoporosis, which is the weakening of bones caused by an imbalance in bine productions and destruction.
Foods rich in vitamin K and D also aid bone health.
Dairy foods, leafy green vegetables, and legumes are good examples of calcium-rich foods. You can get vitamin K from green leafy vegetables and proteins such as liver, eggs, and fish. Foods such as cod liver oil, egg yolk, and fishes such as salmon and herring are rich sources of vitamin D.
In Conclusion
How healthy are your bones? Having strong bones in old age is a matter of adopting a healthy lifestyle of working out and eating right, so get healthy today!