The winter sports season is now well and truly underway, but sadly has already come to a grinding halt for many players who are facing many weeks on the injured list due to fractures and broken bones. Is there any way to avoid fractures of bones for the youngsters (and oldsters) apart from avoiding the risky or rough stuff?
Start by ensuring great nutrition at the earliest possible time in life (prior to birth and even prior to conception is best but let's focus on the kids and adults for the moment). Avoid any substances that weaken bones; top among the culprits here are soft drinks especially the carbonated or fizzy variety. The phosphates in these drinks can upset the deposits of calcium and cause the calcium, which helps keep the bones strong, to be lost from bones. The cola drinks appear to be the worst culprits. So no soft drinks; fizzy or still. A lack of sufficient omega 3 fats also can increase the risk of fractures; so eat lots of fish to keep the bones strong. If you include the fish bones when cooking the fish then the calcium content will be increased, fish bone soup is a cheap answer to great nutrition. Avoid table salt (sodium chloride) as this can also weaken bones. This means no chippies and no fast food as most is high in salt. If you are desperate for a salty taste use the potassium salt substitutes.
A great deal of research has shown that diets high in fruits and vegetables will help keep bones strong. Dairy food can also be helpful but if you have a problem with dairy then vegetables, nuts, eggs and fish bones (again) are a good source. Vitamin D is vital for strong and healthy bones, you can make this by the effect of sunshine on your skin, but there may you may out in less sunshine in the winter, and sun block will stop your body making the vitamin D. In food vitamin D is found in mainly in oily fish, also in liver (this must be organic, and is not expensive), and eggs. Other important vitamins for bones include Vitamin C (more and more fruit and veggies) and the B vitamins, which are high in wholegrains such as wholegrain bread, brown rice.
There are a lot of minerals important for strong bones calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, boron, silica and iron are all needed. Eat a wide variety of vegetables, nuts, seeds, wholegrains, fish, eggs and meat (organic) to get these minerals. If you are supplementing use the Entire Katoa Food State vitamins and minerals. If you want a free list of where to find these important nutrients in food contact Jaine Kirtley.
Lastly you need exercise to keep your bones strong so sitting on the couch all day isn't going to protect you from fractures so take some exercise every day to have strong healthy bones.
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