Listen: Your bones and joints are sending you a message. They’re telling you it’s time to concentrate on a more healthful diet. When you eat mostly bad fats, sugars and processed foods you are sending your body a message – that it’s OK to not perform optimally. Most importantly, it signals a downturn in personal health, a spiral that could make you a prime subject for disease of the bones, muscles and joints.
The bottom line is, changing your diet could change your life. Nutrition is a vital component to great health.
The International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF) states that bone, muscle and joint health are closely related – and it’s true. These systems work in sync and any loss of integrity to one system affects the other. “A healthy diet can help you prevent and manage osteoporosis and related musculoskeletal disorders by assisting in the production and maintenance of bone,” the IOF states.
What should you concentrate on for the best musculoskeletal health? Two of the most important nutrients are calcium and Vitamin D. Consider how each contributes to health and, on the downside, the effects of deficiencies of these important vitamins:
Calcium helps to maintain bone health and dental health, prevents colon cancer and helps to prevent obesity. It is a major building-block of bone tissue. If you’re deficient in calcium, you’ll suffer muscle aches, cramps and spasms. Palpitations, high blood pressure, osteoporosis, loose teeth, gum diseases, insomnia, hypertension, and arthritis could also all be a result of calcium deficiency. Calcium is very important for children and teenagers and reduces the risks of osteoporosis in old age.
Vitamin D promotes healthy bones because it aids in the absorption of calcium. Low levels of Vitamin D can also lead to type 1 diabetes, muscle and bone pain and cancers of the breast, colon, prostate, ovaries, esophagus and lymphatic system.
Protein is also an important part of a healthy diet. Protein is necessary for gaining optimal bone mass and its deficiency results in loss of strength, increasing the risk of falls. The Chopra Center, founded by renowned Dr. Deepak Chopra, states that “protein is involved in almost every body function, including protecting the body from foreign particles (such as bacteria), orchestrating chemical reactions in cells, coordinating processes between cells, providing structure to cells, and transporting important molecules throughout the body.” There’s no denying it – protein is vital to health.
Then there are fruits and vegetables – what your mother would push in front of you as a youngster and what you always pushed back. But as you’ve grown older, you’ve come to realize the necessity of fresh fruits and vegetables to a healthy body. They contain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and alkaline salts, which in varying degrees impact bone health.
Precision Nutrition goes further on bone health, stating that by the ages of 18 or 19, we’ve reached about 95% of our peak bone mass. By age 30, our body’s bones have stopped growing. Most people in the U.S. “lose about 0.5% of bone mass each year after the age of forty,” the site states. “Chronic bone loss leads to low bone mineral density and the deterioration of bone tissue – otherwise known as osteoporosis.” In fact, “fractures from osteoporosis are more common than heart attack, stroke, and breast cancer combined.”
What can you do to help your bones? For one, you can start a program that combines nutrition, the right amount of exercise for your age, health and lifestyle and visit a Ft. Lauderdale chiropractor, who can educate you on all three and give your bones and muscles a boost in the right direction. A skilled and knowledgeable chiropractor can help you improve your bone and muscle health and can also treat – and in some cases, perhaps prevent – osteoporosis from occurring as you get older.
One of the best aspects of visiting a chiropractor is the fact that doctors of chiropractic use natural healing techniques – no drugs or medications are involved. In a modern society in which drugs can be too easily administered to treat a variety of maladies, a doctor of chiropractic employs natural healing techniques and skills that help prevent diseases such as osteoporosis. A chiropractor will also develop a nutrition plan that helps you eat right and avoid the foods that can undermine and compromise your system.
Through a chiropractor’s combination of optimal nutrition and spinal manipulation, patients can rid themselves of pain, aches and stiffness, plus eliminating inflammation of the ligaments and joints that connect the bones. A doctor of chiropractic will also educate on how to get the best amounts of vitamins C and D, along with the foods that are best for personal health and well-being. Combining this with nutritional supplements that can also help your system perform better is how a chiropractor can help patients to get past their pain and on the road to better health.
Eating right is one of the essential personal weapons against poor health – and there’s no one better to get you there than a chiropractor who has studied the connection between nutrition and health … and knows how to get you on the road to a better life.