The logic behind calcium supplementation is to prevent and delay osteoporosis, and then prevent a series of diseases such as joint pain, arthritis, body deformities, and fractures. In short, the essence of calcium supplementation is "bone strengthening".
(The figure below is a schematic diagram of the bone structure)
Why prevent and delay osteoporosis
Bones are the "core architecture" of the human body, all organs are protected by bones, and all movements are borne by bones.
Osteoporosis is a terrible, silent degenerative change (aging) that essentially involves the loss of the basic building blocks of bones. Imagine if our bones were as broken as termites' eroded roof beams and would collapse at any time, how could our bodies be healthy?
The three elements of bone health
1. Hormonal window. The development and growth of bones is controlled by genes. Genes are a set of pre-programmed programs programmed by the "creator" to direct us from cells to children, become robust, leave offspring, and then grow old. As shown in the figure below, young adulthood is the key to bone accumulation, and after that, no matter how hard we try, bone mass will be lost day by day through changes in "hormones" (hormones). This is like our pension insurance, the more you pay when you are young, the more you will remain in the social security account after retirement [tears] Therefore, the key to bone health is to seize the hormonal window period of youth, strengthen bones as much as possible, and accumulate bone quality in order to ensure a thick "family base" after old age.
2. Strength stimulation. The human body obeys the law of "use in and out of retreat". Just like muscles, you only get strong if you exercise regularly, otherwise you will only shrink day by day. Bones, like muscles, are strong and strong depending largely on force stimulation. As shown in the figure below: the metabolism of bones is constantly on, when we lie in bed and brush our mobile phones, osteoclasts are digging up calcium to participate in the circulation, even if more calcium is supplemented, it will only increase the burden on the exclusive organs; When we exercise, osteoblasts become diligent, and even if we eat ordinary food, the digestive system will squeeze every calcium ion in the food.
3. Necessary nutrients. Nutrients are the raw materials of bones, among which calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamins D2, D3, B12, K, and high-quality protein are the most critical. If you can consume sufficient nutrients, coupled with effective hormonal and power stimulation, bone health can be more effective; Otherwise, it will only increase the metabolic burden.
Strengthen your bones with practical actions
1. Strengthen bones as soon as possible. Young adults should exercise moderately (especially strength-type exercise), and pay attention to nutritional intake, so as to seize the "hormonal window". Of course, middle-aged and elderly people are not late to build bones, but the efficiency is relatively low.
2. Pay attention to exercise methods. Many people like to walk, swim, and ride a bicycle, these exercise methods are very good, but unfortunately, they do not bring sufficient stimulation to the improvement of bone quality. For young adults, better bone-building exercises are strength-based exercises, such as jumping, weight-bearing squats, etc. For the elderly, it is not necessary to be so aggressive, but bone loss can also be delayed by squatting and lifting heavy objects (as shown in the figure below).
3. Keep your body strong. Many people like to lose weight, even if the weight is not exceeded, they must pursue beauty and skinny, which is tantamount to a "dimensionality reduction blow" to bones: hormone stimulation is reduced (girls even lose weight to menopause), nutritional intake is poor, and there is no strength at all if you want to exercise. You can imagine how miserable the bones will be in old age. As shown in the figure below, relevant studies have shown that the heavier the weight, the less likely it is to develop osteoporosis; If you weigh less than 50 kg, the chance of developing osteoporosis at age 50 is 15%; If you weigh 75 kg, you have less than a 3% chance of developing osteoporosis at age 75.
4. Reasonable diet and advocate food supplementation. As mentioned above, bone growth requires adequate calcium, potassium, magnesium, vitamins D2, D3, B12, K, and high-quality protein. No other supplement or supplement provides such a wealth of nutrients. We advocate food supplements because the nutrients in food are more complete and easily absorbed. We eat every day, and at least three times a day we have the opportunity to consume nutrient-dense food, and for healthy people, eating supplements and supplements is really a superfluous move.
Moreover, we do not have to remember to deliberately look for novel foods like picking up boxes and building equipment in the game, in most cases, as long as it is a natural food with a relatively high calcium content (such as: milk, eggs, lean meat, etc.), it is rich in minerals, vitamins and proteins, which are enough to meet the needs of the body.
5. Stay away from tobacco and alcohol. Nicotine, carbon monoxide, nicotine and other harmful substances produced after tobacco combustion will affect the absorption and utilization of calcium, and also destroy cells and tissues in bones, resulting in reduced bone density; In addition, smoking increases the risk of hormonal imbalances, which directly lead to osteoporosis.
Alcohol can lead to protein metabolism disorders, liver dysfunction, obstruction of estrogen synthesis, hinder bone remodeling from many aspects, resulting in accelerated bone loss, thereby causing osteoporosis; Studies have shown that people with osteoporosis who drink heavily are more likely to develop osteoporotic fractures.
In addition, caffeine and phosphorus in strong tea, coffee and carbonated drinks will promote the loss of calcium through urine, which is appropriate and should not be excessive.