Caregivers Discuss Nutritious Diet Options To Better Prevent Osteoporosis in Fargo, ND
If you’re like so many other Americans, you’ve probably seen ads on TV talking about how to treat osteoporosis but, how much do you really know about the disease? Can you help to ensure your loved one is taking the steps to prevent it?
What Is Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a common bone ailment that is caused when the body loses minerals faster than it can produce them. This causes a loss of bone thickness, meaning the bones are more likely to fracture or even seriously break.
Often, there are no symptoms before a fracture occurs.
Over time, if fractures continue it can cause seniors to experience loss of mobility or independence, chronic pain, or even premature death in the worst cases. So, now that we know what osteoporosis is, how can we help prevent it in the first place?
Why Calcium?
One of the best places to start is diet! Ensuring your loved one is eating diet with plenty of calcium rich foods is the first step to helping prevent osteoporosis.
Calcium can help strengthen bones at any age!
While you’ve probably heard a lot about the benefits of dairy products like milk, cheese, or yogurt, these items are only a fraction of the foods rich in calcium! Other calcium rich products include:
- Fish: sardines, salmon, trout, and perch
- Almond Milk: it has 2x more calcium than cow’s milk!
- Calcium Fortified Foods: breakfast cereal, oatmeal, and some orange juices
- Veggies: spinach, okra, collards, white beans, and kale
Vitamin D: The Key To Calcium Absorption
Vitamin D is important to bone health because of the way calcium is absorbed into the body.
Without enough vitamin D the body cannot produce enough of the hormone calcitriol (also known as Active Vitamin D) leading to insufficient calcium absorption. When this happens the body is forced to take calcium from stores within bones, preventing the formation of new, strong bone.
There are three ways you can get vitamin D: through skin from sun exposure, from supplements, and through diet.
Recommended vitamin D rich foods include:
- Egg yolks
- Fatty fish, such as tuna, mackerel, and salmon
- Beef Liver
- Orange Juice
What More Do You Need To Know?
While having a diet with plenty of calcium and vitamin D is important, it is only one step in a prevention or treatment plan and may not even mitigate all the outside factors that affect bone health. Things like lifestyle choices, medications, or menopause may still cause osteoporosis and it’s up to a doctor to decide if additional medication is needed to help with bone density.
The Comfort Keepers® Personal Care Difference
At Comfort Keepers®, we understand that you may not have enough time in your day to take care of yourself, your family at home, and keep track of what your senior loved one is eating at their home. That’s where we come in to help!
All of our caregivers are trained in our unique philosophy called Interactive Caregiving™, meaning that they will support your loved one’s mental, physical, and social health.
Our caregivers work with their seniors to put together meal plans, social outings, and more that they can look forward to in order to make their golden years shine even brighter. Our goal is to support your senior and allow them to do more than simply view!
If you’d like to learn more about how our caregivers can improve your loved one’s health through Interactive Caregiving™, our full list of care services, or would like to schedule your free in home consultation, please contact us online any time or call us at (701) 297-2431.
