Nutrients For Bone Health
We live in a world where there is a pill for everything. Be it recovering from a disease or maintaining our health, there’s a remedy in the form of tablets or capsules that contains all the vital nutrients needed by our body. However, if you believe that you can keep your body healthy solely by taking multivitamins, without maintaining a healthy diet, you’re wrong. Supplements are not and can never be a substitute for food.
The nutrients found in food are in such a magical combination that they complement each other and help in better absorption. In other words, they function synergistically to help keep the bodily processes going.
What nutrients do you need for bone health?
Maintaining bone health is not easy and a number of nutrients are very essential in maintaining it. The most important ones are calcium, magnesium, vitamin D, phosphorus and vitamin K.
The daily requirement of calcium varies on the basis of gender and age and food should fulfil at least half of the recommended intake. For men up to age 70, the required intake of Calcium is 1000mg per day and the same amount is needed by women up to age 50. For women over 50 and men over 70 the required intake is 1200mg per day as bone health deteriorates over time due to decline in tissue regeneration capabilities of the body.
One major source of calcium is dairy but along with calcium it also provides other nutrients such as magnesium, vitamin A, vitamin B, and many other nutrients. Supplements should not be substituted for food but should only be taken to compensate for the remaining requirement and strictly under Doctor’s guidance. Moreover, you need to divide your consumption throughout the day as body absorbs only a limited amount of calcium in a couple of hours.
Vitamin D is best taken from the sun and foods such as dairy and oily fish. However, if you’re deficient in Vitamin d then your doctor would prescribe supplements for you.
Vitamin K is most abundant in green vegetables and no supplement can substitute for the benefits of green leafy vegetables.
What nutrients are best for joint health?
There are certain foods that have anti-inflammatory properties and they can do wonders for people suffering from joint pain. Omega-3 fatty acids are very important for maintaining bone health and fish is a great source of it. Other than this, fish also has other nutrients and vitamins which in combination do wonders for the body. Fish is also a great source of protein which is crucial in maintaining muscle health.
Who needs supplements?
Those consuming a healthy balanced diet usually get enough nutrients from food and do not need external help to make up for the body’s need of minerals and vitamins. However, if a person is consistently consuming an unhealthy diet or has certain health issues, they need the help of supplements to keep the body going. Pregnant and lactating women also need to take multivitamins since their bodies have a considerably grown demand for nutrition. After a certain age the body’s absorption capacity decreases and food alone is not enough.
However, you should not take supplements without consulting your doctor and only consume the one that your body is deficient in. Taking excess dose of any vitamin or mineral can cause diseases and affect your health adversely.
