How Can Calcium Deficiency Cause Osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is a dangerous disease as it shows effects only after degeneration. Osteoporosis can cause several inconveniences in daily life and other seriously detrimental effects to our body, even death. The good news is by simply adding calcium and vitamin D to our diet, we can effectively prevent this disease.
1. Understanding osteoporosis
1.1 What is osteoporosis?
Osteoporosis is one of the bone diseases, happening when our bones become weak and so are easier to break.
On a daily basis, the old bone cells die out, and new cells are borne and into our bones its place. As we age, this process decreases in frequency, resulting in the lower newly-borne cells put into our bones everyday.
While it is normal to experience the decrease in bone health as we get older, if we do not take steps to slow down this process we might have osteoporosis.
People with osteoporosis experience breaking of bones, bones & muscles degeneration, prolonged aching, the worst case is death, and countless inconveniences in daily life.
1.2 Vietnam’s current state of the osteoporosis disease
The WHO once referred to the decade of 2011-2022 as “the decade of bone diseases”. From enormous health science reports, the organization indicates that more and more younger people are having bone diseases worldwide.
Vietnam is not irrelevant to mentioned trend. By estimation, Vietnam is also on the top list of countries with high rate of bone diseases.
In recent years, 20% more people generally and 30% more people aged above 35 year-old are having bone diseases in Vietnam. This says that 3 out of every 10 people have osteoporosis these days. (1)
1.3 Causes of osteoporosis
Causes of osteoporosis come from 02 groups.
Group of causes that you cannot control:
- Age: as we age, we are more likely to have osteoporosis
- Hormone & gender: females have smaller bones and lose bone cells faster than males and thus results in higher risk of osteoporosis (especially with the decrease of hormones after menopause)
- Ethnicity: white & Asian women have higher change to get osteoporosis while Hispanic & African American women have much lower risks
- Family history: you are likely to have osteoporosis if one of your family members do
Group of causes that you cannot control:
- Diet: not calcium & vitamin D significantly increase your bone diseases. The role of Vitamin D is to help the body process the calcium from your diet.
- Physical activity: just like muscles, bones become stronger with daily exercise. Lack of physical exercising and not being active for too long seriously lower your bone health.
- Body weight: ****osteoporosis are more likely to happen to people with body.
- Smoking, alcohol, and medicines: when used in high frequency can cause deficiency in essential nutrients such as calcium, vitamin D, etc, and can potentially cause disruption of hormones for women. (which can lead to premature menopause that reduces hormones production)
2. Calcium deficiency causing osteoporosis
Everyday, the old bone cells die out, and new cells are borne and into our bones its place.
Studies confirm Vietnamese people’s diet usually lack calcium by 50% as compared to standard requirements. The effects on bone are augmented also for Vietnamese people’s high consumption of alcohols and cigarettes. (2)
Calcium also plays the role of maintaining body function. When we do not intake calcium sufficiently, our body extracts the calcium inside bones to supply for body function maintaining. Excretion is also a body activity that outlet certain amount of calcium from our bones. (3)
Therefore, supplementing calcium daily is without saying essential to prevent bone diseases and osteoporosis.
Calcium deficiency – popular in Vietnam, is largely accountable for the high rate of people having osteoporosis. Supplementing calcium on a daily basis is a simple measure but helps a lot to effectively prevent osteoporosis.
3. Preventing osteoporosis everyday
3.1 Nutritious diets
Maintaining a nutritious diets daily is key in taking care of your bone health. Particularly, you need to ensure adequate intake of calcium & vitamin D.
Foods rich in calcium: dairy products (milk, cheese, butter, yogurt, etc), beans & green-leaf vegetables, pilchard
Read more: Best Times to Drink Milk, Based on Different Purposes
Recommended daily consumption of calcium & vitamin D
Source: Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, 2010.
Foods rich in vitamin D include egg yolks, saltwater fish, liver, and milk with vitamin D.
Daily foods that are calcium & vitamin D supplemented (cereals, juice, etc) are also recommended.
3.2 Healthy lifestyle
A good, healthy lifestyle is also key to protect your health.
You are advised not to consume any alcohols, cigarettes, and stimulants.
Just like your muscles, daily exercising is also needed to make bones “stay in shape”. You are advised to exercise at least 30 mins a day.
3.3 Bone check-up
Proactively seek for medical check for bone density whenever you feel signs decreasing bone health (pain, fatigue, etc) for recommendation over treatments is important to prevent bone health from complicating.
Reference:
- (1) | World Health Organization (curated). (2020). Thực Trạng Vấn Đề Xương Khớp Ở Việt Nam:
https://www.herbalife-vietnam.com/articles/situation-joint-bone-in-vietnam/#:~:text=Theo đó%2C có 30%25 người,này đã tăng khoảng 20%25
- (2) | PV. (2016). Bổ sung canxi đúng cách giúp phòng chống loãng xương sớm:
- (3) | Kris Gunnars. (2018). Milk and Osteoporosis — Is Dairy Really Good for Your Bones?
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/is-dairy-good-for-your-bones#:~:text=May support your bones&text=In fact%2C health organizations recommend,12%2C 14 %2C 15
- (4) | D. Storm,, R Eslin, E. S. Porter, K. Musgrave, D. Vereault, C. Patton, C. Kessenich, S. Mohan, T. Chen, M. F. Holick, C. J. Rosen. (1998). Calcium supplementation prevents seasonal bone loss and changes in biochemical markers of bone turnover in elderly New England women: a randomized placebo-controlled trial:
- (5) | B. L. Riggs, W. M. O’Fallon, J. Muhs, M. K. O’Connor, R. Kumar, L. J. Melton 3rd. (1998). Long-term effects of calcium supplementation on serum parathyroid hormone level, bone turnover, and bone loss in elderly women:
- (6) | K. M. Prestwood, D. L. Thompson, A. M. Kenny, M. J. Seibel, C. C. Pilbeam, L. G. Raisz. (1999). Low dose estrogen and calcium have an additive effect on bone resorption in older women:
- (7) | D. Baran, A. Sorensen, J. Grimes, R. Lew, A. Karellas, B. Johnson, J. Roche. (1990). Dietary modification with dairy products for preventing vertebral bone loss in premenopausal women: a three-year prospective study:
- (8) | R. Prince, A. Devine, I. Dick, A. Criddle, D. Kerr, N. Kent, R. Price, A. Randell. (1995). The effects of calcium supplementation (milk powder or tablets) and exercise on bone density in postmenopausal women:
- (9) | B. L. Specker. (1996). Evidence for an interaction between calcium intake and physical activity on changes in bone mineral density:
- (10) | G. M. Chan, K. Hoffman, M. McMurry. (1995). Effects of dairy products on bone and body composition in pubertal girls:
- (11) | J. P. Bonjour, A. L. Carrie, S. Ferrari, H. Clavien, D. Slosman, G. Theintz, R. Rizzoli. (1997). Calcium-enriched foods and bone mass growth in prepubertal girls: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial:
- (12) | B. Dibba, A. Prentice, M. Ceesay, D. M. Stirling, T. J. Cole, E. M. Poskitt. (2000). Effect of calcium supplementation on bone mineral accretion in gambian children accustomed to a low-calcium diet:
- (13) | Vinmec. (2022). Danh sách các loại thực phẩm giàu canxi nhất:
- (14) | Kuanrong Li, Rudolf Kaaks, Jakob Linseisen, Sabine Rohrmann. (2012). Associations of dietary calcium intake and calcium supplementation with myocardial infarction and stroke risk and overall cardiovascular mortality in the Heidelberg cohort of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study (EPIC-Heidelberg):
- (15) | Mark J. Bolland, Alison Avenell, John A. Baron, Andrew Grey, Graeme S. MacLennan, Greg D. Gamble, Ian R. Reid. (2010). Effect of calcium supplements on risk of myocardial infarction and cardiovascular events: meta-analysis:
- Sức Khỏe & Đời Sống. (2018). Bệnh cơ xương khớp – Nguyên nhân hàng đầu gây tàn phế:
https://nhtm.gov.vn/news/y-te—suc-khoe/benh-co-xuong-khop—nguyen-nhan-hang-dau-gay-tan-phe.html
- National Institute of Health. (2020). Bone Health for Life: Health Information Basics for You and Your Family:
Featured post
-
-
05 Diet Plans That Are Good For Your Health
31/07/2022
-
-
Best Times to Sleep for Adults & Children
01/06/2022
-
