Bones are one of the primary contributors in building of the body’s definition and are important to maintain good posture, balance and strength. While most people assume that the bones only serve to keep everything within our bodies intact and in structure, good bone structure also breeds confidence and self esteem. In order to elaborate, an individual with a hunched back is always going to envy one that walks straight with his or her head held high. Moreover, bones are essentially living tissues that go through a constant state of renewal and therefore need to be taken care of and tended to. A number of people also believe that weakening of the bones is a natural course of events with old age, but this is not necessarily the case as both, bone loss as well as osteoporosis can be prevented with the right lifestyle and diet. It also helps to know that the bones grow in size and strength most effectively during childhood. The body is able to reserve some of the bone building and strengthening materials it requires and the amount reserved will play a role in deciding the individual’s future skeletal mass.
The diet and vitamin intake is probably the most defining factor when it comes to strengthening your bones. Vitamin D helps promote the absorption of calcium in your bones and can be easily attained by simple exposure of your body to sunlight. However, exposing your skin to significant amounts of sunlight would also increase your risk of developing skin cancer. It is therefore safe to make sure that you allow you body the recommended 15 minutes of exposure per day. Vitamin K is a very potent substance when it comes to fighting bone loss, but is hardly ever spoken about in this regard and is more often associated with blood clotting and coagulation. The vitamin helps transport the calcium we consume; from the arteries to the bones thereby ensuring that the bones receive their requirement of calcium. Some recent studies have also shown that when the body breaks down a certain amino acid, it creates a chemical known as homocysteine. This continues to become significantly higher while the individual continues to age and when the levels rise to a certain level, the risk of heart disease and bone loss are increased as well. An adequate intake of vitamin B is able to breakdown this substance – thereby preventing the bones and joints from damage.