TOP 5 Habits that weaken your bones

Team L&M
Contrary to the popular belief, our bones do lot lose strength with age, rather it’s our bad habits that weaken them. We tell you  top five of these here:

Not being physically active
People who sit for long hours are more prone to rapid bone loss as compared to those who take regular walks and are physically active. Muscle contractions make your bones stronger. So you must guard against a sedentary lifestyle at all costs.

Smoking & Consuming alcohol
Tobacco produces free radicals in the body tissue, which are detrimental for lungs and bones both. Smoking also increases the production of stress hormone cortisol and decreases hormone calcitonin while it should be the other way round for the bone health. This means smoking leads to weak bones which fracture easily. It also damages the blood vessels and interferes with the healing process.
Alcohol also increases the production of cortisol in the body leading to loss of bone stock. It also reduces the level of hormones like testosterone and oestrogen which are important for bone health.

Excess of salt in food
High salt intake leads to reduced bone density. This is because when sodium consumption increases, more calcium is passed through urine. Studies show that adult women may lose 1 per cent of their bone density each year by eating just one extra gram of sodium per day. One must not consume more than 1,500 milligrams of sodium per day.

Remaining indoors
Vitamin D is important to maintain the strength of your bones as without it the bones become thin and brittle. And sunlight is the main source of vitamin D. So you must sit under sunlight, at least for some time in the morning. Morning sun is very good for overall physical health and mental well-being.

Not taking a balanced diet
Always take a balanced diet that contains all the nutrients, fats, carbohydrates, proteins and minerals in optimum amounts. Also, try including food items rich in calcium and vitamin D like salmon, egg yolk, milk etc.