Bones grow and transform, ideally when they are healthy. However, they can deteriorate before their time and break. These are the effects of osteoporosis.

It is the most common bone disease and may affect half of the female population over the age of 50.. Its main consequence: the bones break more easily, especially those of the spine, but also those of the hip or wrist. Normally this breakage is the first symptom that people have osteoporosiswhen it is too late.

Bones are a tissue that grows from birth to late adolescence. That is why it is important to take care of bone health from infancyto achieve maximum bone mass at the end of growth. Once this density has been reached, and growth ceases, a phase known as bone remodelling or turnover begins as old bone is absorbed.

The key to the prevention of this disease is the balance between bone loss and the creation of new bone, and for this the minerals calcium and phosphate are necessary. But how do we do this?

• • Eating foods with calcium and vitamin D. Calcium is just as important in our diet as the way in which our body assimilates this mineral, thanks to the hormone calcitrol. Vitamin D is responsible for producing this hormone and, if it does not do so in sufficient quantities, the body mobilises the calcium reserves it has in the skeleton, ageing the bones.

• Reduce consumption of alcohol, coffee and tobacco.. Adult smokers have a 30 percent higher risk of suffering a fracture, as smoking reduces the supply of oxygen to the bones, and nicotine affects the production of osteoblasts, the cells with the capacity to generate new bone. Moreover, smoking prevents the absorption of all the calcium we ingest in our diet.

Excessive alcohol consumption also inhibits the production of osteoblasts, which disrupts the balance between bone absorption and new bone production.

• Avoiding miracle diets. Rapid weight loss and reduced calcium intake have consequences for our bones. Bone strengthening comes from diet and physical exercise, and this is the opposite of what these quick diets prescribe.

The ideal of health for Biosalud Day Hospital is to seek health so as not to suffer from illnesses. For this reason we recommend a series of biological medicine guidelines that especially women can follow to prevent osteoporosis.

The most suitable foods to prevent osteoporosis and their quantities, according to our age.

The NIH (National Institutes of Health), a health organisation of the US government, shows very clearly in the following table the recommended amount of calcium we should consume per day.