Osteoporosis Risks & Prevention OptionsBy Phil BeckettCopyright ?http://www.womens-health-fitness.comOsteoporosis is a condition that involves the loss of bone mass, which results in chronic, progres...

Osteoporosis Risks & Prevention Options
By Phil Beckett
Copyright ?http://www.womens-health-fitness.com

Osteoporosis is a condition that involves the loss of bone
mass, which results in chronic, progressive bone weakening.

This "thinning" of the bones can be caused by a number of
disorders, but is most frequently seen as a consequence of
age.

Osteoporosis is much more common in women, who usually
begin to develop the disorder around the time of
menopause, a time marked by a drop in the body's estrogen
level.

While most cases are associated with menopause, any other
condition that causes a drop in estrogen can lead to
osteoporosis.

Besides advancing age and being female, other risk factors
for osteoporosis are:

- Early menopause;
- Family history;
- White or Asian race;
- Not getting enough calcium in your diet;
- Smoking;
- Alcohol;
- Lack of exercise;
- Low body weight;
- Small stature.

Osteoporosis causes approximately one million fractures in
postmenopausal women every year.

Tens of thousands of deaths in women each a year are
associated with complications of osteoporosis.

How To Recognize Osteoporosis:

The pain of osteoporosis often goes unnoticed. The following
signs indicate you may have osteoporosis:

- Height loss
- Back pain
- Bone fragility
- Bone fracture

Fractures that occur as a result of very minor trauma are
often the first sign of osteoporosis.

About 35 percent of vertebral fractures are not painful. They
are sometimes only detected by height loss, chronic back
pain, and kyphosis.

Hip and other serious fractures are usually caused by a fall.

Osteoporosis Prevention Is The Key:

First and foremost, make sure that you exercise using a
properly structured fitness and nutrition program...

And do it on a regular basis! This is an excellent option
for preventing osteoporosis. This must include exercise with
weights. It is very important for good health and strong
bones.

Make sure you are getting enough calcium. Calcium builds
strong bones.

Foods such as such as milk; yogurt, cheese, and other dairy
products; and dark green and leafy vegetables do contain
calcium.

But, unfortunately, you just cannot get enough from these
food sources.

Therefore, you must take a calcium supplement to ensure
you are getting enough.

Don't Smoke. Besides the many health risks caused by
smoking, women who smoke have more chance of getting
osteoporosis.

Limit the amount of alcohol you drink. Alcohol can hurt the
cells that build your bones. It also lowers the amount of
calcium in your body.

You must ensure that you are getting all of the vitamins and
minerals your body needs to promote good health. To do
this, you have to take a good quality daily multi-vitamin.

Osteoporosis begins when you are a child and is often not
found until you are much older. That is why it is so
important to eat well and get lots of exercise to keep your
bones healthy and strong.

Essential Vitamins Needed:

In addition to calcium, your body needs magnesium, a
mineral necessary to activate the chemical reactions that
form new bone.

Another mineral important to normal bone formation,
manganese, is needed to help make your bones more
resistant to breaking.

Your body also needs folic acid to properly build the fibrous
collagen framework of bone onto which to mineral salts
deposit. Without a strong framework, the bone will become
weak and defective and more prone to breakage.

Vitamin B6 is also needed to build the fibrous framework
that supports the bone minerals.

Vitamin C is very important for collagen and connective
tissue formation.

A deficiency of vitamin B12 prevents your body's bone
building cells from functioning properly.

There are many essential vitamins and minerals that your
body needs on a daily basis to help prevent and treat
osteoporosis but the best choice by far is coral calcium and
above sea coral calcium is even better.

When selecting a coral calcium product, it needs to contain
1.5 grams of above sea coral calcium per serving, complete
with a certificate of analysis on display confirming the
potency.

In addition, and just as important, your coral calcium should
be fortified with both a red and green phytonutrient mix
using New Zealand grown ingredients.

It's widely accepted that coral calcium, containing a plant-
based red and green phytonutrient mix, reflects the best
possible combination for osteoporosis.

I can confidently recommend this type of coral calcium
product to you and have received only very positive
feedback from the individuals who have already used it.

For more information on how to prevent and relieve
osteoporosis please visit:

http://www.womens-health-fitness.com/osteoporosis.html