Strong healthy bones are very important to your health. But, as we age, we lose bone. Women are more susceptible to this, and lose more bone than men due to hormonal changes after menopause.
So to maintain a healthy bone structure, even through your elder years, you must build up your supply of bone while you can. Thus as you age, you make sure that even though you lose bone, you still have plenty left.
Your bone tissue is formed from your childhood, through to your thirties. Adolescence provides the peak growth time (poor calcium intake during this period will reduce your ability to reach peak bone mass!). After age 35, your bone mass won't increase.
From here you can only maintain or lose bone tissue. Research shows that calcium, zinc, copper, and manganese all play a major role in maintaining and recovering lost bone density. So how does one achieve a strong bone mass?
Regular exercise puts stress on the bones, this will stimulate the bone to hold minerals, and maintain density.
Here are some tips for Skeletal Vitality:
Exercise: walk, jog, cycle, it's all good for you!
consume at least 1000mg of calcium a day (adolescents 1200-1500 mg per day)! It should also be noted that Vitamin D increases the absorbtion of Calcium into your bones.
make sure your diet includes: zinc, copper and manganese (these can also be attained through vitamin supplements!)
Our muscles encase and enforce our skeletal structure. Our muscles create strength and energy for our bodies. But the only way to create and maintain muscle tissue is through exercise.
If you don't exercise your muscles regularly, they will lose muscle tissue. But it is possible to rebuild and strengthen muscle at any age. The more muscle tissue you have, the more calories you will burn in a day (this is because the excess tissue will increase your metabolic rate!).
Here are some tips for Muscle Vitality:
Try and get at least 30-min of aerobic exercise four days of the week.
Combine this aerobic exercise with strength training at least two days a week.
Your digestive system is responsible for breaking down the food you eat into usable energy. Thus the rest of your body's health depends on a healthy digestive system.
If your system ever starts to slow down, it can create discomfort, and also may lead to diverticulosis, hemorrhoids, or colon cancer. If you want to keep a healthy digestive tract, look at the tips below.
Here are some tips for Digestive Vitality:
Fiber is good for your digestive tract. Try and get at least 20 grams of fiber daily.
Water is also good for you. You must drink at least six glasses of water daily.
If you exercise regularly, you are also toning your intestinal muscles.
Your immune system is very a complex system of cells. These cells can be divided into two groups:
defensive and offensive. The defensive cells try to prevent disease from getting in. A good example of this would be your skin. Offensive cells travel through your bloodstream,
and destroy and invaders on the inside. Vitamins are important to maintain the proper functioning of this system. It has been shown that vitamin deficiencies can increase
your chances of infection.
Here are some tips for Immune System Vitality:
Make sure you have enough of these vitamins in your diet: beta carotene, vitamin E, zinc, and vitamin B-6.
The heart is your body's most important muscle. The heart pushes blood through all your
arteries to provide your body's cells with oxygen and nutrients. It also removes waste from these cells. Your heart has a hard enough job as it is, but when arteries
and vessels become clogged with fatty plaques, your heart has to work overtime just to get the job done. This gets even more serious when the arteries that connect the heart to the
brain get clogged, it can have fatal results. So our job is to keep our hearts healthy and happy. Hey, it can only benefit us in the long run.
Here are some tips to help maintain your Cardiovascular Vitality:
Try and cut down on your saturated fat intake. The last thing you want is fat, specifically LDL cholesterol, sticking to the walls of your arteries. Try monounsaturated oils (olive oil, etc.) instead.
The heart is a muscle, and just like any other muscle it needs exercise. Intense aerobics or other 'heart helping' exercises will help strengthen the body's most important muscle.
Calcium, potassium, soluble fiber, folic acid, and vitamins B-6 & B-12 all are associated with heart health. Make sure you include them in your diet.
The brain,
like any other muscle, needs exercise. Both physical & mental stimuli are required for proper
mental health. Mental health is an important part of being healthy. Some even believe that
there is a connection between the two; they believe that thinking positively increases the number
of immune cells in the body. But even if you can't accept that, you must agree that a positive
outlook on life is important. As we get older, sometimes our
minds deteriorate. But you can prevent or delay this deterioration through exercise & a healthy
diet. Poor intakes of vitamin B-12 and thiamin is responsible for some deterioration in older
adult's brain functioning.
While it has not been proven, some believe that mental exercise (puzzles, games, reading) can stimulate mental agility & maintain mental health. Physical exercise is very important too. It helps promote the flow of blood to the brain.
Have you
ever seen a rabbit with glasses? There may be some truth to that old statement. An unbalanced
diet without enough vitamins and minerals may contribute, over time, to deteriorated vision.
Cataract is the leading cause of blindness in the world. A vitamin enriched diet, including
beta-carotene & vitamin C, has been associated to reduced risk of cataract. Consuming fruits
and vegetables that contain antioxidant nutrients (dark green, leafy vegetables, and citrus fruits
are your best source of these), will help reduce the risk of age-related loss of vision.
Here are some tips for Visual Vitality:
In your diet include antioxidant nutrients. They can easily be found in fruits and vegetables, or through vitamin supplements.
