Getting Old and Maintaining Healthy Bones and Joints

These days, when someone wishes us happy birthday, "and many more", there's a good chances that will happen. By 2025, there will be more than 800 million people over 65 years of age in the world, two third of them in developing countries.

What kind of old age.

A longer life is much more attractive prospect if it is free of pain and disability. If it isn't, there's a danger you may live to a ripe old age and not really have much of a life. Happily, many of the conditions that can interfere with our enjoyment at later life are preventable.

There are many conditions once though to be a natural part of aging that we now know can be prevented or minimized. Many of the diseases associated with aging appear to be caused by free radicals, chemically activated forms of oxygen, which are generated in the body daily. The thing that naturally keeps free radicals in check is antioxidants, which we get from nutrients in food, particularly fresh foods and vegetables.

Osteoporosis:

Osteoporosis is a crippling disease which weakens the bones. It is most commonly associated with older people. Women especially are effected as estrogen levels, which drop at menopause, can cause bones to weaken, often lending to hip fracture.

Seven out of ten women and a significant number of men, aren't getting the calcium they need to avoid the risk of osteoporosis. By 2050, nearly half of the world's hip fractures will occur in Asia. Studies have identified Asians as the ethnic group with the lowest calcium intake.

Getting enough calcium to avoid the risk of osteoporosis through your diet can be difficult, a calcium supplement is often recommended for those who are on a low calcium food diet.

Get more on low fat diary foods (with extra calcium), soya bean products, whole grain bread and cereals, fresh fruit and vegetables. Regular weight bearing exercise. Avoid coffee, tea, alcohol, animal fats and eggs.

Arthritis:

Arthritis literally means "fire in the joints", a description that almost adults who are believed to suffer from the condition understand only too well. The most common form of artritis is osteoarthritis and mostly affects older people. It develops as the cartilage that protects a joint wears away. The result is a painful, sometimes debilitating combination of stiffness and swelling. Rheumatoid arthritis is an inflammatory type of arthritis and an auto immune disorder. It occurs when the body replaces damaged tissue with scar tissue. This force within the joints to become narrow, so the bones actually fuse together.

Get more on deep sea fish, avocado, olive oil, linseed oil, leafy vegetables, yellow vegetables, fresh fruits, nuts, seeds, ginger, wholemeal bread and cereals, brown rice, water, sulfur containing foods such as asparagus, eggs, garlic and onions. Exercise which doesn't put stress on your joints, swimming is great. Unused joints tend to stiffen. Celery supplements, traditionally used to relieve joint pains. Glucosamine, a supplements that contains the natural component of human cartilage. It enhances the structural integrity of connective tissue.

Take less nightshade vegetables ( tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, capsicum), they contain compounds which can inflame arthritis. Animal, fats, tea, coffee and processed food.