Osteoporosis is a disease of the bones. Essentially what happens is that bones become fragile and porous and this commonly result in fractures. This is due to a decrease in bone density that greatly affects the strength of the bones.
Osteoporosis poses a health problem for both men and women but women are more susceptible to it than men, particularly post menopausal women. This is due to the absence of circulating estrogen levels in the body, affecting calcium absorption and excretion rates. (1)
We Are All Going To Suffer Bone Loss
From our mid 40s-50s all people lose 0.5 to 1% per year in bone mass. Unfortunatley for women, bone loss accelerates to anywhere between 1-3% per year (2-3). Thanks yet again hormones!
Statistics for osteoporosis are quite high, in 2007-2008 there were 692,000 doctor reported cases of osteoporosis in Australia, 81.9% of those cases were women. (4) We do have quite a small population compared to other places so think of it like this, a person with an osteoporotic fracture is admitted to hospital every 8 minutes. Now you get a better perspective and it’s quite a lot isn’t it?
That’s why we need to think about our bone health because it’s actually estimated that the condition is wider reaching than those statistics because osteoporosis is a silent disease with up to 80% of cases going undiagnosed until a person experiences a fall.
Osteoporosis is quite serious because many sufferers end up with serious disabilities after they have a fall. This is because it most commonly happens to people when they are older and the elderly heal at a slow rate, especially in the areas that commonly get fractured – the hip and spine. Calcium is the nutrient needed to provide structure and strength to bones so inadequate dietary intake across our lifespan can lead to the development of osteoporosis. (1)
Peak Bone Mass & Is It Too Late To Change?
We reach our peak bone mass by 18 for girls and 20 for boys, with small deposits still being made into our late 20s. If you have kids or young adults in this age bracket, get them eating more calcium and doing more exercise to ensure they reach their peak bone mass. It’s our calcium intake and exercise that greatly help increase bone mass. That’s why it’s essential to encourage healthy calcium intake and exercise that increases bone density in our kids because building bone mass early really does help prevent osteoporosis later on in life.
Still, there are things we can do at any stage in life, even when we are in our 70′s, that can help build bone mass and prevent more bone loss and one of those is to get adequate intake of calcium. We can do this in two ways, through food sources and through supplementation. So no, it is never too late to change and improve your health!
Calcium Foods Or Calcium Supplements?
Many foods contain some calcium but really good food sources of calcium include dairy products, salmon, sardines, tahini, almonds, adzuki beans, green vegetables such as colalrds, kale, amaranth and spinach. I did a podcast recently about non dairy calcium sources so be sure to check that out here.
Which is better a supplement or foods?
Research shows that the bioavailability of supplements is 25-35% compared to milk at 29%. With other foods I’m not sure exactly because dairy and supplements are the most widely researched areas raleting to calcium. But I think the answer to this question comes down to individual concerns. For example, vegans may choose to take a calcium supplement due to the fact that they don’t eat dairy. Older people often find it hard to eat enough dairy because the enzyme lactase needed to digest dairy decreases with age, so in this case a supplement may also be beneficial. I think if you’re concerned you’re not getting enough, then increase your food sources of calcium and take a low dose supplement as well.
Dietary Recommendations For Calcium
You might want to take a low dose supplement as well because most people don’t get enough calcium. The recommended requirements are:
Men 1000mg a day for 19-70 year olds with an increase to 1300mg day for 70+ years.
Women 1000mg a day 19-50 year olds with an increase to 1300mg day for 50+ years. (2)
Studies suggest that smaller calcium doses of 500-600mg are more effective than taken as one larger dose. (5)
Can Increasing Calcium Help Or Prevent Osteoporosis?
The answer to that is YES!
When I did a research study for my Masters in Nutrition, I evaluated a lot of the research on osteoporosis and calcium supplementation. It all showed a positive outcome for increasing calcium intake, even for the elderly people 70+ years.
In the elderly for example increasing calcium showed:
~a 12% overall risk reduction in all types of fractures, increased to 24% where high compliance to a supplementation program was adhered to for the long term. (6)
~an increased percentage of calcium deposits per annum across a number of sites, forearm 63%, hip 0.60%, and spine 1.12%. (5)
So you see, calcium is a very important nutrient to consider so make sure you are getting your daily requirements because none of us want to suffer osteoporosis. The younger we are the more we can do to prevent this condition. However remember, it’s never too late to improve your health no matter how old you are, and that includes increasing our bone mass too 
Jedha
Nutrition & Health Coach
P.S. Click here to get our up to date nutrition and health info weekly
References
1. Whitney E, Rolfes SR, Crowe T, Cameron-Smith D, Walsh A. Understanding Nutrition: Australian and New Zealand edition. South Melbourne. Cengage Learning. 2011.
2. National Health And Medical Research Council. Nutrient reference values for Australia and New Zealand: including recommended dietary intakes. Canberra. 2006:155-9. Retrieved November 20, 2012 from http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/guidelines/publications/subject/Nutrition%20and%20Diet
3. Nowson C. Nutritional challenges in the elderly. Australian Doctor. 2009 Mar 27:25-32.
4. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. A snapshot of osteoporosis in Australia 2011. 2011 Apr:1-25. Canberra. Retrieved November 20, 2012 from http://www.aihw.gov.au/search/?q=a+snapshot+of+osteoporosis
5. Nordin BEC. The effect of calcium supplementation on bone loss in 32 controlled trials in postmenopausal women. Osteoporosis International. 2009;20:2135-2143.
6. Tang BMP, Eslick GD, Nowson C, Smith C, Bensoussan A. Use of calcium or calcium in combination with vitamin D supplementation to prevent fractures and bone loss in people aged 50 years and older: a meta-analysis. The Lancelet. 2007 Aug 25;370(9588):657-66.
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