For years & years, doctors have been telling their female patients to get lots of calcium in their diet to keep their bones strong.
More recently, they have added Vitamin D into the mix.
Even more recently, some of the more proactive docs have even recommended exercise as a way to improve bone mineral density.
Well, according to this study, weight bearing exercise may turn out to be the most important factor in building strong bones.
THE STUDY
Researchers wanted to compare the effect that physical activity had upon bone density in relation to vitamin D status.
To do that, they took a group of 166 female ballet dancers and sedentary adolescents and divided them based on their serum levels of vitamin D.
Then they measured their bone densities.
What they found was that the ballet dancers with low levels of vitamin D were able to maintain healthy levels of bone mineral density. The same couldn’t be said for the sedentary adolescents with low vitamin D levels.
This led the researchers to conclude that weight bearing exercise may indeed counteract the detrimental effect of marked vitamin D deficiency on bone mass.
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And how does exercise build strong bones?
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BUILDING BONES 101
- Your bones are in a perpetual state to formation & resorption.
- Old bone material is removed by your osteoclasts and replaced by new bone material formed by your osteoblasts.
- Weight bearing exercise applies a strain on your bones.
- That strain is seen by your body as a threat to the health of your bones – SNAP!!!
- Because of that threat, your osteoblasts are set into motion
- And your bones are made stronger & denser
Conclusion
Without the forces applied via physical activity, your body has no reason to build strong bones… and all the milk and vitamin D pills in the world aren’t going to make up the difference.
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Reference
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