Dear Friend,

Summer is just around the corner, which means its time to shed those heavy winter clothes and think about shedding extra winter pounds. Whether you already exercise or are starting to shape up for summer, I?d urge you to remember that as important as aerobic and muscle conditioning are for staying thin, it is equally important to exercise our bones ? so they don?t get thin.

Thinning Bones

As kids, our bones grow along with the rest of us and continue to grow into our 20s and early 30s. By mid-30s, the process usually reverses, and bones begin to thin. This is a natural process that escalates as we get older, especially in women after menopause. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, most women lose up to 20 percent of their bone mass in the first five to seven years after menopause. Whether a woman, or man, develops osteoporosis depends on bone thickness early in life, as well as health, diet and physical activity later in life.

Building Bone Strength

If you want strong bones, you have to use them! Girls and young women especially should concentrate on building strong bones now to cut their risk of osteoporosis later. But it is never too late to initiate bone-building habits. Muscles respond to stress by getting strong enough to handle the load. Bones respond to the pressure of weight-bearing exercise in the same way, by adding osteoblasts, or bone-forming cells, which boost bone density. For adults, "adding" bone density in this way is essential for keeping pace with loss of bone density that comes with age.

Weight Bearing Exercise

The term "weight-bearing" means your bones are working against gravity to support your body weight or, in the case of weight lifting, even more weight. For bone health, doctors recommend weight-bearing exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, four or more days a week.

Exercise for longer periods of time does not necessarily reap more bone benefits. What is most important to remember is that bones respond to short, sharp bouts of loading. For maximum bone strengthening, it is best to have periodic increases in the intensity, duration and amount of stress applied. That?s why aerobic step exercise, jogging and resistance training with weights are so effective.

But there are many other great ways to exercise your bones. Yard work such as pushing a lawn mower and heavy gardening count, as does stair climbing, hiking and sports like tennis and skiing. Walking is good but it should be brisk, and benefits can be increased by including hills, periodically increasing the pace, or even including some minutes of jogging. Remember, you want to use gravity to "stress" your bones.

Nutrition

Getting the right nutrients in the right amount is also essential for keeping bones strong and preventing osteoporosis. It?s well known by now that calcium is essential. For women 24 years old to menopause and postmenopausal women using hormone replacement therapy (HRT), we recommend 1,000 mg/day. Postmenopausal women not using HRT experience the highest rate of bone loss, so for this group, we recommend 1,500 mg/day of calcium.

Vitamin D also plays a critical role as it enhances calcium absorption in the body. The sun is a great source of Vitamin D so performing weight-bearing exercise outside increases the benefits. For many, however, daily sun exposure is not possible or not enough. As a nutritional supplement for prevention of osteoporosis, the recommended amount of Vitamin D is 200 IU to 400 IU per day.

Our ProCycle^® Gold is formulated especially for women with the exact amounts needed during perimenopause, menopause, and postmenopause ? 1000 mg of easily absorbed calcium citrate along with 400 IU of Vitamin D.

Measuring Bone Loss

Measuring rate of bone loss should be part of every woman?s plan for early detection and early prevention of bone loss and osteoporosis. This is especially important after menopause when low estrogen levels escalate the rate of bone breakdown. Knowing your rate of bone breakdown can help you and your health care provider decide on an appropriate prevention plan and monitor the results. Our NTx urine test is able to quickly measure rate of bone loss and show changes in as little as three months ? a distinct advantage over the two years generally required for sequential bone densitometry (BMD) measurements.

Hormone Replacement

That is why many doctors recommend hormone replacement, in addition to nutrition and exercise, to help slow down rate of bone loss in postmenopausal women. The positive effect of estrogen replacement on bone health, especially during the first 10 years after menopause, is well documented.

If you have any questions about exercise, nutrition for bone health, HRT or NTx bone loss testing, please call us at 800.558.7046.

In Good Health,