Archive for the ‘Bone Health’ Category

5/13/07 - ‘Dem Bones

In case I haven’t already, let me admit upfront that I’m 50 (51 is only days away, but I’m sticking with 50 for as long as I can), and have not had a bone density test, which I should. As part of this blog, I will likely get that done (and because I should, of course) and let you know how it goes.

But this one had some interesting new twists. I, apparently, am low on my calcium intake, which, I suppose is fair enough. I hate milk; I can’t even have it with cereal without feeling a tad squeamish. It’s a texture thing; it just feels too thick going down. And don’t talk to me about cream unless it’s whipped.

However, I love cheese (let me put a metaphoric exclamation point on that – I love cheese), and yogurt (if you haven’t tried Brown Cow’s coffee yogurt you are missing one of life’s true gifts – mix it up with some Trader Joe’s ginger granola and some blueberries and the day just starts out right); and, of course, ice cream, which I eat very seldom because of that whole weight thing.

I could also be getting calcium from dark green vegetables (spinach comes to mind), which I am certain I don’t eat enough, even though I like them – note to self: eat more. So, according to my Action Plan, based on the inputs from my questionnaire, I’m getting about half of my desired calcium. And, for those of you who are up to date on earlier blog entries, I am planning on cutting back on cheese, so I need a new plan to get more calcium.

The rest of the Bone Health recommendations are:

• Continue Vitamin D intake (I’m slightly over at the moment)
• Keep caffeine intake low (I drink tea, no coffee, so am well below recommended limits.
• Increase Omega-3’s (got it).
• Don’t smoke (yuck – never).
• Exercise more (yup, got that too).
• Lose weight. (all right, point made, how many times are they going to ask?)

So my plan moving forward is gelling pretty concretely. Pretty soon I need to start figuring out how I’m going to implement the changes on a practical level. But I have one more chart to review and that’s inflammation: Next time.

Questions:

Have you had a bone density test? How’d you do?

Where do you get your calcium?

Are there foods that you know are good for you that you particularly like or dislike?