Almighty Dad | A stay at home dad blog

We might think all is lost for us when it comes to building strong bones.  After all, we’re old and old people might as well just give up.  Well that’s not true.  We need to keep ourselves fit and healthy in the same way we expect our kids to become healthy.  There are two very good reasons for that.  The first is that we want long lives and to enjoy the time we get with our kids (that’s the obvious reason).  The second reason is that kids don’t learn by being talked to.  If you really want to instill good habits in them the best course of action is, well, your actions. Kids mimic what they see much more than they do as they’re told.  So, when it comes to health, it is in our kids’ best interest for us to lead by example. That means we have to get off our butts and play outside and run around just like our kids.  It also means we have to educate ourselves about good nutrition and fitness.  Building strong bones fits right into that theme and is vitally important for the lifelong health of our children.  There are 4 things we must know about bone health.  They apply to adults as well as kids.

No Salt

Or at least keep it to a minimum.  Too much salt leeches calcium from our bones. Kids’ tolerance for salt maxes out at about 2000 milligrams per day.  That seems like a lot, but it isn’t.  1 ketchup packet from a fast food restaurant has 100 milligrams of salt.  1 hot dog has 900 milligrams of sodium.  Most processed foods are high in salt as a matter of fact.  A can of soup can have 700 milligrams.  The solution is obvious.  Avoid processed and fast foods, and definitely don’t add salt to food by way of a salt shaker.  It’s quite easy to get to 2000 milligrams a day.  Salt helps a body to retain water and is a necessary for our health.  But, it’s one mineral we don’t need to work to get.  Consuming enough sodium is not a problem.  The problem is getting too much.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D is responsible for the absorption of calcium.  It doesn’t do much good to take calcium without vitamin D because the calcium can’t absorb without it.  61% of American kids aren’t getting enough vitamin D.  That means weak bones, and more.  Scientists say that a lack of Vitamin D has been linked to high blood pressure and diabetes.  What’s the solution?  Easy, get outside and play.  Vitamin D is created by our bodies naturally when our skin is exposed to sunlight.  I’m a big advocate of sunscreen and skin health.  However, just 15 minutes of sun-time per day can help our bodies to synthesize enough Vitamin D to fulfill our daily requirements.  Vitamin D can be found in fortified milk, fatty fish like salmon and eggs too.  Kids these days just don’t go outside enough and they eat too much processed foods.  It’s no wonder they are suffering.

Exercise

Have you ever wondered how Muay Thai fighters can repeatedly kick each other in the shins and not crumple over in pain?  It’s because they have built up their shin bones through repeated low intensity kicks on objects harder than the bone itself.  Over time the bones grow thick and strong and become resistant to pounding.  That’s why you can’t just jump into a ring and start fighting.  You’ll quickly find that it’s a lot more than muscle conditioning that makes those fighters tick.  The same holds true with our kids and their bone health.  Running, jumping, and climbing all help strengthen bones.  Anything that puts mild strain on joints and bones (by using gravity alone) will build bone strength and resistance.  This is also why most people can’t run a mile without having knee pain.  They haven’t trained their muscles, tendons and bones for any strain.

No Soda

Most soda contains phosphoric acid and doctors and scientists say it removes calcium from bones.  Phosphoric acid is the ingredient that gives soda its sharp bite (taste).   It’s also used in skin care products and makeup (and thus absorbs into your skin and blood stream).  Caffeine has also been linked to bone loss, and that’s another big ingredient in soda.  Basically, between caffeine, phosphoric acid and sugar, soda is a killer.  Stay away from it entirely, and keep kids away from it too.  Lead by example.

It isn’t too late for us to start living better lives.  Our goal might not be to have perfect health for ourselves, but it should at least be to encourage healthy habits in our children.  The only way to do that is to do things together that will, over time, encourage lifelong habits.  Obese parents tend to have obese kids.  It’s because of genetics and a predisposition to store fat, but it’s also because of poor habits and ignorance.  The no soda rule can be easy as long as we’re educated enough to know its dangers.  But, without that knowledge, we might otherwise continue on our merry way while our kids suffer.  The point is that as you fix yourself, your kids win naturally change too.  It’s all about good habits.  No soda, exercise, vitamin D, and reduction in salt are the 4 steps in building healthy bones.  Live it.

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