Foods to Avoid When Treating Osteoporosis
The treatment for osteoporosis depends upon a wide variety of lifestyle factors. These factors, like physical exercise and diet, have the capability of greatly affecting the condition for the better or the worse. When deciding on an action plan for the treatment for osteoporosis, it’s important for those to be completely aware of what’s helpful for relieving the symptoms with ease and living a normal lifestyle.
Certain foods that can worsen the condition of osteoporosis and make the individual weaker for having consumed them. It’s imperative that these food are avoided at all costs as some of them deteriorate the health of an osteoporosis patient. A few prime examples of these foods are
Salty Foods
Consumption of food products with a high quantity of salt and sodium can be extremely harmful to the patients suffering from osteoporosis. It leads to the loss of calcium and further causes bone loss. Controlling the amount of salt and sodium can be done by limiting the amount of processed food and canned goods that are consumed in a day. Also, the amount of salt being used in some foods can be recorded. If the sodium level in a particular product comprises over 20% of the complete nutritional value, then it should be avoided.
Legumes (beans)
Beans appear to be a healthy dietary substance at first glance. With an abundance of magnesium, fiber, calcium, and several other nutrients, in the general case, it is a healthy food substance also. Except that legumes also contain a particular component known as phytates in high quantities. Phytates present in beans can come in the way of the body’s capability to absorb calcium and thereby reduce the body’s calcium intake worsening the condition of osteoporosis. This problem can, however, be overcome by soaking the beans in water for hours together before cooking and suing freshwater for boiling the beans later.
High protein foods
Protein is known to be the building block of the body and is one of the most essential components of a healthy and balanced diet. While it is important in the required quantities, diets that supply the body with extremely high protein quantities can be detrimental to patients suffering from osteoporosis. High protein intake can prove to be harmful to the bones and also further lead to loss of calcium from the body.
Oxalates
Foods with high quantities of oxalates in it can prove to be ineffective sources of calcium for osteoporosis patients. In food substances such as spinach, the presence of oxalates interferes with the process of calcium absorption. While food substances with oxalates can also have other important nutrients, they are incapable of serving as good sources for calcium.
These foods will prove to be detrimental for the treatments of osteoporosis and must be avoided to maintain a healthy lifestyle.