Living Vegan For Dummies - Alexandra Jamieson [158]
While Americans consume more dairy than most nations on earth, we also have one of the highest osteoporosis rates. The real culprits behind this degenerative bone disease are diets that are too high in acidic animal protein, too high in sugar and salt, and too low in vitamin D.
To ensure healthy bones, eat a vegan diet that’s devoid of traditional dairy products and that’s full of green leafy vegetables. Because the human digestive system doesn’t digest dairy well (lactose intolerance, anyone?), it makes sense that, according to the Heaney and Weaver article in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition in April 1990, “[leafy] greens such as kale . . . [are] at least as good as milk in terms of calcium absorbability.” These same greens also contain the other minerals that make up strong bones that taking a lot of calcium supplements won’t give you.
The impact of impact exercise
Bones aren’t just static stalks holding up our bodies like scarecrows. Like muscle, bone is an ever-changing, living tissue that responds to proper exercise by becoming stronger. Weight-bearing exercise that encourages bones and muscles to increase strength is the best kind for preventing osteoporosis. In addition, many experts believe that the cushioned athletic shoes we often wear may actually decrease the stress we put on our bones — and that’s not a good thing. The mild impact of walking in bare feet may actually improve bone health because of the low-impact vibrations that travel up the skeleton. Try a combo of weight lifting for upper and lower body, biking, and walking around your house or safe outdoor area in bare feet. While you’re at it, try carrying those bags of groceries up the stairs one at a time. Talk about an excellent — and free — weight-bearing exercise!
Make certain that your body uses calcium properly by getting enough vitamin D from sunlight on your skin. The top layers of your skin make vitamin D (which is actually a hormone) when exposed to sunlight or special light boxes. If you live in a Northern climate, and you don’t get daily sun exposure for at least 20 minutes, consider taking a vitamin D supplement.
Even though many vegan products like soy, rice, and hemp milk are fortified with vitamin D, many health experts and doctors think that the recommended daily allowance (RDA) isn’t high enough to ensure proper bone health. Researchers recently found that even higher recommendations of 2000IU a day were too low. Consider having your vitamin D levels checked with a blood test to determine what level of supplementation you need.
B healthy — get your B12
Despite occasional food recalls and outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, we live in an age of unparalleled food safety when it comes to cleanliness. This sanitation is necessary when one factory or processing plant is manufacturing thousands of pounds of food from hundreds of sources every day.
The flip-side of this rampant disinfection and sanitation is that our fruits and vegetables are virtually free of bacteria. I’m not promoting that we go around eating dirty, unclean food, but the truth is that some bacteria is good for humans. B12 is produced by bacteria and is then stored in animal tissues. Because livestock animals have these bacteria in their diet, people who eat animal flesh consume B12 in their food. Of course, vegans don’t naturally consume B12.
B12 is necessary for every human in sufficient quantities, and for senior citizens or middle-aged folks it can help protect the nerve fibers in the brain as well as protect the body against anemia and dementia. Muscle coordination, balance, memory, and depression are all helped with adequate B12. Senior vegans