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Osteoporosis Health Centre
Prevention |
Lifestyle
To promote the health of our bones and prevent osteoporosis, we can also quit smoking, and limit the amount of caffeine and alcohol we consume.
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"Squash the Rest and Drink the Best"
Lucy Chung, Art Student, Cawthra Park Secondary School, Mississauga, Ontario. |
Smoking
Smoking can cause women to reach menopause as much as five years earlier, which has a direct effect on bone loss. Smoking can also reduce your body’s ability to absorb calcium. Regardless of your age, quitting smoking is good for your bone health.
Caffeine
Caffeine is a diuretic. This means you go to the bathroom more when you drink coffee, tea or carbonated drinks that contain caffeine. As a result, you lose more calcium in your urine.
Drinking moderate amounts of caffeine is safe, but try to avoid having more than three cups of coffee a day.
Alcohol
We don't fully understand the relationship between alcohol and bones, but we do know that alcohol can have a toxic effect on the liver, and may interfere with calcium absorption. Alcohol is also a diuretic so it increases the amount of calcium lost in the urine. Try to drink no more than one or two alcoholic beverages a day.
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