New Delhi: Healthy bones lead to a healthy body. Several factors, like good nutrition, exercise, and exposure to Sunlight, an active lifestyle also contribute to keeping bones healthy. Milk is considered a good source of calcium, but consuming skim milk is a better choice than whole milk, as the percentage of fat is lower compared to whole milk. Drinking a good amount of milk helps prevent osteoporosis in elderly people, but they also need to consume a good amount of calcium-rich foods.
Aruna Mallya, Senior Dietician, KMC Hospital, Dr B R Ambedkar, Mangalore, said, “Some kids develop lactose intolerance during early age of childhood where consumption of milk is not possible, in those cases they need to consume alternate for milk like juices fortified with calcium, cereals enriched with calcium, green leafy vegetables, seeds and can continue to be an active player in many sports event.”
Cow’s milk has 120 mg of Calcium per 100ml. There are several other alternatives available in market which can be used as an alternative or to increase the consumption of calcium to meet the daily requirement namely Soy milk, almond milk, goat milk, oat milk, rice milk, soy products, tofu, almonds, chia seeds, sesame seeds, poppy seeds, omum, cumin seeds, sardines, salmon, crab, shrimp, juices fortified with calcium, pulses and legumes, cheese, yoghurt, ragi milk, palm jaggery and supplements of Calcium and Vitamin D.
There are misconceptions that commercial milk is not good for human consumption as it contains hormones, but there are no studies found to prove it, so commercial milk is still considered safe to consume by human beings.
To sum up, eating lots of vegetables, consuming good-quality proteins, including calcium-rich and vitamin K-rich foods in the diet, getting a surplus amount of exposure to sunlight, and avoiding a very low-calorie diet help in meeting the calcium requirement for the day. Along with diet, performing regular strength training and weight-bearing exercises also prevents osteoporosis.