HOW TO PROTECT OUR BONES IN COLD WEATHER? OPEN AIR AND HEALTHY FOOD
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Falling in temperature and during the winter cold it is important to know that even our skeletal system must be protected. Even more if you are used to play competitive (or not) winter sports. How can we protect our bones from cold weather? We asked to Francesco Alberton, MD, orthopaedic surgeon of Clinica San Francesco. “In order to protect our bones it is important to keep a constant vitamin D intake that, acting as a hormone, increases the bone quality thanks to the calcium deposit”.
The importance of vitamin D for our body
“The lack of vitamin D is more widespread that we can imagine, about 80% of Italian people, and this happens because we spend much time of our life indoors, in rooms, offices and laboratories with electric bright sources. However the situation doesn’t change too much during the spring or summer because we continue to live in closed spaces and then when we expose ourselves to sunlight, we sprinkle with sun creams inhibiting the absorption of almost all UV rays and so vitamin D”.
How can we supplement the vitamin D during the winter?
“We can supplement the vitamin D just in two ways, by sunbeams and food. It is clear that the exposure to sunbeams has to be transverse during all seasons, it is enough to expose for at least 20 or 30 minutes a day without protection to supply adequately our body by a daily vitamin D dose. The richest food in vitamin D certainly is the cod-liver and other fishes oil, then the mushrooms and milk products, but none manages to offer an adequate provision of vitamin D in blood by a simple diet. For these is necessary to resort to additions as vitamin supplements”.
The vitamin D is useful for our bones, but, actually, it is important also to protect our immune system. Indeed in order to have a great immune system it is necessary a good hormone balance, in particular of thyroid gland, an adequate quantity of micronutrients (vitamin A, D and C), a variegated and healthy diet, movement and a good emotional balance. A good supply of vitamin D protects our bones then also the winter sport activity can help us to feel better”.
Doing winter sport can assure us benefits?
“The benefits generally are a sport consequence. Even doing sport in winter helps: it avoids the weight increase, keeps good cardiocirculatory performances and, regarding the bones, keeping a great muscle tone permits correct stimuli of bones and then even the bone quality improves if receives the right mechanical stimuli. So it would be advisable to do sport throughout the year, also in winter, because an objective reason showing us the cold harms and determining damages to body does not exist, actually it is better to stay outside, keep a good oxygenation and avoid pathogen agents that often cause infectious diseases, mainly respiratory diseases”.
