Let's Do It Healthy

March 29, 2005

Osteoporosis affects both men and women. You're at higher risk if you smoke, drink excessively, don't exercise, and lack calcium. Doing weight-bearing exercises and adding calcium to your diet can reduce your risk. If you don't eat dairy products, enjoy calcium-fortified soy products, calcium-fortified orange juice and calcium-fortified cereals.

By adding key foods to your diet, you can get daily allowances for key nutrients in one serving. For instance, 1 cup cantaloupe cubes has 190% of the recommended daily allowance for vitamin C; 1 cup frozen cooked spinach has 295% of the RDA for beta-carotene; and 6 oz. pink baked or broiled salmon fillet has 201% RDA for vitamin D. The greater the variety of healthy foods you eat, the greater your nutritional coverage.

Most multivitamin formulas have too much iron for men. That's why "senior" formulas, which have little or no iron, are much more appropriate for adult men of any age. Look for a brand with 8mg or less. Men who eat an iron-fortified breakfast cereal will have already covered their daily iron needs. Getting substantially more iron than you need raises risks for a variety of conditions, including some that are potentially serious.

Instead of watching Tiger Woods tone up by shooting a round, hit the golf course for your own above-par workout. Benefits of regular visits to the links include improved overall flexibility, increased range of motion in shoulders and hips, sharpened hand-eye coordination, toned legs, waist and arms, and stronger hands, stomach and back muscles. Best of all, it puts you outdoors in a social, sporting atmosphere. (Would that we all could!)