Tendons
and ligaments integrate your musculoskeletal system by binding bone and muscle.
Essential nutrients like minerals and vitamins keep these tissues in your body
healthy. While exercises are essential for good muscle tone, food nutrients
supply the daily requirement. Carbohydrates, proteins and fats will constitute
our food but one must ensure that they are in the ratio 30—40—30.
Strengthen your musculoskeletal
system
Musculoskeletal
system consists of bones and muscles. This is a framework for housing your
organs and is covered by flesh and skin. Food for the skeleton or nourishment
for the bone is as essential as nutrients for tendons and ligaments.
Components of musculoskeletal
system
A) Tendon: This tissue consists
of collagen fibers and helps you move your bones and joints. Tendon connects
muscle to bone.
B) Ligament: Strong
connective tissue that have elasticity to allow movement of bones at the
joints. They prevent movement beyond the range of the joint. The connection is
between bone and bone.
C) Cartilage: Cartilage
is your bone’s shock absorber. It is present at the ends and in between bones.
It is soft and aims to prevent attrition of bone.
E) Muscle: These bunch of
tissue such as triceps (arms) or hamstring (legs) help mobilize the joint and
control movement.
Amount
of nutrients required
1) Vitamins
a) Vitamin A: Fat-soluble,
vitamin A is either preformed vitamin A as found in animal meat, fish and poultry
products or it is provitamin A as found in fruits, vegetables and many plant
products. Recommended intake is 5,000 IUs. Vitamin A is necessary for good
eyesight and for reproduction process.
b) Vitamin B: Vitamin B6
and vitamin B12 are required for cognition function. However, do not take
excess of vitamin B6. Recommended dose is 1.3 mg if you are less than 50 years
of age and 1.5 – 1.7 mg if you are older. Most people can take high amounts of
vitamin B12 without any side effects.
c) Vitamin C: Essential for
bones, Vitamin C is found in abundance in milk and the required daily dosage is
1000 mg. If you are above 58 years of age, you should take 1200 mg at least.
d) Vitamin D: Other
essential vitamin for bones, Vitamin D is required minimum 200 International Units
(IUs) if you are less than 58 years and 500 – 600 IUs for older people.
e) Vitamin E: Required by
the body immune system and for the skin, vitamin E is required in doses of 400
IUs on a daily basis. Vitamin E is fat-soluble and so it should be taken with
food. Long-term use increased
possibility of dying from all causes including stroke.
2) Minerals
a. Calcium: Most abundant mineral in the body,
daily requirement is 1000 mg for those below 50 and 1200 mg for older people.
b. Magnesium: In addition
to keeping the bones strong, magnesium also helps body maintain a steady heart
beat, augment the immune system, maintain normal muscle and nerve function,
regulate blood glucose levels and in metabolizing proteins and energy
production. Recommended dosage is 315 mg for women and 415 mg for men.
c. Zinc: Daily
requirement of zinc is 15 mg. One has to be careful of overdoses as this may
cause anemia. About 60% of the zinc is present in skeletal tissues and 30% is
found in bones. It is also important in normal growth of cells, development and
DNA synthesis.
3) Others
i. Chondroitin: Naturally
occurring substance in bones, chondroitin supplements is 800 mg. If your body
weight is more than 100 pounds, then you can take 1,200 mg.
ii. Glucosamine: This supplement
is taken in doses of 1,000 mg (less than 100 pounds) and 1,500 mg (greater than
100 pounds).
iii. Proteins: A person
needs 0.4g (for sedentary lifestyle) and 0.45g to 0.7g of proteins per pound
body weight (for active lifestyle).
Choose the right food item
i)
Oyster, crab and shellfish have good amounts of zinc.
ii)
Beef liver and animal organs are good sources of vitamin
A but also have high levels of cholesterol.
iii)
Salmon provides vitamin A. Sardines provide calcium and
vitamin D needed for your bones. Salmon also has omega-3 fatty acids that is
beneficial to your heart.
iv)
Fruits such as mango, apricot and cantaloupe are rich in
vitamin A and magnesium. Bananas have good amounts of magnesium.
v)
Green leafy vegetables: Broccoli, carrot, squash has lots
of vitamin A. Spinach is your source of calcium, magnesium and vitamin E. One
cup gives you more than one-fifth of your daily need of calcium. In addition,
it has vitamin A, iron and fiber.
vi)
Diary products are the most common source of vitamin A.
Milk has calcium and three glasses will provide you all the calcium you need
for the day. Same with cheese, it provides calcium and zinc. Eat one slab of
2.5 ounces to fulfill half your calcium requirements.
vii)
Sunlight and yogurt are good sources of vitamin D. Yogurt
provide about one-third of the calcium requirement and one-sixth the vitamin D
requirement for the day.
viii) Vegetable oils are
good sources for vitamin E.
ix)
Nuts provide vitamin E required for skin and for body
immune system. It also provides magnesium and zinc.
x)
Whole grain cereals provide magnesium and zinc.
Recovery from ligament injuries
Amount
of calcium and vitamin A for persons recovering from injuries is more. Intake
of proteins also helps since proteins are required for tissue building process.
Eating colorful fruits helps heal inflammation and torn ligaments. Green
vegetables such as bell peppers, cauliflower, cabbage and tomatoes help cure
the patient through their richness in vitamin C. Nutritious food is essential.
Exercise
essential for strengthening tendons and ligaments
Exercises
keep you body in shape by toning muscles. Essentially, you are reducing the
amount of stress that your body undergoes. When muscles are not conditioned
properly, the body sags. Weight is distributed away from the center of gravity
and thus effort required will be more to move the body around.
Loosely
connected muscles have to be tightened
When
muscles are tightened, the body mass is more centered, meaning you require less
energy to move around. Ideally exercises such as light jogging and mild
stretching will help your body maintain good muscle mass.
1) Light to moderate jogs
2) Mild stretching
3) Weight training if you
want
Body
keeps putting on weight during change of seasons or when there is a celebration
or festival. During festivals, one tends to eat more sweets and forget to
maintain a watch over diet and exercises. India has several periods during
which festivals are celebrated.
Exercises
for mornings are different from those for evenings
Evening
exercises are more rapid stretching kind of exercises while morning exercises
tend to be mild static or dynamic stretching kind of exercises. Make changes to
your environment to improve your food habits and health. People who are
training for an event can use a personal trainer too. Most of all you need a proper exercise and fitness regimen.
Other
sources are given here.
Pic courtesy: All pictures are from Pixabay Public Domain Photos
Posts
