Your musculoskeletal system is comprised of your bones, joints and muscles. It’s this system that enables you to move and maintain an active lifestyle. But, we often take our mobility – and musculoskeletal system – for granted until something happens to significantly limit our daily activities. Therefore, it’s important to keep your bones, joints and muscles healthy.
Not only are regular stretching and exercise important in maintaining your musculoskeletal system, but a nutritious diet can help keep your bones, joints and muscles healthy, too. When you eat a healthy diet containing the right vitamins and minerals, you help your body build muscle tone, form strong bones and promote joint mobility.
Here are some key vitamins and minerals that play an essential role in maintaining your musculoskeletal health:
- Vitamin C promotes collagen formation for healthy bones, cartilage, and muscles. Choose citrus fruits, berries, tomatoes, cauliflower, potatoes, green leafy vegetables and peppers.
- Vitamin B6 helps with the intake of protein for building and maintaining healthy muscles. Choose lean chicken, turkey or pork; tuna; bananas; prunes; spinach; avocados; sunflower seeds and pistachio nuts.
- Vitamin D helps your bones absorb calcium. Choose fatty fish (such as sardines, salmon, herring and tuna), egg yolks and vitamin-D fortified cereal, orange juice, milk and yogurt.
- Vitamin K protects your bones from facture. Choose spinach, cabbage, kale, broccoli, avocado, kiwi and grapes.
- Calcium builds stronger bones and keeps your muscles functioning properly. Choose calcium-fortified dairy products, fruit juices and cereals; dark green leafy vegetables (such as broccoli, kale, bok choy); and almonds.
- Magnesium supports efficient muscle function. Choose black beans, soybeans, quinoa, brown rice, spinach, Swiss chard, artichokes, prune juice or pumpkin seeds.
- Omega-3 Fatty Acids helps relieve joint inflammation, pain and discomfort. Choose oily, cold water fish (such as halibut, salmon, trout and tuna); flaxseed, canola, and soybean oils; flaxseed and walnuts.
Additionally, protein helps increase bone mineral content and decreases your risk of fractures. If you’re a woman, eat 46 grams of lean protein a day. If you’re a man, eat 56 grams of lean protein daily. Choose lean beef and pork, chicken, turkey, seafood, beans or tofu.
By making positive changes to your eating habits, you can reduce any future problems with your bones, muscles and joints.
ezWalker® Performance Custom Orthotics – Nutrition in Your Shoes
Just like good nutrition can promote healthy bones, muscles and joints, ezWalker® Performance Custom Orthotics are like adding nutrition in your shoes to help support your feet. These custom orthotics are biomechanically designed to guide your feet into better alignment – providing your arches with the proper support they need while reducing stress on your bones and joints.
When you eat too many bad foods, like fats and sugars, you can increase your risk of certain diseases. Similarly, when you walk with improper biomechanics of the foot, you can develop foot conditions like corns, bunions and plantar fasciitis. But proactive use of ezWalker® Performance Custom Orthotics can reduce your risk of developing these conditions and relieve any foot pain you may experience. So order your pair of ezWalker® Custom Orthotics from the WalkEZStore today.
Because … when your feet feel good, you feel good.®
Photo credit: Flickr Creative Commons/Arya Ziai
