Bone Health & Jainism
By Prof. A. K. Jain
Prof. of Orthopedics, UCMS and GTB Hospital, Shahdara, Delhi - 110095
Paper presented at 2nd All India Jain Doctors Conference - 2003 at Sri Mahavirji
Bone plays an important role in our body as it provides the shape, stability and flexibility. It is a dynamic tissue which acts as a reservoir for elemental calcium which is required for various complicated chemical and electrochemical reactions in the body. The shape, size and quality of bone are altered by all organ systems.
This is a hard tissue as wood but it is dynamic tissue. Bone is made up of protein and inorganic minerals. The protein is arranged in a complicated network. The inorganic salt (calcium and phosphorus) are bonded with proteins in a manner that it, no longer remain brittle and amorphous. The bone per unit volume is called bone mass. When child starts growing the bone mass starts increasing. At the age of 25-30 year person achieves the maximum bone mass. The bone mass is increased by good proteinous food intake, stress and stain given to the body. The person doing good exercises, and taking good proteinous meal would have a better peak bone mass than a lazy person on a low protein diet. After attaining peak bone mass both sexes looses bone by 1% per year till menopause. After menopause women looses bone by 3% per year. It is during this period if one is on low protein and low calcium diet the loss of bone is faster. These figures are for the population who is Well fed and conscious of health. Hence it is most important to attain a good peak bone mass and preserving the bone mass for later life. This objective can be attained by ensuring.
Good protein intake during growth period. Vegetarian protein are the best and diet combination of rice-dal, chapati-dal, kichari, satto are good balance protein diet.
Calcium intake should be reasonable i.e. 1 - 1.5 gm/day. The milk is the best source of calcium in our diet. If one takes one liter of milk /day it given good calcium. Certain fruit such as Guera, and custard apple are the very god source of calcium.
By subjecting children to play or regular exercises. The bone formation in body is need based. More and more stresses to the body, that stimulates bone formation and thus helps in increasing bone mass.
During adult hood - particularly in child bearing age it is most urgent to give a good protein and calcium diet.
After menopause - again a moderate amount of physical activity with good protein and rich calcium are must in a routine life.
The average protein requirement for a grown up person is 1gm/kg/day. 100 gm of any dal provides 30 gms of the proteins. The people who takes only one meal should ensure optimum protein intake. One fresh fruit (guava) should be a part of diet good quantity of milk products like cheese, curd, matha and sprouted beans should be included in meals. The joint surfaces get its nutrition from synonial fruits. To keep all joints fit to serve long, they should be put to full range of motion exercises.
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Article Received Through Dr. S. C. Jain, (Jain Clinic, 32 HIG Duplex, Brij Vihar, Gaziabad, Uttar Pradesh-201011
E-Mail : jainscin@yahoo.co.in) Organiser, 2nd All India Jain Doctors Conference - 2003
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