All through history humans have performed incredible feats. In all of us lurks some potential to scale a fence without thinking, swim with superhuman alacrity, or lift 500lbs above head, or strike through concrete with hands and cut through like knife through butter. We do it almost on a daily basis when we jump off a deck absorbing shock loads up to three times our body weights.
The human body is so well put together that it can withstand hundreds of millions of shock through out a lifetime. The knees alone can withstand pressures up to a ton. These amazing capability is made possible by our bones, working with tendons, ligaments, and muscles.
The knee's incredible shock absorbing capability is still a mystery.
Still, bones are not heavy or stiff, but allow incredible flexibility.
Did u know?
All 206 bones in the body account for only 14% of our total body weights? The common claim of being “big boned” as a reason for being overweight is simply a fallacy. Bones are light, but strong; and still flexible. They are able to bend up to one inch without breaking.
Only 206 in number, they come in different shapes and sizes: from the very tiny on the toes, to the large thigh bones. They are designed for peak performance and breathtaking synchronicity, with structures that are still astounding to human imagination. With a milieu of hollow cells of paper-thin walls, bones possess unbelievable strength-to-weight ratio, unmatched by anything on earth.
The secret to their strength: calcium and phosphorus. These two elements combine together to form the building blocks of bones, calcium phosphate. Calcium phosphate give bones tremendous strength, stronger than concrete. Astonishingly, they are flexible and alive, able to bend without breaking and continue to renew themselves preemptively.
Did u know?
The entire human skeletal system is completely renewed every seven years of life. Bones are living tissues, they are constantly being renewed by the body. Old and damaged bone cells are broken down and new cells laid down to replace them. So, how many new skeletons have you had?!
How & why
Our bones define us
Like fingerprints, our bones are unique to us. They can change in terms of their pattern depending on the stress to which they are put into. Our bones develop geometric patterns that prevents them from breaking with torsion, with compression, and different types of load. Translation: they adjust to suit the use they are put into. This is why a soccer player grows stronger legs than a swimmer, or why a tennis player has bigger bones on his racket arm, and how a martial artist gets better and better at chopping stacks of bricks with his bare hands.
Why do our bones have these potentials? The answer is simple. They just have to be that way because of their function. We depend on them for support and structural alignment. They have to be strong enough to protect our vital organs such as the brain, heart, spinal cord, and lungs from injury. Still, they have to be light enough to allow us flee from danger. They do not need to be totally dense; but hollow so manufacture of immune cells (red and white blood cells) and mineral storage are possible. If they were stiff…well, I will leave that to your imagination.
All this means one thing: your bones need the best care. Weston Price, a dentist who traveled round the world studying native cultures and diets as they relate to overall health, found that dental and bone health went hand in hand with general physical and mental health. He concluded that tooth decay and bone weakness are signs of nutritional deficiencies. That goes to say good mineral content (and absorption) in diets translate to healthy structural systems, which in turn means perfect health.
Bones need both macro and micro nutrients for healthy growth.
What then should these amazing bone tissues be fed? My guess: high quality nutrient loaded foods. Though calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body, it is unfortunately not the answer to bone health. If dairy/calcium was the answer to strong healthy bones, how come the countries with high dairy consumption are also the countries with the highest cases of osteoporosis?
Asian countries do not consume a quarter of the dairy that the US, Canada and New Zealand do, yet they have fewer cases of these bone degenerative conditions. My opinion is that dairy calcium is actually a no no.
Could it be poor diet, lacking in trace minerals? Or that they are not calcium deficient in the first place? Or maybe other nutrients like vitamins C and D (necessary for calcium metabolism) are lacking? Or indigestible forms of calcium is high in their diet? Go figure!
The bottom line
Bones are an incredible assets to us. They determine our health, and we have to ability to change the way they grow.