Labor Day arrived in full swing this weekend, with temperatures dropping into the high 70′s and low 80′s.  It made the weekend one for being outside, and spend it outside we did.

One of the local orchards was having their AppleFest.  My parents came down for a visit, and we spent Saturday afternoon hanging out at the orchard, letting the kids play, and generally enjoying the afternoon.  The break in the weather allowed the kids to cut loose outside.  If you look closely, you can find both of them in the apple tree.

A trip to the orchard is never complete without taking a walk through their shop.  It always reminds me of being a kid growing up.  My grandmother canned green beans, and they’ve always been far better than anything you get in a store.  It’s places like this you can find pumpkin butter, blueberry butter, and red popcorn.  You don’t find that stuff in stores!

Sunday afternoon was spent a local park, where I squeezed in a 4-mile run.  It’s the longest I’ve done in quite some time, and it was pretty nice.  The wife and I took turns watching the boys, letting them play on a small pile of rocks while the other took a turn around the park walking/hiking trail.  I dragged the dog along for part of my run.  He was anxious to start, but glad to flop down after his part was done.

We ended the day with a fireside chat with the boys.  One of the advantages to living outside of town is the freedom to build a bonfire and enjoy the stars.  I had some logs lying around, so we built a bonfire in the backyard and sat outside until well past their normal bedtime just enjoying each others company.  It was about as good as one evening can get with the family.

Today is a trip to the parents house, where the boys are determined to get in their last swim of the season.  Hot dogs and hamburgers galore!

This post originated at Live Fit Blog, which is written by Greg Hayes. To read more about fitting fitness into busy lives, check out his fitness blog.

It’s Labor Day Weekend & Fall Is Here

Related posts:

1. Cracking Hickory Nuts With My Boys
2. When Did You Learn To Appreciate Your Parents?
3. On The Subject Of Splitting Wood

I received an interesting question about the role of phytates on bone health, and more specifically their role in the prevention of osteoporosis.  Since it is well known that phytates strongly bind to minerals such as calcium, it seems counterintuitive that many dietary recommendations for osteoporosis suggest eating foods rich in fruits, vegetables, and legumes.  In point of fact, one research study showed that persons who consumed a diet rich in phytates had improved bone density, relative to those individuals who consumed a diet lower in phytate-containing foods.

Absorbable Calcium

The consensus opinion from multiple sources is that calcium is best obtained from a variety of food sources, with supplements being a second line of defense.  Recommendations for daily calcium intake can be found in the following table.

Recommended Daily Intake For Calcium

We can process a maximum of 500 milligrams of calcium at a time, so most experts suggest spacing out our calcium consumption over the course of the day.  Since only about 10% of the calcium in foods is absorbable, it becomes more obvious why consumption should be spread out evenly.  Taking this approach helps regulate calcium levels, and improves our use of the mineral.

How To Improve Bone Density Naturally

Unfortunately, there are a variety of foods that have the potential to interfere with our ability to process calcium.  Chief among them are caffeine, which can bind to calcium and cause it to be excreted in urine.  Another bad actor is oxalic acid, which is common in green leafy vegetables.  Research has shown that any calcium found in foods which also contains oxalic acid can not be absorbed by our digestive systems.  Fortunately, oxalic acid doesn’t seem to interfere with the absorption of calcium in other foods.

That leads us to phytates.  Found in foods that traditionally have high concentrations of fiber, phytates and phytic acid bind strongly to all divalent metals, including iron and calcium.  Much of the published literature suggests one avoid eating high calcium and high phytate foods together, for fear of the phytate complexing with calcium and reducing its bio-availability.  Yet other research has shown that a diet low in phytates may be a risk factor for developing osteoporosis.  Fortunately, a research paper published in the Journal of Nutrition may explain this contradiction.

It turns out that the relationship between high phytate foods and calcium depends depends on the amount of phytate being consumed.  When subjects consumed milk with bran-based foods, which are very high in phytates, the availability of calcium for digestion was quite low.  By contrast, drinking milk with foods that have more moderate concentration phytates actually increased the absorbable calcium level during digestion.  In fact, drinking milk with whole wheat products increased the available calcium over drinking milk alone.  Researchers speculate that different calcium-phytate complexes are formed, based on the concentration of phytates present, with higher phytate levels forming stronger complexes.

So, we can now see yet another advantage to consuming whole wheat, nuts, and legumes.  In spite of their potential pitfalls, it substantiates the recommendation that a diet consisting of moderate amounts of phytates in conjunction with calcium, makes the calcium more available to improve bone density naturally.

Photo credit

This post originated at Live Fit Blog, which is written by Greg Hayes. To read more about fitting fitness into busy lives, check out his fitness blog.

Improve Bone Density Naturally: How Dietary Habits Affect Absorbable Calcium

Related posts:

1. Osteoporosis Prevention And Treatments
2. Are Phytates In Food Dangerous?
3. 5 Tips To Improve Mental Acuity

I have to admit that I skipped *gasp* two workouts this week, and took a day of vacation on Friday to go with the wife and kids to the Kentucky State Fair.  So we all loaded up for a 2-hour drive, and traipsed back and forth across the fairgrounds for a day.  We had fun, but I can honestly say that its not until you start doing stuff like that you learn to really appreciate your parents, and all the sacrifices they made.  It’s eye-opening.

Learning To Appreciate Your Parents

In the near future, my kids will be moving into a new elementary school.  It’s billed as the first “net zero energy” school in the country, and its a big deal.  Officials have done a great job of getting the kids and parents excited about this new opportunity.  Part of the excitement was to be a trip to the State Fair this week, where the kids would get to learn about the benefits of energy efficiency.  The school asked for chaperones, so my wife and I volunteered.  We followed the buses up and helped herd the kids around the different exhibits.

I was reciting this story to my parents, and was asked in turn if any of the kids were shining flashlights around the inside of the vehicles; or doing any of the other unruly things I did at that age.

You see, my parents were there for me.  They were the bus drivers and chaperones.  The companions that watched over me as I ran amuck, growing into young adulthood.  Their willingness to participate allowed me to gain experiences that I may have otherwise never formed.  They were participants in all aspects of my childhood.

I’ve always appreciated these things in my own way.  Yet, my understanding of that appreciation changes as I progress through life.  Until you’re a parent yourself, trying to balance the roles of provider, caregiver, friend, spouse, professional, and individual, it’s impossible to truly understand the level of dedication they had to my childhood.

So now, I’ve taken up the baton.  Sometimes less than gracefully, perhaps, but I’ll carry it to the best of my ability.  I can only hope that my kids feel they’ve had a childhood as good as my parents made mine.

This post originated at Live Fit Blog, which is written by Greg Hayes. To read more about fitting fitness into busy lives, check out his fitness blog.

When Did You Learn To Appreciate Your Parents?

Related posts:

1. How Parents Are Hurting Their Child Athletes
2. Kids, Sports, And Fitness
3. Kids, Parents, And Exercise – Why Leading By Example Doesn’t Work