World Osteoporosis Day is observed on October 20 to highlight the importance of early diagnoses of osteoporosis, awareness around it and how it can be treated or prevented.

What Is Osteoporosis?

It is a disease in which the bones become brittle due to a decrease in bone mineral density and bone mass. As per the International Osteoporosis Foundation, worldwide, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 5 men aged 50 years and over suffer from Osteoporotic fracture.

Osteoporosis causes bones to become so weak and fragile that they break easily by just a minor fall, a bump, a hard sneeze, or a sudden movement. These fractures could be life-threatening and a major cause of pain and long-term disability.

History

This day was established in 1996 by the National Osteoporosis Foundation, to raise awareness among the most vulnerable populations, including post-menopausal women. The day also addresses the care gap, as only 20% of patients with osteoporotic fractures are actually diagnosed or treated for osteoporosis. In 2010, in Europe, 12.3 million people were considered to be at a high risk for the same, were left untreated.

How Can You Maintain Bone Health?

• Regular Exercise, and weight training.
• With enough nutrition intake like calcium, vitamin D and protein.
• Maintaining a healthy lifestyle and avoiding sedentary lifestyle.
• Finding out about the risk factors and getting checked regularly.
• Getting tested for early diagnosis.

What Are The Top Five Superfoods For Bone Health?

• Green Vegetables, including Chinese cabbage, bok choy, kale, collard green, and turnip green. One cup of cooked turnip greens has 200 milligrams of calcium, which is 20% of the daily goal. The vitamin K in green vegetables also reduces the risk of osteoporosis.
• Food rich in magnesium and potassium also help with your bone health. Potassium neutralises acid in your body and can leach calcium out of your bones. Having a baked medium-sized potato can give you 31 milligrams of magnesium and 542 milligrams of potassium.
• You can add a grapefruit to your breakfast. Citrus fruits have vitamin C and it helps prevent bone loss.
• Fig is also a great source of calcium and other bone-health-related nutrients like potassium and magnesium.
• Fatty fish is also rich in vitamin D, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids that help with bone health.

Even our PM does it, so should you!

In one of the recent episodes of the Figuring Out With Raj Shamani podcast, Mihir Gadani, co-founder of Ozivia Nutrition, called moringa one of the top three superfoods Indian should consume, daily.

As he shared his insights on its benefits, he also said, "Moringa is packed with antioxidants which contribute to the protective mechanisms in your body. Even PM Modi drinks moringa soup. But the problem is that it is slightly bitter in taste, so extracts of moringa can be used."

Why Should You Include Moringa Soup In Your Daily Diet?

Moringa or drumstick is loaded with vitamin C, A, E, calcium, iron, potassium, magnesium, and fiber. These nutrients make it superfood for your immunity, bones, liver, and digestion. What is even more beneficial is that it is rich in antioxidants that fight off free radicals. The fiber in it also helps with healthy gut.

Other benefits that make it a 'must-have' in your daily diet:

Iron

It is high in calcium and daily drumstick soup also helps boost bone density. It can also prevent osteoporosis.

Immunity Booster

The high vitamin C and antioxidants in the soup also enhances body's defense system. It helps you stay safe from infections.

Good For Liver

Moringa is known for its liver cleansing properties, it can protect from toxins. It helps in flushing toxins out of the liver. It is a great drink for detoxing your body.

Helpful With Diabetes

The fiber and antioxidant content in it also helps stabilize the blood sugar levels. It also helps in insulin sensitivity, and prevents sugar spikes. That is why it is the best suitable drink for diabetic patients.

Good For Skin

There have been studies too that suggested that the compounds in moringa also helps wounds heal faster. They also reduce oxidative stress on the skin and the moringa seed oil also helps in healthier hair.

Gut-Friendly

Moringa is also gut-friendly and it can reduce stomach acid secretion, and relieve inflammation.

Fights Bacterial Infections

There are lab tests that prove that moringa can also be effective against foodborne bacteria like E.coli and Staphylococcus aureus, both of which are known to cause food poisoning.

Heart Healthy

Moringa also contains quercetin and other anti-inflammatory agents, which also prevent plaque buildup, lower cholesterol, and protect the heart. However, more studies are required to confirm the results.

How To Make Moringa Soup?

It is an easy-to-make soup, which takes a total of 30-minute, including the prep and cooking time.

Ingredients:

2 cups of Moringa stalk, you can cut them into small pieces

1 chopped tomato, you can also use puree instead

1 inch ginger, or you can use ginger powder

1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder

Salt to taste

You also need 2 teaspoons of ghee, 1/2 teaspoon of cumin seeds and 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon black pepper powder to temper it.

Method:

Start with washing the cutting the drumsticks into small pieces. You can then chop tomatoes and gingers into large chunks. If you are running late, you can use puree and ginger powder too.

Now, take a pressure pan, add the moringa, the tomatoes and the ginger. Add water and cover it with lid and let it pressure cook for 4 whistles.

As the pressure drops, open the pan and drain the pressure cook ingredients through a sieve in a saucepan. Mash the moringa and other ingredients in the strainer well to extract all the pulp.

Add water if you require and mix salt and turmeric to it.

Now boil it altogether again and add the tempering, using the ingredients. Once, there is a sizzle, you can then garnish some cilantro or coriander and serve hot!

Many people live under the assumption that all healthy foods are expensive. While there is a difference between how easily available junk food is and how healthy fruits and vegetables are causing a rise in expenses for people, not all healthy foods are expensive. Many of these foods, while not having a clear ‘healthy for you’ label, are foods that are essential for our well-being.

A new study has revealed a food that we all know and have easy access to, as being a food with the highest nutritional fitness value: Almonds. What's even better is that this nut might also be good for your heart and could even help keep diabetes away. It's surprising that something so affordable and easy to eat can be so packed with goodness and offer such significant health benefits, making it a great choice for anyone looking to eat healthier without breaking the bank.

Almonds For Nutritional Value

In a detailed study published in PLoS 2015, scientists based in South Korea decided to find out which foods offer the most nutritional bang for your buck. They looked closely at the vitamins, minerals, and other good stuff in many different foods. When they analyzed almonds, they found them to be incredibly rich in nutrients. So much so that almonds received a very high "nutritional fitness" score, getting a fantastic 97 out of a possible 100 points. This score really highlights just how much goodness is packed into these small nuts compared to a wide variety of other food choices available to us.

Researchers took nutritional information from more than a thousand different raw foods and looked at how well each food could help someone meet their daily needs for all the important vitamins and minerals. They came up with a term called "nutritional fitness" to describe this. This score was based on how often a particular food would appear in combinations of foods that together provided all the necessary nutrients without giving you too much of anything. So, a high score meant that the food was very good at helping you get a balanced diet when you ate it with other things.

Why Should You Eat More Almonds?

The Cleveland Clinic explains that they have a good amount of protein, which helps build and repair our bodies. They're also full of fiber, which is great for our digestion and helps us feel full. Plus, they contain healthy fats, especially the kind called monounsaturated fats, which are good for our hearts. And let's not forget the important vitamins and minerals like vitamin E, magnesium, and manganese, which play many vital roles in keeping us functioning well from the inside out. It's this amazing combination of nutrients that makes almonds such a healthy choice.

Eating almonds can have several positive effects on our health. Firstly, they can help us feel less hungry and might even aid in losing weight because of the fiber, protein, and healthy fats. Secondly, they're great for our hearts, thanks to the unsaturated fats, plant compounds called phytosterols, and minerals like magnesium. Thirdly, they can help manage our blood sugar levels, which is especially important for people with diabetes. Fourthly, they provide nutrients that are good for our brains, helping them stay sharp.

Top Ten Most Nutritious Foods

While almonds came out on top in this study, there were other foods that also scored very well for their nutritional value. Following closely behind almonds were:

• Cherimoya, a sweet fruit, with a score of 96 out of 100.
• Ocean perch, a type of fish, scoring 89.
• Flatfish, another kind of fish, got an 88.
• Chia seeds, scored 85.
• Pumpkin seeds were also recognized at 84.
• Swiss chard scored 78.
• Pork fat made the list with a score of 73.
• Beet greens, the leaves of beetroot, scored 70.
• Snapper fish came in at 69.

If you’ve been diligently counting calories, exercising regularly, and still wondering why that stubborn thigh fat refuses to budge, it might be time to shift your focus from your gym schedule to your breakfast bowl. As surprising as it sounds, that bowl of cereal you start your day with could be quietly undermining your efforts—and science now has the proof.

Numerous breakfast foods that are commonly consumed—such as cereals, sweetened yogurts, frozen waffles, breads in packaging, and toaster pastries—are ultra-processed foods. Not only do they lack natural nutrients but also tend to be highly engineered to be over-palatable with specific combinations of sugar, salt, fat, and additives that hijack the brain's reward centers.

In accordance with a recent study presented at the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA), even when not taking in extra calories or missing workouts, ultra-processed food-rich diets were strongly linked with deep intra-muscular fat deposition inside the thigh muscles. Such intramuscular fat—sometimes unseeable by the naked eye—can potentially have widespread repercussions, including the risk for mobility impairment and knee osteoarthritis.

The research, conducted by Dr. Zehra Akkaya, a past Fulbright Scholar at the University of California, San Francisco, examined MRI scans in 666 participants as part of the Osteoarthritis Initiative. What's interesting is that these people had not yet developed osteoarthritis but were at risk. Through the use of MRI imaging to determine muscle quality, the researchers found that higher consumption of ultra-processed foods was associated with more intramuscular fat in the thighs—regardless of calorie consumption, BMI, or physical activity.

"This is the first imaging study to investigate how diet quality is linked with MRI-assessed skeletal muscle quality," said Dr. Akkaya. "What we found indicates that the quality of what we consume may influence not just our weight but also the integrity of our muscle."

Why Thigh Fat Is Hard to Shed?

Thigh fat has been a difficult area for many to eliminate, particularly women, because of a variety of hormonal, genetic, and lifestyle reasons. Estrogen is at the center of fat distribution, tending to store around hips and thighs. Furthermore, excessive fat within the muscle tissue (as opposed to subcutaneous fat under the skin) can change the way the muscle works and diminishes the muscle's strength, so it becomes more difficult to use energy from fat effectively in the future.

In this recent research, muscle damage by fat infiltration was similar to the initial degeneration in individuals with knee osteoarthritis. After healthy muscle fibers are replaced with fat, mobility could be impaired and long-term joint damage a true threat.

One of the most significant revelations of the study is that intramuscular fat gains weren't associated with caloric overconsumption. The participants didn't necessarily consume more; they simply consumed more ultra-processed food. This puts the spotlight on quality rather than quantity—highlighting that all calories are not created equal.

This discovery has major implications for weight loss and wellness strategies, particularly for people stuck in a weight-loss plateau despite staying within their caloric limits and following an exercise routine. If your diet includes a high percentage of processed breakfast foods, the fat may still accumulate—specifically in problematic areas like the thighs.

To promote healthier thighs and help combat metabolic and musculoskeletal disease risk, maybe it is time to challenge the first meal of the day. Replace ultra-processed cereal or frozen breakfast sandwiches with minimally processed food alternatives like:

• Steel-cut oats and fresh berries
• Greek yogurt, chia seeds, and nuts
• Avocado on sprouted grain bread
• Smoothies incorporating leafy greens, almond milk, and protein
• Hard-boiled eggs with fruit

These foods are nutrient-rich, filling, and devoid of the sneaky man-made additives that might be silently adding up to fat accumulation.

"This is more than skin-deep," Dr. Akkaya said. "It may affect how we age, how we move, and how we live."

How To Reduce Thigh Fat?

Thigh fat reduction involves a combination of long-term lifestyle modification, not fad diets. Begin with an even-balanced diet full of protein, fiber, and healthy fats to minimize energy storage in the form of fat throughout the body. Reduce sugary beverages, fried foods and snacks, and highly processed carbohydrates that store fat and, particularly, in the thighs. Proper hydration, stress control, and a minimum of 7–8 hours of sleep are also central to maintaining your metabolism and hormonal balance—both vital for specific fat loss. Though you can't reduce fat in a specific area, exercising the surrounding muscles tones them, which over time makes your thighs look leaner and firmer.

Exercises To Lose Thigh Fat

Incorporating thigh-exercising routines into your workout routine tones muscles and aids in fat loss. Below are five exercises that work:

Squats – Activate your quads, glutes, and hamstrings, which burn calories and develop strength in your lower body.

Lunges – Forward or side lunges tighten the inner and outer thighs, providing excellent muscle definition.

Leg Raises – Side leg raises lying on a flat bench target the inner thighs perfectly.

Jump Squats – Get a cardio kick on leg day for a boost in fat burn.

Step-Ups – Step up onto a bench or step, which works and chisels thighs and glutes.

Aim for 3–4 rounds, 12–15 reps each, 4–5 days per week for visible results.