It is very important to build strong bones. Minerals are put into your bones when you are a child, a teenager, and a young adult. When you turn 30, your bone mass is at its strongest. If you don’t get enough bone mass during this time or if you lose bone mass later in life, you are more likely to have bones that are weak and break easily.
Fortunately, there are dietary and lifestyle choices that can help you develop strong bones and keep them strong as you get older. The following are some all-natural methods for promoting bone health.
Photo by Sebastian Coman Photography
Add More Calcium To Your Diet
The RDA (recommended dietary allowance) for calcium is 1,000 milligrams (mg) per day for adults 19 to 50 and men 51 to 70. Women over the age of 51 and males over the age of 71 are advised to take 1,200 mg per day.
Dairy, almonds, broccoli, kale, tinned salmon with bones, sardines, and tofu are all good sources of calcium. You can even get calcium from special treats like this sweetened condensed milk recipe. Talk to your doctor about calcium supplements if you have trouble getting enough of the mineral through food alone.
Get More Magnesium And Zinc
There are other minerals that are also important for bone health apart from calcium, including magnesium and zinc. Magnesium helps change vitamin D into a form that makes it easier for the body to absorb calcium. Zinc helps cells that build bone grow and stops bones from breaking down too quickly. Most foods have small amounts of magnesium, but you may want to take magnesium glycinate, citrate, or carbonate as a supplement. Beef, spinach, shrimp, oysters, flaxseeds, and pumpkin seeds are all good sources of zinc.
Eat Plenty Of Vegetables
Vegetables are a great addition to your diet for all kinds of health reasons, but they are highly beneficial for your bones. In particular, broccoli has been shown to strengthen bone tissue. Vegetables are rich in vitamin C, a nutrient that helps the body make new bone cells. In addition, vitamin C’s antioxidant properties may help shield bone cells from harm, as suggested by a few research investigations.
On top of this, when you eat more vegetables, your bone density seems to increase. Bone density is used to show what mineral content you have in your bones, and low bone density is a negative thing that can lead to osteoporosis and osteopenia, among other conditions.
Get More Vitamin D And K
Vitamins D and K are important for making bones strong. Vitamin D makes it easier for your body to use calcium. People who don’t get enough vitamin D tend to have less dense bones and are more likely to lose bones than those who do. You might get enough vitamin D by spending time in the sun and eating foods like fatty fish, liver, and cheese. Some people need to take up to 2,000 IU of vitamin D every day to keep their levels at their best.
Vitamin K2 is good for bone health because it changes osteocalcin, a protein that helps build bones so that it can bind to minerals in bones and stop calcium from leaving bones. Liver, eggs, meat, fermented foods like cheese and sauerkraut, and a soy product called natto are all good sources of K2.
Avoid Low-Calorie Diets
Too much calorie restriction could be harmful to bone health. Bone density can decrease on diets of less than 1,000 calories per day, according to research. A balanced diet of at least 1,200 calories per day is recommended for bone development and maintenance. Plus, it’s important that your diet contains lots of protein and bone-healthy vitamins and minerals.
If you want to lose weight, you can do it through healthy eating and exercise, both of which can actually help strengthen your bones rather than potentially cause them too much damage, which is what a highly restrictive diet might do.
In fact, keeping a healthy weight can help keep your bones in good shape. Low body weight is the main reason why older people lose bone density and lose bone mass. Obesity can also hurt the quality of bones by making them more likely to break from the stress of carrying extra weight. And losing and gaining weight over and over again can be bad for your bones.
Do Weight-Bearing Exercises
Weight-bearing exercise is any activity that makes you move against gravity or gives you resistance as you move. The best way to build bones is to do weight-bearing exercises with a lot of impact. If you have osteopenia or osteoporosis, you shouldn’t do too much of these, however, so do be careful.
Running or jogging, high-impact aerobics, climbing the stairs, dancing, and sports like tennis or basketball are all examples of high-impact exercises. Make sure to talk to your doctor about any plans to work out.