Building Healthy Bones

Judy Seybold, MS, RDN, LD, CLC
Chief Nutrition Officer

Did you know that your daily habits as a child, teen, and young adult can influence your health many years later? If you don’t store enough calcium in your bones at a young age, it can increase your risk for osteoporosis, which is a disease of porous, weakened bones and increased fracture risk.

Osteoporosis is called a silent disease. Many people don’t know they have it until they break a bone even though their bones have been losing strength for years.

Prevention of osteoporosis starts in childhood. As children grow, their bone mass increases until it reaches a peak bone mass in their late teens and early twenties. A higher peak bone mass achieved decreases the risk for developing osteoporosis later in life. In addition to bone density, there are other risk factors that can increase your risk for developing osteoporosis. Some can be controlled while others, such as age and gender, cannot.

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Risk Factors

• Broken bone after age 50
• Early menopause
• Family history
• Female
• Inadequate calcium and/or vitamin D intake, especially in earlier years
• Medications, including arthritis, asthma and cancer drugs
• Ovaries removed
• Physical inactivity
• Small body frame
• Smoking
• High protein, sodium and caffeine intake
• White or Asian race

Your doctor may order a bone density scan to diagnose osteoporosis and to assess your risk for fracture. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that women age 65 and older be screened for osteoporosis. Men also get osteoporosis, but not as often as women. Men are recommended to be tested if they are older than 70 and have risk factors for osteoporosis.

In addition to medications, treatment of osteoporosis should include both exercise and dietary interventions. Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, jogging, tennis and hiking, help keep bones strong. Balance training should also be included to help decrease the risk for falls.

Obtaining adequate dietary intake of calcium and vitamin D are the most important things you can do to ensure you have strong bones. Calcium is both stored and used from the bones daily throughout our lives, as the bones are always turning over their supply. Our bones need a constant supply of calcium, or they may weaken and become prone to breaks. If you do not consume enough calcium in your diet, your body will remove calcium from your bones to keep blood calcium at normal levels. Removing calcium thus weakens the bones and increases risk.

Healthy Eating Tips

Eating foods rich in both calcium and vitamin D is important for prevention of osteoporosis. Calcium-rich foods are best absorbed if you spread your intake out throughout the day. Read labels to assess the amount of calcium in foods keeping the Daily Value for calcium of 1,300mg and vitamin D 15 mcg in mind. Magnesium and potassium which are commonly found in fruits and vegetables have been found to also play a vital role in bone health.

A balanced diet is important to maintaining good bone health, as there is emerging evidence that many different vitamins and minerals are important in building and maintaining strong bones. Rather than relying on one food group or just a supplement to provide dietary calcium, a healthy varied diet that includes many fruits and vegetables, seafood and dairy products, all in moderation, is most beneficial.

Foods to Include:

• Broccoli
• Calcium-fortified products (graham crackers, orange juice)
• Canned sardines or salmon with bones
• Cheese
• Foods rich in vitamin D (egg yolks, fatty fish, dairy products)
• Fruits
• Kale or greens (collard, turnip)
• Milk
• Vegetables
• Yogurt

Foods to Avoid:

A lower-sodium diet helps the body to retain calcium. Avoid foods that are highly processed with a high sodium content, including:

• Added table salt
• Canned items (soups, meats, fish)
• Highly processed foods, such as frozen dinners
• Pickled foods
• Processed meats (bacon, ham, and luncheon meats)
• Salted snacks

Consult your doctor to determine your risk for osteoporosis and to discuss taking a calcium supplement with vitamin D, especially if you are a woman in menopause or post-menopause. In addition, a registered dietitian can help you choose the right supplement for your bones and design an individualized meal plan to meet your needs.

Additional Resources

Understanding Osteoporosis
American Bone Health
National Institute on Aging: Osteoporosis
National Osteoporosis Foundation