“I’vefallen and I can’t get up!” Remember that famous line? It was in a TVcommercial years ago, and though it has since been used in countless stories, jokes,and memes, it still relates to a serious issue.
When weare young and growing, our bones are growing along with the rest of our body,getting longer, thicker, and stronger. This process continues roughly to age30, when most people achieve their peak bone mass.
Afterreaching that milestone we are generally losing more bone mass than we areadding every year. As we age, developing osteoporosis or osteopenia, bothconditions of weak and brittle bones, largely depends on how much bone mass wehave “in the bank” as it were.
It’s analogousto saving money while actively working then hoping that your funds last onceyou retire. The more bone mass you have attained while growing up willdetermine your chances of developing osteoporosis when you age.
So,what’s a woman to do to keep her bones healthy? Since bone loss is a naturalevent in aging, we can only slow the process with these easy steps you can includein your routine:
Vitamin D
Sunlight is a great starting point when it comes to boosting yourvitamin D levels, so get out on a sunny day and take off your sunglasses for 15minutes. Oily fish like salmon, tuna, and trout are good sources, so includefish in your diet.
Eggs, mushrooms,fortified foods like milk and some cereals, cheese, sauerkraut and otherfermented foods will definitely help. And if you’re wanting even more assurance,certainsupplements will help as well – specifically a calciumsupplement with some magnesium (3 to 1 ratio is best) and vitamin D.
VitaminD helps your body absorb calcium and 600 international units (IUs) per day isrecommended for most people up to age 70. After 70 raise it up to 800 IU/day.
Calcium
Dairy products, broccoli, kale, soy products like tofu, almonds,and canned salmon with bones or sardines are good sources of calcium. Irecommend fermented dairy products like kefir and yogurt because they also feedyour gut.
The RecommendedDaily Allowance (RDA) is 1,000 milligrams (mg) for adults, 1200/day for womenover 50 and men over 70.
Vegetables Rich in VitaminC
Stimulate the production of bone-forming cells and increase bonemineral density by consuming veggies rich in vitamin C. These are broccoli,onions, cabbage, and other green and yellow vegetables.
Protein
Eating 80-100 grams of protein every day has been shown to slow bone loss. Protein comes primarily from meats, eggs, nuts and seeds.
Collagen
The main protein in bones, collagen, contains the amino acids thathelp build bone, muscle, and other tissues.
Get a double hitter each day by having a smoothie with collagenprotein along with a cup of bone broth. As a side benefit, your skin willrespond by getting plumper and less wrinkly.
Magnesium and Zinc
Our bodies are a system that works best when it is fully stocked. Magnesiumhelps convert Vitamin D into a form that promotes calcium absorption and zinchelps make up the mineral portion of your bones.
These two minerals occur in various foods (like meat, poultry,eggs, legumes, and seeds) and supplements are readily available.
Omega-3 Fats
Omega-3s are anti-inflammatory and help protect against bone loss.Fatty fish, flaxseed, walnuts, and chia seeds are good sources. A good omega-3fatty acid supplement is helpful too, but make sure it’s high quality and clean(plus no fish burps).
Avoid Very-Low-CalorieDiets
Diets that provide less than 1,000 calories per day can cause aloss of bone density. With a typical slowing of your metabolism, they can alsocause rebound hunger and muscle mass loss in addition to harming bone health.
That doesn’t mean intermittent fasting is off the table. Just makesure your diet is within the Target Trifecta – 20 grams of protein in each meal, 5 grams of fiber, and 9 gramsof healthy fat (like MCT oil, avocado, or nuts).
Physical Activity
Walk, jog, climb stairs, lift weights. All of these can slow boneloss, especially the weights. Another advantage of lifting weights is gainingupper body strength, which is critical for women to be able to pull themselvesback up off the ground in case of a fall.
Substance Abuse
Don’t smoke. Don’t drink excessively or regularly. Women shouldlimit themselves to no more than one drink a day and men to two drinks.
If you feel you are at risk or have had a broken bone recently,you may want to take a bone density test. If the results are concerning, or youhave risk factors, there may be medication to help slow down your bone loss.
Bonehealth is critical for living a long and healthy life, and it is never tooearly to pay attention to what you eat and do to promote healthy bones. So,here are a couple recipes to help you build your bones.
Target TrifectaSmoothie
Ingredients
1cup nut milk of your choice, no dairy
1cup (handful) baby organic spinach
1/4to 1/2 avocado (depending on size) or 1 tsp MCT oil
1/2tsp green matcha tea
1scoop Perfect Paleo Protein (any flavor), or use a dairy-free, no carbprotein
1scoop Just Juiced Veggies (optional – thiswill add more nutrients)
2scoops FiberMender (optional – thiswill increase your fiber) water or ice as necessary depending on your preferredconsistency
Directions
Tossall ingredients in a blender, whirl, and serve.
NOTE:If you’re using a lower-powered blender, you may want to add the greens and nutmilk on the first round, add the additional ingredients, and then blend againto get a smoother consistency.
Bone Broth Recipe
Ingredients
2lbs. chicken bones or chicken feet (the feet have higher collagen content andgel when refrigerated)
1yellow onion
2medium/large carrots
2large celery stalks
10+garlic cloves (to taste)
2 bayleaves
2Tblack peppercorns
2Tsalt (pink Himalayan or other high quality salt is preferred)
¼ oz.each of fresh thyme and rosemary
2Tapple cider vinegar
Directions
Putall ingredients in your slow cooker or InstantPot and cover with water. You canspend time cutting up the onion, carrots, and celery, but it really isn’tnecessary. You can cook as long as you’d like and the longer the better.
In anInstantPot, you can cook for 2–3hours and in a slow cooker at least 24 hours. If you have the large InstantPotyou can fill to the MAX FILL line and expect to get around 5 quarts of finishedproduct.
Strainthe broth and refrigerate.
Whencold, the broth should be thick and hopefully a gel, with the fat layer on topeasy to skim off. If not a gel, use more bones on the next batch, but 2 poundsof feet should be plenty as they have a higher collagen content.
Foradded flavor, you can also roast your bones/feet first at 400F degrees for 20–30 minutes and make sureto scrape and add all the crusty stuff from the roasting pan since there is alot of flavor there. You can also roast your vegetables with the bones beforeadding everything into the pot for cooking.
Forbeef broth, you may want to use up to 4 pounds and include a variety of oxtail,short ribs, or knuckle bones. You will also need to blanch or par-boil (15minutes) the bones first and then roast them at 450F for 30–45 minutes to develop thericher flavor.
When wasthe last time you thought about your bone health? Have you measured your bonedensity? Are you at risk of osteoporosis? What do you do to slow down loss ofbone mass? Do you know of any tasty recipes that promote bone growth? Pleaseshare your thoughts with our community.
Disclaimer: Thisarticle is not intended to provide medical advice. Please consult with yourdoctor to get specific medical advice for your situation.
