Strong bones are essential to our wellbeing and our ability to say active and independent throughout life. As we age, our ability to build bone naturally declines – especially post-menopause for women – while ill health and some medications also deplete our bone mass.
To avoid low bone mineral density, osteopenia and osteoporosis, we need to take preventative action. Here are six simple strategies for strong bones to get you started.
- Prioritise Calcium-Rich Foods
Calcium is the primary mineral found in bones. If you don’t get enough from your diet, your body will take it from your bones.
Good food sources of calcium include:
- Milk, yoghurt and cheese
- Fortified plant milks (check the label)
- Tinned sardines and salmon (with bones)
- Kale, broccoli and watercress
- Calcium-set tofu
The NHS recommends around 700mg of calcium per day for adults. Spread your intake throughout the day to improve absorption.
- Supplement with vitamin D
Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium effectively and without it, even a calcium-rich diet won’t fully support bone strength. It’s known as the sunshine vitamin because our bodies can produce it if we’re exposed to sufficiently strong sunlight for 20 minutes per day. However, in the UK, sunlight isn’t strong enough between October and March to produce adequate vitamin D. Then in the spring and summer, we should wear sunscreen to protect our skin and this stops the vitamin D production process.
Good sources of vitamin D include:
- Oily fish such as salmon, trout and mackerel
- Cereals and spreadable fats fortified with vitamin D
- Egg yolks
- Liver
Even with a healthy diet, many people in the UK are deficient in vitamin D without realising it. To be on the safe side, take a daily 10 microgram (400 IU) vitamin D supplement all year round.
- Do Weight Bearing & Strength Exercises
Bones respond to exercise-induced stress by becoming stronger. It’s important to do weight bearing and resistance exercise, not just gentle movement.
Effective options include:
- Jogging
- Dancing
- Bodyweight exercises – such as squats, lunges, press-ups, hops and holding the plank
- Weight training – with dumbbells, kettlebells and resistance bands
If you’re new or returning to exercise, joining a fitness class will ensure you have good instruction while the company of others will keep you motivated.
- Increase Magnesium & Vitamin K Intake
Bone health isn’t just about calcium and vitamin D.
Magnesium helps convert vitamin D into its active form.
Vitamin K2 helps direct calcium into bones rather than soft tissues.
Good food sources include:
- Leafy greens
- Nuts and seeds
- Wholegrains
- Fermented foods
- Limit Bad Bone Loss Habits
Certain lifestyle habits can accelerate bone loss: avoiding these will boost your overall health, as well as your bones.
- Smoking
- Excess alcohol (regularly over 14 units per week)
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Fizzy drinks
- Very low-calorie diet
- Count on collagen
When most people think about bone health, they focus only on minerals. But bones are not made of calcium alone.
Around 90% of the organic matrix of bone is made up of a collagen framework that acts like scaffolding for minerals to bind to, giving bones both strength and flexibility. Without a healthy collagen structure, bones can become brittle. Remember that different collagens suit different body tissues. To benefit your bones, you need to take a specific bioactive collagen peptide optimised for bone health – such as bonebalance – which contains precise amino acid chains that are designed to:
- Stimulate osteoblast activity (the cells responsible for building bone)
- Support collagen formation within the bone matrix
- Improve bone mineral density when used consistently
- Complement calcium and vitamin D intake
Remember!
Your bone cells build and need protection every day of your life – from birth right up to old age. So, it’s never too early or late to support their development through diet, exercise and lifestyle choices.