Reduce the Risk of Osteoporosis

Diets for Osteoporosis

The type of food you eat has a significant impact on your bones. Being informed of the foods that are highly enriched in calcium and vitamin D will always help you in making healthy food choices.

If you take a well-balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, dairy, and fish, you’ll get enough nutrients every day. Otherwise, if you aren’t getting the required amount of nutrients from foods, you might have to harmonize your diet by consuming supplements or multivitamins.

Some of the good foods for your bones include:

• Fruits and vegetables
• Milk and other dairy products like cheese and yogurt
• Fish and fatty foods like sardines, salmon, and mackerel
• Green leafy vegetables including brussel sprouts, kale, spinach, collard greens, and mustard greens
• Fortified foods that are enriched with calcium and vitamin D 

Research has found that blueberries, olive oil, and soybeans are highly enriched with omega-3s. Flaxseed and fish oil also have bone strengthening benefits.

Foods to avoid if you have osteoporosis: 

• Beans - while legumes contain magnesium, fiber, calcium and other essential nutrients, they are also highly rich in phytates, which interferes with the body’s ability to absorb the calcium in beans. The level of phytates can be reduced by soaking beans in cold water for several hours and thereafter cooking them.

• Meat - it is important to take in enough protein, but not excess protein for bone health. Many adults don’t get adequate proteins in their diet and this might be harmful to their bones. Nonetheless, special protein diets that incorporate multiple meat servings and protein in every meal can also result in the loss of calcium.  This loss can be compensated by acquiring adequate calcium for your body’s functional needs. For instance, milk products contain calcium that is very vital for the growth and development of bones.

• Salty Foods - health experts believe that eating foods that are rich in sodium can cause your body to lose great amounts of calcium, leading to bone loss. Therefore, you are advised to tread lightly with processed foods. Typically, it is recommended to take foods that have 20% of salts or aim at 2,300 mg of salts daily.

• Spinach and foods rich in oxalates - the body doesn’t absorb calcium from foods that contain high levels of oxalates like spinach. Other sources of oxalates are beet greens and rhubarb.

• Wheat bran - contains lots of phytates that prevent the body from taking up calcium. This type of food has proved to minimize the absorption of calcium in certain foods consumed at the same time. For instance, when you take milk alongside bran cereals, your body will tend to absorb some of the calcium contained in the milk. If you consume calcium supplements, you might want to take them 2 hours before eating a hundred-percent wheat bran.

• Alcohol - drinking excessive alcohol can trigger a severe bone loss. Try limiting your intake of alcohol, no more than two drinks per day.

• Caffeine - tea, sodas, and coffee contain caffeine, which might decrease the rate of calcium absorption and contribute to the detrimental bone loss. Consume these drinks in moderation.

• Tea - drinking a lot of tea may influence the rate of calcium absorption leading to bone loss.