How to Keep Strong Bones: 3 Tips

BlogHealth and Nutrition
Written By

How often do you think about bone health? Probably not frequently, especially if you’re young. But bone health is something to pay attention to at any age. Kids need strong bones to grow and develop, and adults need strong bones to prevent osteoporosis and other harmful conditions.

How to Keep Bones Strong

Choose Calcium-Rich Foods

A balanced diet will help you build healthy bones from an early age and maintain them throughout life. Bones need the mineral calcium. The best food sources of calcium are milk, yogurt, cheese, fortified cereals, and dark leafy vegetables. The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics recommends three servings of calcium-rich foods daily for children ages nine and older to maintain bone health.

Don’t forget vitamin D

Bones need vitamin D to help absorb calcium. Most people get vitamin D from sunlight, fortified milk, and a few foods. Get about 15 minutes of daylight a few times a week. One cup of fortified milk provides a quarter or more of the daily vitamin D requirement.

Move your Bones

Weight-bearing activities like walking, running, hiking, climbing, dancing, and lifting weights help prevent fractures and maintain healthy bones—aim for thirty minutes most days a week.

Whether you’re 16 or 60, eating right and exercising can increase bone strength and minimize bone loss.

Rebecca Turner

Rebecca Turner

Using print, TV, and the radio, Rebecca Turner translates the complex world of nutrition into understandable, and achievable concepts. Purchase her books Mind Over Fork and Enjoy Good Health on Amazon. On weekdays, she hosts Good Things with Rebecca Turner on SuperTalk Mississippi. Connect with her online at RebeccaTurnerNutrition.com.

 

Related Posts

Featured
How Dairy Foods Can Support Postpartum Moms
How Dairy Foods Can Support Postpartum Moms

Consuming nutritionally dense foods with the necessary vitamins and minerals can encourage the healthy brain and muscular development of the baby while also replenishing the depleted nutrient stores of the mother.

What to Eat When You’re Expecting
What to Eat When You’re Expecting

The American Academy of Pediatrics highlights 14 essential nutrients that influence early brain development. Remarkably, dairy products supply 7 of these nutrients, including iodine, vitamin B12, and choline. Here’s how these nutrients benefit your baby and simple ways to include them in your diet.

Black American Health Series: Dairy’s Role During Pregnancy, Fetal Development, and Lactation
Black American Health Series: Dairy’s Role During Pregnancy, Fetal Development, and Lactation

Learn the role dairy plays throughout the lifespan and how it helps to address health disparities for Black Americans beginning with pregnancy, fetal development, and lactation. Adequate nutrition is particularly important during this time as this is a lifespan stage where rapid development is taking place, setting the stage for future health implications.

Previous

Experience the Health Benefits of Milk with Smoothie Bowls
Next

Nutritional Facts About Milk That Prove It’s Great for You