Saturday, May 28, 2011

Eat Right to Prevent Bone Loss!

We all know how crucial calcium and vitamin D are to protect our bones as we age. However, there are five other nutrients your skeleton also depends on to remain strong.

Omega-3s are essential to keep you protected.  Their fatty acids help your body absorb your calcium more so to prevent bone loss.  Try to eat include fatty fish like salmon, tuna, trout, haddock, mackerel, almonds, and walnuts in your diet.  Another suggestion is to get omega-3s in a supplement.  Read about the one I currently reviewed for ReNew Life that you can still win a $50 gift certificate to try out.

Your body also needs vitamin K to bind your calcium to your bones.  Learn to eat broccoli, spinach, kale, and cabbage more.  If you're on blood thinners like coumadin, then you need to be careful about too much of this vitamin.  Ask you doctor's opinion about how much he advises for your condition.

Potassium is another helpful mineral to get enough of since it can neutralize acid that can weaken your bones.  Some excellent foods to eat are potatoes, bananas, avocados, cantaloupes, soybeans, prunes, kidney beans, tomatoes, green peppers, watermelon, sweet potatoes, and orange juice for example.  To be on the safe side, you can also take a supplement.

Equally vital to your keeping that skeleton sturdy is eating enough foods rich in folate.  Folic acid is keeping your levels of homocysteine, the amino acid that disrupts bone density, in check.  Some great sources of folic acid foods to try to eat are asparagus, green vegetables, garbanzo beans, carrots, mushrooms, peanuts, eggs, oranges, chicken, cheese, and fortified grains are wonderful choices.

Finally, you should think about adding more foods with magnesium to your diet.  Magnesium helps regulate how your calcium is metabolized.  Foods you need to think about more are peanuts, wheat germ, soybeans, lima beans, kidney beans, tofu (soybean curd), almonds, leafy green vegetables, and whole grains.

I hope you take this information to heart because you can be experiencing bone loss even before you realize it, especially if you are a woman.