Bone Health

How to keep your bones healthy through food, exercise, what to avoid and what to do.

• We all know that salt is not good for our health, and the more salt in our diet, the more calcium your body gets rid of, which means, it is not good for your bones. Chips, cheese, cold cuts, fast food and any processed food have the highest amount of sodium. The daily recommendation is 2,300mg of sodium a day.
• Exercise put weight on your bones which is good for bone development, but not all exercises do. Bike riding or swimming does not increase bone density, unlike walking, running, or weight lifting.
• Our body needs Vitamin D for healthy bones, 15 minutes in the sun (without sunscreen) 4 to 5 days a week is a good amount.
• Alcohol can interfere with how the body absorbs calcium. The recommendations are one drink (5 oz) for women, and 2 drinks for men a day.
• Too much coffee or tea can hurt the calcium in your bones because it makes the body acidic.
• Smoking – when inhaling cigarette smoke, your body cannot form new healthy bone tissue as easily.
• Low body weight, a BMI of 18.5 or less, small boned does not have enough weight on the bones.
• Some medications like anti-seizure drugs, glucocorticoids, prednisone or cortisone, can cause bone loss if taking for a long time. Glucocorticoids is taken as anti inflammatory medication to treat arthritis, asthma, and crohn’s disease.
• Try to eat more natural whole foods that makes your body alkaline like green vegetables, limit your red meat intake, stay away from any processed food, and exercise outdoors as much as you can.