We often forgot to take care of our bones until and unless it gets fractured or hurt. With the rise of diseases like cancer, diabetes, kidney problems and heart issues we don’t remember about the diseases of bones. But the sad truth is more than millions of people are experiencing osteoporosis and osteomalacia, the diseases related to bones.
Bone health cannot be ignored, simple fractures like non vertebral fracture particularly of hip can lead to disability and sometimes to death.
So, we need to take care of our bones as we do for our health. How can we control bone loss and make them healthy?
Can We Improve Our Bone Health?
Of course, yes. Because bones are made from living growing tissues and we constantly make new bones whilst losing old bones. We have the capability to produce new bones, leaving behind the old ones and at the age of 30 we reach to peak bone mass. After 30 we tend to loose our bones faster compared to creating the new one.
But we have many ways to improve our bones health by following some simple ways in our life.
Here are 10 best and simple ways to improve our bones health
1. Eat Lots Of Vegetables
Vegetables are great for your health. Most of the vegetables are rich source of vitamin C, where Vitamin C is very essential to stimulate the production of bone forming cells in your body.
Especially green leafy and yellow vegetables are linked with increasing bone mineralization in your body to keep your bones strong. According to several studies, women who consume more onions in their regular diet have 20% lower risk of osteoporosis compared with the women who rarely eat it.
Try to include more vegetables in your regular diet, to keep healthy bones during childhood and protect bone mass in young and adult age.
2. Regular Exercise
Exercising regularly will not only help you to get rid of many health issues it also helps you to maintain strong bones. The best exercises are weight bearing or high impact exercise that help to promote the formation of new bone in your body.
Even strength training exercise is also beneficial for increasing muscle mass. This exercise will also help to decrease bone loss in younger and older age. Never forgot to include exercise in your regular routine which gives you fit and perfect body as well as strong bones.
3. Eat More Fish
Fishes are rich source of calcium, vitamin D and omega 3 fatty acids that are very beneficial to maintain your bone health. There are some theories that diet high in animal protein contribute to bone loss, but it is not been proven yet.
The omega 3 fatty acids in fish increases bone mass and decreases the bone loss. Try to incorporate fish protein in your diet for more than 2 times in a week or you can also opt for fish oil as supplement.
4. Consume Less Caffeine
Consuming coffee has number of health benefits, but unfortunately not for our bones. Excessive consumption of coffee will prevent the absorption of calcium to our bones. Even one study has declared that consumption of two cups of coffee in a day will result in bone loss. Replace your regular intake of coffee with green tea or any herbal tea that might result to maintain good health.
5. Get Enough Vitamin D
Vitamin D is essential to maintain healthy bones, because it promotes calcium absorption, but more than half of adults in the world are not getting enough amount of vitamin D according to a study.
Sunlight is the best way to get maximum amount of vitamin D to your body. You can also include Vitamin D rich foods in your diet to increase your bone mass. Some rich sources of vitamin D are cod liver oil, salmon, yogurt, eggs etc.
6. Quit Smoking
Generally the smoke of cigarette generates free radicals which attack the body’s natural defenses and lead to damage the cells, hormones and organs that are involved in keeping your bones healthy. So, quitting smoking will help to reduce the bone loss and even it decreases the risk of fracture.
7. Avoid Excessive Consumption Of Alcohol
Drinking one or two glasses might not affect your bone health, but excessive consumption of alcohol definitely lead to affect your bones health. It is also linked up with number of health issues too. Stop, taking excessive alcohol in your regular routine and keep your bones healthy.
8. Eat High Calcium Foods
Calcium plays a major role in building your bones and keep them healthy, because it is the main mineral found in your bones. However, old bone cells constantly break down and replaced by new ones. So it’s important to consume calcium daily to protect bone structure and strength.
9. Include Foods High In Magnesium And Zinc
Apart from calcium, magnesium and zinc also plays major role in maintain your bones health. Magnesium will help to convert vitamin D into active form and leads to promotion of calcium absorption to your bones.
Zinc usually helps to make up the mineral portion of your bones. Try to include rich sources of magnesium and zinc products in your regular diet to maintain strong and healthy bones.
10. Consume Protein Rich Foods
Protein is considered as one of the building block of your bones so getting enough amount of protein in your diet is a smart move. A high protein rich diet will also help to prevent osteoporosis and plays an important role in maintaining bone health.