Why is bone health important? Tips to keep bones healthy

Protecting your bone health is simpler than you might think. Learn how your diet, physical activity, and lifestyle choices can impact your bone mass.

Bones serve many bodily functions, including providing structure, protecting organs, anchoring muscles, and storing calcium and vitamins. While it’s important to build strong and healthy bones during childhood and adolescence, you can take steps to protect bone health during adulthood, too.

Why is bone health important?

Your bones are constantly changing — new bone is made and old bone is broken down. When you’re young, your body makes new bones faster than it breaks down old bones, and your bone mass increases. After that, bone continues to rebuild, but you lose a little more bone mass than you gain.

How likely you are to develop osteoporosis — a condition that causes bones to become weak and brittle — depends on how much bone mass you gain by age 30 and how fast you lose it after that. The higher your peak bone mass, the more “bone in the bank” you have, reducing your risk of developing osteoporosis as you age.

What affects bone health?

Many factors can affect bone health.

For example:

1. The amount of calcium in your diet: A diet low in calcium contributes to decreased bone density, early bone loss, and an increased risk of fractures.
2. Physical activity: People who are physically inactive have a higher risk of osteoporosis than their more active counterparts.
3. Gender: You’re at a higher risk of osteoporosis if you’re a woman, because women have less bone tissue than men.
4. Size: If you’re extremely thin (with a body mass index of 19 or less) or have a small body frame, you’re at risk because you may have low bone mass as you age.
5. Age: Your bones become thinner and weaker as you age.
6. Race and family history: If you’re white or of Asian descent, you’re most at risk for osteoporosis. In addition, having a parent or sibling with osteoporosis puts you at greater risk — especially if you also have a family history of fractures.
7. Hormone levels: Too much thyroid hormone can cause bone loss. In women, bone loss increases dramatically at menopause due to a drop in estrogen levels. Not having a menstrual period (amenorrhea) for a long period before menopause also increases the risk of osteoporosis.
8. Eating disorders and other conditions: Severely restricting food intake and being underweight weaken bones in both men and women. In addition, conditions such as weight-loss surgery and celiac disease can affect your body’s ability to absorb calcium.
9. Certain medications: Long-term use of corticosteroid medications, such as prednisone, cortisone, prednisolone, and dexamethasone, is harmful to bone. Other medications that may increase the risk of osteoporosis include aromatase inhibitors to treat breast cancer, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, methotrexate, certain anti-seizure medications, such as phenytoin (Dilantin) and phenobarbital, and proton pump inhibitors.

What can you do to keep your bones healthy? 

There are some simple steps you can take to prevent or slow bone loss.

For example:

• Include plenty of calcium in your diet: For adults aged 19 to 50 and men aged 51 to 70, the recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 1,000 milligrams (mg) of calcium per day. The recommendation increases to 1,200 mg per day for women ages 51 and older and men ages 71 and older.
• Good sources of calcium: Good sources of calcium include dairy products, almonds, broccoli, kale, canned salmon with bones, sardines, and soy products such as tofu. If you have difficulty getting enough calcium from your diet, ask your doctor about supplements.
• Pay attention to vitamin D: Your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. For adults ages 19 to 70, the RDA for vitamin D is 600 international units (IU) a day. For adults ages 71 and older, the recommendation increases to 800 IU a day.
• Good sources of vitamin D: Good sources of vitamin D include oily fish, such as salmon, trout, whitefish, and tuna. Additionally, mushrooms, eggs, and fortified foods, such as milk and cereal, are good sources of vitamin D. Sunlight also to the body’s production of vitamin D. If you’re concerned about getting enough vitamin D, ask your doctor about supplements.
• Incorporate physical activity into your daily routine: Weight-bearing exercises, such as walking, jogging, and climbing stairs, can help you build strong bones and slow bone loss.
• Avoid substance abuse: Don’t smoke. If you’re a woman, avoid drinking more than one alcoholic beverage per day. If you’re a man, avoid drinking more than two alcoholic beverages a day.

You should consult your doctor!

If you are concerned about your bone health or have risk factors for osteoporosis, including a recent bone fracture, consult your doctor. He or she may recommend a bone density test. The results will help your doctor measure your bone density and determine the rate of bone loss. By evaluating this information and your risk factors, your doctor can assess whether you may be a candidate for medication to help slow bone loss.

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