Protect Your Bones

If you have a varied healthy diet with lots of green vegetables and you do weight bearing exercise regularly like walking or jogging, you are doing a lot to help your bones.

One of the reasons we lose calcium from our bones is that it acts as a buffer to keep our blood at the correct pH level. However, calcium is difficult to absorb in supplement form so the body, in it's efficient wisdom, will take calcium from the bones on a as needed basis.

Bone density loss can NOT be remedied by supplementing calcium tablets.  Bone density is maintained by an intricate interplay of many nutrients including; protein, calcium, phosphorous, magnesium, boron, silicon, vanadium, B-complex vitamins, and vitamins K and D.

Calcium needs vitamin D along with other vitamins and minerals to support absorption.  If the calcium is not absorbed and utilized, the burden falls on our kidneys to get rid of it.  As a result, kidney stones could develop.  The best way to ensure absorption is through calcium-rich foods.  The easiest way to stop calcium from leaching from your bones is to have an alkaline diet and remove foods and triggers that make the blood more acidic.
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Three Ways to Alkalinize Your Diet:
Foods to Try:

1. ​Bone Broth - contains collagen and obviously comes from bones so it'll help build your bones.
2. Greens and Leafy Greens - are loaded with minerals especially calcium.  Vegetables like broccoli, collard greens, dandelion greens, kale and alfalfa.  Lightly steaming helps with nutrient absorption.
3. Increase kelp, most beans (legumes), nuts and figs.

​Three Things to Avoid to Optimize Bone Density:

1. ​Avoid high intakes of phosphorus:​

'Phosphorous and calcium have an inverse relationship with each other in the blood.  High phosphorous will encourage calcium excretion by the kidneys.  While milk might be a good source of calcium, it also has lots of phosphorous, and it lacks magnesium necessary to solubilize calcium.  Meat also contains large amounts of phosphorous as do carbonated drinks, and so will be associated with calcium losses.'

     2.  Avoid coffee, tea, caffeine, and stimulants.
​     3.  Avoid sugar, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners.

​There are other factors that affect bone density but here is a good start  of what you can implement today to protect your bones. Take baby steps today by making some dietary changes to avoid bone loss.
Reference:
Brenda Lessard-Rhead, Nutritional Pathology, Second Edition, ​CSNN Publishing, Richmond Hill, Ontario, 2013.