How To Strengthen Your Bones
11 / 11 / 19

How To Strengthen Your Bones As You Age

As we age, our bodies naturally lose lean muscle mass and our bones become less dense. For women, this is even more of a problem. Not only do women have thinner and less dense bones than men, but women are also more likely to develop osteoporosis. For women, bones can become even weaker before or during menopause because of a decrease in estrogen, which is the hormone that helps keep bones strong. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation website, "Of the estimated 10 million Americans with osteoporosis, about eight million or 80% are women. Approximately one in two women over age 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis, and a woman’s risk of breaking a hip is equal to her combined risk of breast, uterine and ovarian cancer."

Luckily, for both women and men, there are ways to take preventative measures and keep your bones strong, dense, and healthy. Our bones need calcium to maintain their strength, and vitamin D and vitamin K2 to help your body move and absorb that calcium. According to research by Dr. Mercola, “Calcium, vitamins D and K2, magnesium and a host of other trace minerals, work synergistically together to promote strong, healthy bones, and your sodium to potassium ratio also play an important role in maintaining your bone mass.” He also adds that “Vitamin K2 is critical, as the biological role of vitamin K2 is to help move calcium into the proper areas in your body, such as your bones and teeth. If you take supplemental vitamin D, you increase your body’s need for vitamin K2.”

While taking these supplements is important, you can also get the vitamins and minerals you need from the food that you eat. Foods that are high in calcium include dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese, which also contains K2. Some vegetables are also high in calcium including broccoli and cabbage. Nuts, seeds, beans, and tofu are also great options. Foods that contain high amounts of vitamin D include eggs and fish, and certain fruits like oranges. K2 can be found in dairy products like mentioned above, dark chicken meat, butter, egg yolks, and liver. On top of eating foods rich in calcium, K2, and vitamin D, you should also try to avoid too much vitamin A, alcohol, and soda if you already have weak bones.

For women, another way to keep your bones strong and prevent and treat osteoporosis is through hormone replacement therapy. Many women will start to experience weakened bones and signs of osteoporosis during menopause, which is caused by a drop in estrogen levels. With HRT, estrogen can be reintroduced to help prevent bones from thinning, and even strengthen them.

At LongevityMed Centers, we want to help you live a healthy life. It's what we do, every day, and our specialty. We can help you get on the right path to better health through hormone replacement therapy, nutrition, supplementation, and lifestyle changes. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.