Nutrition is Critical for Good Bone Health
Make no bones about it, whether you are a young or seasoned athlete, bone health is imperative to stay active for life. The best way to stay strong physically and mentally is by supporting your bone health with your nutrition and lifestyle.
Your age makes a difference when it comes to fortifying your skeletal fortress. By the age of 18, you have reached 95% of your maximum bone density. During the two to three years of puberty, your body forms about 60% of its final bone mass. By age 30, you have reached your peak bone mass for life, after which you experience a natural decline in bone mineral density (BMD) that occurs with aging.
As ovaries slow estrogen production during menopause, bone loss will accelerate naturally. At this point, your bone health is a cumulative history of your long-term caloric intake and dietary nutrient density, menstrual regularity, genetics, exercise patterns and environmental factors. Ensuring adequate nutrition early in life and continual daily nutrition support will drastically improve your BMD outcomes as you age.
Children and teenagers need to focus on adequate caloric intake, dietary nutrient density, and a healthy menstrual cycle. If you experience amenorrhea (loss of your menstrual cycle) or oligomenorrhea (irregular or inconsistent cycle) at any point, your risk for low BMD is increased due to decreased production of estrogen. If you are struggling with this, seek treatment right away as this could be a sign that you are under fueling and your body is striving to find its balance.
If you are under eating, be it intentionally or accidentally, this can put you at risk for poor bone health. Low energy availability (LEA) or inadequate caloric intake occurs when you are not meeting your dietary caloric needs. LEA not uncommonly is coupled with nutrient deficiencies from low vitamin and mineral intake furthering your risk of low BMD.
Nutrients to Focus On
Phosphorus is found in a variety of foods and deficiencies are uncommon. Too much phosphorus intake, though, can be harmful to your bone health. This is seen with frequent consumption of cola products that contain high amounts of phosphate. Excessive intakes reduce your serum calcium concentrations, (especially when calcium intakes are low) due to phosphorus carrying calcium into the soft tissues in your body.
Vitamin D is important for a variety of functions in your body including immune regulation, mood function and bone mineral density. Outside of regular sun exposure, focus on increasing your dietary sources of vitamin D. Fatty fish such as mackerel, salmon, anchovies, trout and sardines, and fortified foods can help increase the availability in your body.
Calcium is well known for its importance in regulating bone mineral density. The intake of calcium has a strong influx correlation with your risk of developing osteoporosis. Know that you are only able to absorb ~500 mg in a sitting. Be sure to spread your intake of calcium rich foods throughout your day to maximize absorption.
In summary, focus on foods rich in calcium and vitamin D, eliminate intakes of soda, and incorporate regular exercise to bolster your bone mineral density. If you’ve had bone fractures, breaks, or are at risk of osteoporosis and would like to improve your nutrition, contact me and we can build a nutrition program to support you.
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Eleanor Baker, MS, RDN, LDN
ElevatedNutritionandWellness.com
321-537-9832
eleanorvbaker@gmail.com
Instagram: @elevated.nutrition
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Meet Our Thought Leader
Performance Dietitian Eleanor Baker MS, RDN, LDN formed Elevated Nutrition and Wellness so she could provide exceptional performance enhancement and preventative healthcare in a holistic manner, all with the understanding that exceptional healthcare is a progressive process and not a quick fix. She expended her wellness reach in 2016 via telehealth and has worked with clients such as The PGA Tour, Jacksonville Jaguars, Florida Institute of Technology athletics department and many more.
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