Osteoporosis & Diet

Every day that you live, the condition of osteoporosis becomes more and more relevant. The body loses the ability to hold on to calcium and vitamin D as it ages, increasing the chances that the condition may occur. This is especially important in the United States, where the average diet may actually be leading to or speeding up the process of osteoporosis.

Below are a few of the ways that you can avoid osteoporosis in later life through a few simple changes in your diet.

One - Cut out about half of the salt!

Sodium in large amounts is poison to the bone structure. If you are postmenopausal, research has shown that the body will lose even more bone minerals than normal in the face of sodium overload. 

However, there is a difference between the sodium that is obtained through salt and the sodium obtained away from it. If the average person in the US did not get around 90% of their sodium through salt, it would not be as big of an issue. In order to keep the salt in your diet from adversely affecting your bone structure, limit your intake to around 2300 milligrams a day, or one teaspoon of salt. Most Americans intake around 4000 milligrams a day, which causes a loss of 80 milligrams of calcium per day.

When you go out to eat, ask for no salt versions of your favorite dishes and do not put salt on the meal.

Two - Avoid processed foods.

Processed meats are a huge reason that too much calcium and vitamin D is lost in the urine. In order to improve your diet, avoid hot dogs, ham and deli turkey. Fast food should be cut from the diet altogether, including pizza. Stay away from frozen meals as much as possible; the preservatives in those meals cause the body to lose calcium. Even canned soups and vegetables have better alternatives; choose the fresh versions and make your own soups and vegetable medleys at home.

Three - Choose potassium rich foods to retain calcium.

Salt is one of the most difficult types of foods to eliminate from a diet; even so called health foods such as wheat bread contain a great deal of it. If you find it difficult to cut out salt from your diet, you can improve the ability of your body to retain calcium by eating potassium rich foods like orange juice, bananas and tomatoes.

Other types of foods that help the body to retain minerals for bone structure include grilled chicken, baked potatoes, salads made with fresh vegetables as well as steamed fresh vegetables.