These healthy foods will keep your bones strong.
Looking to Keep Your Bones Healthy? Top Foods That Fight Osteoporosis
Make no bones about it, you can help ward off osteoporosis and strengthen your skeleton with these superfoods.
Add these to your diet to keep your bones healthy.
1. Dark Greens
Green is great and the darker the better! Kale, bok choy, Chinese cabbage, turnip greens, collards, okra and other dark leafy greens are crammed with calcium and vitamin K, which can slash your risk of the brittle bone disease.
2. Sweet Potato
This tasty spud is loaded with bone-boosting potassium and magnesium to increase vitamin D balance and neutralize acid that leaches calcium from bones.
3. Get Figgy
Whether fresh or dried, figs are packed with an assortment of bone healthy substances, including calcium, potassium and magnesium.
4. Dried Fruit
Prunes … they’re not just for regulating the bowel anymore! Prunes are, of course, dried plums, which are packed with plenty of calcium and vitamin D that boosts bone density by slowing down bone breakdown in the body.
5. Almond Butter
This sandwich spread is a yummy way to make your bones strong with calcium, potassium, protein and other nutrients.
6. Fatty Fish
Salmon, tuna, mackerel and other fatty fish are loaded with vitamin D, which helps the body use calcium, and omega-3 fatty acids, which help healthy bones. Canned may actually be better due to the tiny, unnoticeable bones left in the meat during the canning process. Don’t like the taste of fatty fish? You can use cod liver oil capsules instead.
7. Citrus
Start your morning with grapefruit, oranges or other citrus to increase your vitamin C, which helps prevent bone loss. Orange and other citrus juices are commonly enriched with calcium.
8. Plant-Based Milk
Milk is good for bones, and if you prefer the kind made from almonds, coconuts or soybeans, they’re given an extra dose of calcium and vitamin D. Yogurt, kefir and cheese are also crammed with calcium.
9. Veggie Proteins
Tofu and other plant-based proteins are packed with bone-building benefits. In fact, calcium-enriched tofu can help ward off osteoporosis in women after menopause.
10. Molasses
Ditch refined white sugar (for MANY reasons) and opt for calcium-rich molasses. And you can substitute molasses for many yummy things other than baked goods — try drizzling it on top of yogurt and oatmeal, or to sweeten your smoothies.
11. Boron
A lack of this element can lower bone strength. You can get it from almonds, apples, peaches, raisins, potatoes, bananas and tomatoes.
