5 Healthy ways to strengthen bones naturally

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5 ways to strengthen your bones

1. Increase calcium intake

2. Exercise regularly

3. Get enough vitamin D

4. Avoid alcohol

5. Consume more potassium

Bones literally support your body's entire system. Apart from providing structure; they also protect organs, anchor muscles and store calcium.

It is very important to keep your bones strong and healthy.

You tend to gain more bone mass when you are young. Your body starts to lose more bone mass than it can gain after the age of 30. You can slow down this process (and reverse damage in some cases) through healthy lifestyle choices.

One in three women over the age of 50 years - and one in five men - will experience bone fractures in their lifetime according to recent statistics.

Don't worry, though. It's not as bad as it sounds - if you take good care of your bones.

Follow these healthy bone-strengthening habits to keep bones healthy and your bones will likely remain dense enough when you're older without causing any problems.

If your bones are thin and unhealthy, they might start deteriorating quickly. This can lead to weak, brittle bones and diseases like rickets and osteoporosis.

It can be expensive and difficult to get back to healthy bones when it is already too late. No matter what your age is, take care of your bones!

1. Increase calcium intake for stronger bones

The first thing that usually comes to mind when you think about bone health is calcium.

Maintaining a proper calcium intake can make bones stronger. The recommended amount of calcium per day is a thousand milligrams for most people. Teens need 1,300 milligrams and older women require 1200 milligrams.

Foods such as cheese, yogurt, beans, salmon and sardines are rich in calcium. I would suggest filling your calcium needs through diet rather than supplements and tablets.

2. Exercise regularly to strengthen bone health

Regular exercise is the key to keeping a number of health issues at bay - and bones are no exception.

Your bones respond to exercise by becoming stronger. Exercise actually increases bone density.

Exercising can also help you to maintain muscle strength, coordination and balance. This helps to prevent falls and related fractures.

A sedentary lifestyle is considered a risk factor for osteoporosis.

One study found that athletes who exercise regularly have the highest bone density. This shows that exercise has a positive effect on bone health.

Weight bearing and resistance exercises are best for strengthening your bones.

Weight-bearing exercises can be any form of exercise like hiking, walking, jogging, climbing and body-weight exercises. Resistance exercises include lifting weights.

You can pick your choice or do both of these.

3. Get enough vitamin D to improve bone health

Just like calcium, vitamin D is also vital for good bone health. It protects your bones by helping your body to absorb calcium.

Vitamin D also helps support the muscles needed to avoid falls.

Children need vitamin D to build strong bones and adults need it to keep their bones strong and healthy.

If you don't get enough vitamin D, you're more likely to break your bones as you age.

Some good sources of vitamin D are sunlight and foods like salmon, tuna, orange juice and soy milk.

4. Avoid alcohol to keep your bones strong

You should be aware that drinking too much alcohol is bad for your body.

A lesser-known ill effect of alcohol is that it damages your bones. Drinking alcohol can impact bone nutrition and disrupt the hormone regulators that are important for bone formation.

It reduces this process by directly inhibiting bone forming cells, but you don't have to throw out those liquor bottles right away.

You can drink no more than one alcoholic beverage a day if you're a woman and a man can consume no more than two drinks per day to avoid health problems.

5. Consume more potassium to strengthen bones naturally

Potassium helps to maintain a healthy acid/alkaline balance in the body. This leads to reduced calcium loss.

Potassium also plays a buffering role in your blood by keeping the bone strengthening materials like calcium and phosphorus from being lost from the bones and kidneys. 

Researchers found that people with high potassium intake have 8% greater bone mineral density than those with the lower intake.

You can get potassium through foods like legumes, bananas, spinach, broccoli and potatoes.

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