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Healthy Bones - Healthy Body
by Patty Liston & Alice Osborne
Picture from Care2, no attribution given. Great isn't it?
Them bones, them bones, them dry bones — so the song goes. However, we don't want bones dry of the calcium that is needed to maintain bone strength. Susan Brown, PhD, says that our bones store the vast majority of the body’s three-plus pounds of calcium. When blood calcium declines to dangerous levels, the body draws calcium out of the bones to replenish it.
If the body withdraws more calcium from bone than it deposits, over time it depletes the bones’ reserves, and the resultant loss of bone mass leads to osteoporosis. So, take a calcium supplement, but make sure that you are eating a variety of the following foods as well!
Fruits in a variety of colors
4-6 servings a day (one serving equals one fruit; 1-2 cup frozen or canned fruit; 1-4 cup dried fruit or 6 oz fruit juice)
Vegetables of low and medium starch content (in a variety of colors)
2-4 cups mostly cooked vegetables
1-2 cups raw leafy salad vegetables
Grains/High-Starch Root Crops
7-8 servings a day (one serving equals one slice whole-grain bread, 1/2 cup dry or hot cereal or 1/2 cup cooked rice, other grain or pasta)
Animal protein (fish, poultry, meat, eggs)
2 or fewer servings a day
Nuts, Seeds and Dried Beans
1-2 servings (one serving equals 1/3 cup nuts, 2 tablespoons seeds or 1/2 cup dried beans, cooked). If you don’t eat meat, include one or two servings of beans a day.
Fats and Oils
2-4 servings a day (one serving equals 1 teaspoon vegetable oils or butter, 1 tablespoon salad dressing or 1 tablespoon cod liver or flax seed oil). Include 500-1,000 mg Omega-3 oils.
Fermented foods
A daily serving of 1 cup yogurt or kefir or 2-3 oz. tempeh or sauerkraut. Use pickled vegetables, umeboshi plums or miso as condiments.
Wholesome Sweets
3-5 times per week (one serving equals 2 small whole grain cookies; 3/4 cup pudding, compote, ice cream, sherbet or sorbet; 1 small piece fruit-based dessert or piece of cake) As near as possible, today’s healthy bones diet should include adequate amounts of all the 19 key bone-building nutrients, at least 64 ounces of water and a 15-minute “serving” of sunlight to maintain internal vitamin D production
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