4 Tips for Bone Health to Prevent Osteoporosis

Last Updated on September 5, 2020 by Ellen Christian

I’m sure you’ve heard about the importance of bone health to prevent osteoporosis but do you understand what that means? As we get older, our bones can become brittle and break more easily than when we were younger. My grandmother fell several times and broke her hip in her 80s and 90s and like many women it was in part because her bones were weaker due to osteoporosis. Thank you to Hologic, Inc. for sponsoring today’s conversation.

4 Tips for Bone Health to Prevent Osteoporosis

Did you know that more U.S. women die each year from complications of hip fracture than from breast cancer, and that a woman’s risk of hip fracture equals her combined risk of breast, uterine, and ovarian cancer? Despite the numbers, it’s not something that I hear a lot about in the news, but it’s something that we need to be aware of.

In recognition of World Osteoporosis Day, it’s important that we educate ourselves on health and lifestyle habits that can improve our bone health – and the sooner, the better since our best chance to prevent osteoporosis and bone loss is in our young adult years.

Here are a few tips for bone health to help prevent osteoporosis that you can get started with.

Weight Bearing Exercise

I walk every day because it’s great for my overall health and because I love spending time in nature. I also realized that walking and climbing stairs and two simple examples of weight bearing exercises. You don’t need to head to the gym or buy workout equipment or special clothes. A few other examples of weight-bearing exercise are jogging, hiking, tennis and dancing. Doing regular weight-bearing and muscle strengthening exercise is one of the best ways to protect against osteoporosis and broken bones.

Calcium and Vitamin D

A healthy diet is important for every aspect of a healthy life including bone health. Calcium and Vitamin D will both help support your bone health to help prevent osteoporosis.

Try adding more fatty fish like tuna and salmon. You can also find calcium and Vitamin D in egg yolks, some dairy products, and beef liver. Calcium, vitamin D, lean protein, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats are the key to eating for healthy bones. My Tuna Mason Jar Salad is an easy way to get extra tuna into your diet.

Stop Smoking

If you smoke, please stop. Smoking increases your rate of bone loss and your risk of fractures. To maintain good bone health, don’t smoke or have more than two drinks a day. Please take advantage of one of the smoking cessation classes in your area to stop smoking today.

Get Checked

The painless, 15-minute test – a bone density scan – will help predict your risk of breaking a bone, and statistics show that older women who had a DXA had a 35% reduction in hip fractures during the following three years.

Hologic’s DXA scan is a painless, non-invasive, quick test to measure bone mineral density and assess for osteoporosis and body composition. I’ll be scheduling one at my next doctor’s visit and having a discussion with my daughter about bone health so she can start early. 

Hologic is sponsoring this post because the company is a leading developer of innovative healthcare products that enable women to lead healthier lives, everywhere, every day. To learn more about osteoporosis through Hologic, visit boneawareness.com, a website that Hologic launched in honor of National Osteoporosis Month (May).

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hologic, Inc. Hologic is sponsoring this post because the company is a leading developer of innovative healthcare products that enable women to lead healthier lives, everywhere, every day. To learn more about osteoporosis through Hologic, visit boneawareness.com, a website that Hologic launched in honor of National Osteoporosis Month (May).