Are your diet and lifestyle contributing to bone loss? The likely answer is “yes!” 

If you are concerned about bone loss, or osteoporosis, you are in the right place. If you aren’t, you should still pay attention: most people don’t know osteoporosis is a “silent disease,” and most don’t find out they have it until a fracture occurs. 

And since 1 in 3 American women over age 50 will suffer a fracture  during their lifetime, now is the perfect time to influence this process  by shifting the way, we eat and live. 

Bone loss is driven by many factors, including the lack of nutrients, hormones, and movement needed to keep bone healthy and strong over time. 

BONE IS LIVING TISSUE
When you see a skeleton, you’re observing dead bone: hard, calcified, breakable. But inside us, bone is flexible, living tissue, actively growing and remodeling on a daily basis. Pretty cool, hmmm?

How we eat plays a huge role in providing the essential nutrients needed to build healthy bone. In fact, our diet actually influences the activity of specialized cells that orchestrate bone formation or destruction.

Like little bricklayers, osteoblasts are the special cells that lay new bone, while osteoclasts (the demo crew) carves out and resorbs old bone, making way for osteoblasts to lay down new bone. And so, the cycle continues.

Osteoporosis occurs when bone resorption overtakes new bone growth. Balance is the key. 

From reading the popular (and medical) press, it’s easy to think that just taking a calcium supplement is the only dietary intervention needed to prevent or treat bone loss. But a closer look reveals that the kind of foods we eat on a daily basis also sets the stage for either the loss of bone or the growth of bone.

WHAT’S SUGAR GOT TO DO WITH IT? 

Our MAD (Modern American Diet), high in sugar, refined and ultra-processed foods is contributing to the high rate of osteopenia and osteoporosis (1). And of course, this MAD diet lacks the nutrients needed to build healthy bones. 

Think about it: we sit inside all day, eating our MAD diet, chased with too much coffee, soda, energy drinks and booze. These factors combine to create a highly acidic environment that encourages bone loss. 

This MAD diet also leads to elevated blood sugar and insulin, contributing to both osteoporosis and diabetes. Remember, insulin works to lower blood sugar by binding to “insulin receptors” on every cell membrane. Once insulin binds to its receptor (like a key in a lock) it opens the “door” and carries sugar across the membrane and into the cell where it’s used to produce energy. 

All that sugar dulls the insulin receptors, effectively turning them off, leading to the condition known as “insulin resistance”. When insulin can’t get sugar into the cell, it leads to pre-diabetes and Type 2 or “age related” diabetes and drives inflammation, contributing to a range of acute and chronic diseases, including osteoporosis. 3 

Insulin resistance keeps blood sugar high, forcing what isn’t used to be stored as fat. We used to think that fat cells just stored and released energy, but we now know that fatty tissue is a reservoir for pro-inflammatory cytokines. 

These inflammatory chemical messengers aggravate bone loss by causing an imbalance between the osteoblasts and osteoclasts, leading to bone loss. It’s time to break this inflammatory cycle with real food and build some bone!        

DR. SALLY’S TOP 10 FOODS TO BUILD HAPPY, HEALTHY BONES 

The progression of osteoporosis can be slowed by consuming a whole food, plant-based, alkalinizing diet. Rich in color, flavor, and phytonutrients, this fruit and veggie-rich diet provides a range of nutrients that help fight inflammation and are essential for building bone mineral density. 

To ensure you’re eating in a way that promotes bone growth, here are my 10 ten foods to include:

1. Dark, Leafy Greens: Spinach, Swiss chard, collard greens, bok choy, beet greens, kale, arugula and dark lettuces like romaine and watercress are rich in key bone building minerals like calcium, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K and folate. They’re also loaded with antioxidants like vitamins C, A, as well as beta-carotene and lutein. Use them in salads, soups, or sautés. 

2. Cruciferous Veggies (AKA, the Broccoli Family): Cruciferous veggies, also known as the Brassica family of veggies, include broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, arugula, kale, and romanesco. The intake of cruciferous vegetables is independently associated with lower risk of all fractures, especially in older postmenopausal women. That’s partly because cruciferous veggies contain a set of sulfur-containing compounds called glucosinolates. The key one, sulforaphane, is formed when we chew these veggies. Sulforaphane has been demonstrated in cell culture and mice studies to stimulate osteoblasts to lay down new bone! So, make it a point to eat several cups of these veggies every week. 

3. Omega- 3 Rich Fish: One of the prime benefits of the Mediterranean diet is the intake of the essential “omega-3” fatty acids present in fish, seeds, and nuts. Getting the omega-3 fats from fish is associated with lower levels of the pro-inflammatory cytokines (like C-Reactive Protein) that erode bone health. I’m a big fan of replacing tuna salad with “salmon salad”. Salmon doesn’t contain the high mercury level that tuna does, plus a 7-oz. can of sockeye salmon with the skin and bones, delivers around 100 mg. calcium, along with the anti-inflammatory omega-3 fatty acids. Check out my salmon salad recipe and beautiful Pan Roasted Salmon on Sauteed Carrots, Leeks and Zucchini.  

4. Nuts and Seeds: These tasty little nuggets are rich in a range of key minerals, fiber and a great balance of carbohydrate, protein, and fat. Almonds, pumpkin seeds, Brazil nuts, and cashews are richest in calcium and magnesium, two minerals essential for bone strength. Walnuts, flax, and chia seeds contain ALA (alpha-linolenic acid), a plant-based source of omega-3 fatty acids. Brazil nuts provide magnesium and a daily dose of selenium, a key antioxidant mineral. Eat them as snacks, in salads, smoothies and grain dishes. You’ll find them scattered in the salads in this recipe booklet, so read on. 

5. Bone Broth: Collagen is a structural protein in the bones, muscles, tendons, ligaments, skin, the digestive tract, and other connective tissues. Our body makes collagen by combining amino acids, the building blocks of protein from chicken, fish, beef, pork, eggs, and dairy, with vitamin C, zinc, copper, and other nutrients. By simmering bones for 24 hours, collagen is drawn out of bones and into the broth. When sipped, the collagen is incorporated into our bones, where it forms the collagen matrix into which minerals are deposited to make bones strong. Collagen production diminishes as we age, so help replace it by sipping a warm cup of bone broth a few times a week or consider a collagen peptide supplement. Note: Be sure to buy organic bones for bone broth, so you don’t ingest the antibiotics, pesticides and other toxins present in conventionally grown animals. And, while plants provide nutrients that the body uses to help produce collagen, plant foods do not contain collagen themselves. 

6. Protein: Speaking of protein, eating a plant-based diet does NOT mean that all flesh protein should be eliminated: it does mean that the quantity we eat needs to be greatly reduced (no more 16-ounce steaks) and the quality needs to be improved (say hello to organic and regenerative agriculture, and goodbye to “CAFO: confined animal feeding operations”). Animal protein contains the all the essential amino acids needed to create bone collagen, and muscle tissue, needed to stabilize us to help prevent falls and fractures. Veggies and fruits, grains, beans, nuts, and seeds don’t contain all the essential amino acids, but when eaten together, the body can assemble the needed proteins. 

7. Spice it Up: Turmeric, a cousin of ginger root, contains curcumin, the phytonutrient with the most powerful anti-inflammatory properties yet discovered in Nature. Curcumin inhibits the process of bone loss and is associated with a decrease in the markers of bone turnover. Integrate this bright orange spice into your diet today. Check out my delicious recipe for Indian red lentil dal, a soup featuring both turmeric, garlic, and ginger. When combined with rice, the dish forms a complete protein that is loaded with anti-inflammatory spices and nutrients. This may be your new go-to recipe for “Meatless Monday”. 

8. Fermented Foods: These foods provide key microorganisms to seed our gut microbiome, where they generate vitamin K2. Make your own kimchi (the Korean version of sauerkraut), which contains beneficial nutrients for the bone such as vitamins K2, B vitamins and
   minerals like manganese, phosphorus, magnesium and calcium and fiber. Tofu and other fermented soy products like tempeh and miso also contain a protein called “ipriflavone”, which may help prevent bone resorption and stimulate bone production. Check out my Fresh Rainbow Kimchi recipe. 

9. Yogurt and Kefir: Yogurt and its liquid cousin, kefir, provide generous levels of bone-building nutrients like calcium, magnesium, zinc, vitamins D, K, B2 and B12, and protein. These fermented cow milk products are also rich in probiotic microbes. The fermentation process generates various peptides with calcium absorption enhancing activities. Make your own yogurt or kefir or buy one of the many delicious flavors blended with fruit. 

10. Prunes and berries: Dried plums (or prunes) contain high levels of vitamin K, but they’re also rich in magnesium, boron, and potassium. Eating prunes has been shown to reverse bone loss present in osteoporosis. Here’s my favorite way to eat prunes: Just soak 4-6 prunes overnight in 1 cup water with a slice of lemon. This rehydrates the prunes and draws out some of the sugar. Just pour off that sugar water and enjoy them as a mid-AM snack, or mix them into a cooked morning grain, or mash them into almond butter or ricotta cheese and spread on gluten-free toast. Yum! 

Of course, it starts with food, the foundation of our health. In reality, few of us check all these boxes with our daily diet, so supplementing with the right set of nutrients is wise. At least, I’m hedging my bet on building better bones by supplementing with this set of key nutrients! 

Head on over to my online store and take 10% off your first Better Bones Bundle (and of course, you can buy them separately, or subscribe and save! 

Isn’t it motivating to know that you can take charge of your bone health, naturally? My hope is that you will introduce these healing, bone-building foods, recipes, and nutrients into your healthy lifestyle today.