An Good Osteoporosis Diet Can Strengthen Your BonesA good osteoporosis diet will include lots of leafy green vegetables, tofu, beans and legumes.
Vitamin D3 supplements are recommended for people living in Canada and in the northern USA.
All of the above will be found in an osteoporosis diet... except for Vitamin D. A daily Vitamin D3 supplement is recommended for everyone living north of the 42nd latitude (north of Boston, Rome or Beijing) although the vitamin D dosage will vary depending on a variety of factors and should be monitored through an annual vitamin D blood test. There is also growing evidence that strontium citrate should be added to the list of natural remedies for osteoporosis.
In addition to eating the right foods, it is also important to avoid excessive meat, salt and sodium in our osteoporosis diets. Maintaining the optimal amount of acid in our digestive process improves calcium absorption and is facilitated by an alkaline diet that favours fruit and vegetables rather than too much meat. It is often confusing to figure out where to find the recommended vitamins and minerals for an osteoporosis diet that we truly enjoy. Below are some super-foods in each vitamin category with the nutrient content as reported on the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) National Nutrient Database for Standard Reference. (This is the foundation of most food and nutrition databases in the US and is used in food policy, research and nutrition monitoring.) You can also find some great suggestions for cooked these yummy vegetables by visiting
Osteoporosis Recipes.
Dairy products are an excellent source of calcium for people who are not lactose intolerant and they are usually fortified with Vitamin D3. Our ability to absorb the calcium in dairy products is also comparable to that gained from calcium carbonate (26%) and calcium citrate (22%) supplements. Absorption Rates Milk: 26.7% Chocolate Milk: 23.2% Yogurt: 25.4% Cheese: 22.9% * American Journal of Clinical Nutrition The amount of calcium within our dairy products decreases with the increase of fat content within a product. This is great news for people trying to control their weight!
Milk Milk(1 Cup skim): 504 mg. Milk (1 Cup 1%): 290 mg. Yogurt (8 oz plain, skim): 452 Yogurt (8 oz. plain, whole): 275 mg. Cheese Ricotta (1 Cup part skim): 509 mg. Cottage Cheese (1 Cup 2%): 206 mg. Swiss Cheese (1 oz.): 224 mg. Mozzarella (1 oz. part skim): 207 mg. Mozzarella (1 oz. whole): 143 mg. Cheddar (1 oz.): 204 mg. Feta (1 oz.): 141 mg. Brie (1 oz.) 52 mg. WHAT ABOUT VEGETABLES? Research suggests that the ideal osteoporosis diet consists of a blend of minerals and vitamins that includes vitamin K and magnesium. Dairy products are higher than leafy greens in calcium but lack the vitamin K needed to push the calcium into our bones. Leafy green vegetables are an outstanding source of calcium and vitamin K while tofu and beans are an excellent source of calcium and magnesium -especially if the tofu is made with calcium sulfate. Greens (1 cup boiled & drained) Collard (190 g.): 266 mg.calcium & 836 ug vitamin K Rapini/Broccoli raab (100 g.): 118 mg.calcium & 256 ug vitamin K Kale (130g.): 94 mg.calcium & 1062 ug vitamin K Bok Choy-Chinese Cabbage (170g.): 158 mg.calcium & 57ug. vit.K Broccoli (1 stalk 180g.): 72 mg.calcium & 254 ug. vitamin K Spinach (1 cup fresh): 889 ug.vitamin K Swiss Chard (1 cup boiled): 573 mcg vitamin K I have not listed the calcium content of spinach or swiss chard because their oxalate content decreases calcium absorption. (Our bodies can absorb about half of the calcium present in broccoli, yet only around 5% of the calcium in spinach.) But spinach and swiss chard are still outstanding within an osteoporosis diet as they are excellent sources of vitamin K- which is needed to push calcium into our bones. Tofu (1 cup) Tofu (firm-magnesium chloride): 506 mg. calcium & 94 mg. magnesium Tofu (soft-magnesium chloride): 275 mg. calcium & 67 mg. magnesium Tofu (firm-calcium sulfate): 1722 mg. calcium & 146 magnesium Tofu (regular-calcium sulfate): 868 mg. calcium & 75 mg. magnesium Beans and legumes also provide an excellent source of calcium and magnesium but lack the strong complement of vitamin K found in leafy greens. Beans and Legumes (1cup canned or cooked) Soybeans (172g.): 175 mg.calcium & 148 mg. magnesium White beans (262 g.): 191 mg.calcium & 134 mg. magnesium Baked beans (246 g.):138 mg.calcium & 84 mg. magnesium Chickpeas/Garbanzo (240 g.): 77 mg.calcium & 70 mg. magnesium Red kidney beans (256 g.): 64 mg.calcium & 72 mg. magnesium Lentils cooked (198 g.):38 mg. calcium & 71 mg. magnesium Seaweed If you like Japanese or Korean food, you will find that 100 grams of dried seaweed provides the very best combination of calcium and magnesium...although not all seaweed is created equal. Seaweed (agar): 625 mg. calcium & 770 mg. magnesium Seaweed (spirulina): 120 mg. calcium & 195 mg. magnesium A GREAT OSTEOPOROSIS DIET WILL INCLUDE
LEAFY GREENS & TOFU, and LEAFY GREENS & BEANS.
WHAT ABOUT DRINKS? People who avoid dairy products may prefer a calcium-fortified nondairy beverage such as soy milk or orange juice. As with all sources of calcium, absorption is an important consideration. Notice that soy drinks are not a replacement for green vegetables or tofu as they contain much less magnesium (if any) and no vitamin K. Soymilk (1 cup) soymilk (lowfat): 199 mg. calcium soymilk (nonfat): 282 mg. calcium & 24 mg. magnesium Studies have shown that calcium in soy milk is absorbed at 75% of the efficiency of the calcium in cow’s milk…possibly due to the use of vitamin D2 rather than the D3 used in milk. (A study by Canadian expert Dr. Vieth, recommends that vitamin D2 no longer be considered as adequate to fortify or supplement foods while the National Osteoporosis Foundation believes D2 and D3 to be of equivalent value.) Orange Juice (1 cup-300 mg.calcium) Fortified juices can vary substantially in the type of calcium that is used in the product. Researchers at Creighton University found that women who drank juice fortified with calcium citrate malate absorbed 48 percent more calcium than those that drank juice fortified with the tricalcium phosphate/calcium lactate group. Tropicana is a well known brand that uses calcium malate to fortify its juices.
It is important to shake calcium fortified drinks as the calcium can settle on the bottom. There are many opportunities to get all the calcium we need from the above foods. But research shows that excessive animal protein can still undermine our bone health diet by withdrawing calcium from our bones during the digestive process. Reducing meat consumption and adding beans and tofu to our diet is a winning strategy when designing a good osteoporosis diet.
An inexpensive supplement program to support your osteoporosis diet may be found at....Osteoporosis Treatment Guidelines.
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