Foods That Are Bad for Your Bones
Some of us grow up with parents telling us how important food is for our bone growth. They pour us a glass of milk for breakfast and sneak in more leafy greens for lunch and dinner.
We learned from this early exposure and for some, continue to build more bone-healthy habits as adults. However, we rarely thought about foods that are doing the opposite.
Foods to Avoid
To increase your bone health awareness, the experts at Ozark Orthopaedics in Arkansas have enlisted some food items that are eating away your bones:
1. Soft drinks
These widely-available fizzy drinks aren’t just a culprit for the growing obesity problem, they’re also doing serious damage to your bones.
Sodas contain phosphoric acid which can leach out the calcium from your bones. Their caffeine content may also affect bone density, especially in women. Experts have also pointed out that if you’re drinking a lot of soft drinks in a day, you’re less likely to get healthier, more bone-friendly drinks like milk.
2. Coffee (heavy consumption)
If you’re a heavy coffee drinker (4 cups and more in a day), you may want to reconsider your coffee habit. Just like soft drinks, coffee has caffeine which can affect your calcium absorption.
3. Alcohol
Heavy alcohol drinking (2 to 3 ounces of alcohol every day) poses a lot of health risks including issues with your bones.
When you drink too much, your stomach becomes inefficient in absorbing calcium. Alcohol also affects your pancreas and liver and their absorption of bone-building minerals and vitamins like calcium and vitamin D.
4. High sodium foods
You lose about 40 mg of calcium for every 2,300 mg of sodium you take. This is why USDA recommends limiting your sodium intake for less than 2,300 mg a day.
You can easily do this by avoiding or limiting your intake of highly-processed food like fast food and only using your salt shake when necessary.
5. Hydrogenated oils
Hydrogenated oils are man-made fats created by chemically altering the structure of vegetable oil in the presence of hydrogen. This process destroys the naturally-occurring vitamin K in the vegetable oil, a vitamin that’s essential for strong bones.
Most hydrogenated oils can be found in packaged snacks and fried foods.
Reach out to us
If you need expert help maintaining good bone health, reach out to the orthopaedic experts at Ozark Orthopaedics. We can help guide you in the right direction to a long and healthy life. Give us a call at (479) 521-2752.