Love your BONES!

Are you doing enough for your BONES?!

I’ve been trying to be a bit kinder to my bones lately. I have had a couple of bone density scans (if you haven’t had one, I definitely recommend it, esp if you are over 50), which have indicated I have osteopenia – what you may ask, is that?

Well osteopenia is the stage before osteoporosis – and is when the protein and mineral content of bone is reduced.

From around the age of 40 it’s essential you are getting enough calcium, Vitamin D and exercising regularly – to keep your bones strong and healthy.

This is particularly important for women peri/post menopause as when our levels of oestrogen drop we can experience rapid bone loss.

Think of it as an investment for your life.

So I thought I’d share what I’ve been doing…

Exercise: I’ve been ramping up my impact exercise – jogging/stomping (also great for stress) and using light weights are all good ways to maintain and improve bone density (and muscle tone).

Diet: Calcium and Vitamin D are your big go-tos for bone health. Today I’ve had a super-charged porridge – see pics! This is made with unhomogenised milk, with sultanas (surprisingly packed with calcium!), hemp seeds (another good source) plus a drizzle of honey (yum). Lunch was sardines on toast with melted cheese and tomato – on sourdough, (the kids hate when I cook this, the cat loves it!).

If you haven’t thought about buying sardines for a few years you’ll probably find a dusty can at the back of your cupboard – for some reason everyone seems to have one lurking around… if you don’t have any then I recommend the wild sardines with spring water, dinner will be a frittata with cheese and a few edamame beans on the side.

I’ve also been sprinkling sesame and hemp seeds on my food – sesame seeds are super easy to add to breakfast and salads and you can toast them for a bit of extra flavour. Just watch they don’t get stuck in your teeth – but a small price to pay for boosting your bones!

Other good foods include a banana/tahini sandwich  – this is my go to afternoon pick-me-up snack (please see the pic for this post!) broccoli and other green leafy vegs, dairy smoothies – with yoghurt and milk. And if you are in a hurry don’t worry – canned baked bean are a good source too.

Healthy Bones Australia recommends women aged 50+ have 1,300mg of calcium everyday. Which is a fair amount! So make sure you are keeping up the calcium.

And of course you need to do a bit of stomping – even marching on the spot or walking with purpose can help build bone density.

I’ll be doing some exercises to help bone density in my upcoming online course: Yoga for Positive Ageing. So if you are interested please sign up or feel free to ask me any questions!

Love Katie X

I’d love to know what do you do for your bone health?