Nutrition and Osteoporosis: Eat to Boost Bone Health

Nutrition and osteoporosis are closely linked. If you're not getting the right nutrients, whether in your diet or through supplements, you're putting yourself at greater risk for osteoporosis. But just what nutrients should you be getting to help fight osteoporosis, and how should you be getting them?

The most important by far are calcium and vitamin D. Calcium is a key building block for your bones, while vitamin D is the "key" that unlocks the door to your bones and allows them to absorb calcium.

The two go hand in hand: if you don't get enough D, it won't matter how much calcium you get, because your bones can't absorb it properly. But if you don't get enough calcium, there's nothing for the vitamin D to help your bones absorb.

The National Academy of Sciences has developed recommendations for how much calcium and vitamin D you need at every age:

• Teenagers should get 1,300 milligrams (mg) of calcium a day.
• Adults up to age 50 should get 1,000 mg per day.
• Those over 50 should get 1,200 mg a day.

To "unlock" that calcium, the Academy of Sciences recommends between 400 and 800 international units (IUs) of vitamin D per day. But some experts are now saying we need even more vitamin D.

"Those recommendations are nearly 10 years old, and since then we've discovered that a high proportion of U.S. women have below-optimal storage of vitamin D," says Ethel Siris, MD, president of the National Osteoporosis Foundation. "That would mean that our D intake should go up substantially."

Most osteoporosis experts now say that we should be getting 800 to 1,200 IUs of vitamin D per day. This is particularly important since the primary source of natural vitamin D -- exposure to sunlight -- carries the potential risk of skin cancer. As more of us slather on sunscreen and stay in the shade, we need to make sure we get enough vitamin D from other sources.

And vitamin D may do more to protect you from osteoporosis than just help you absorb calcium.

"Particularly in older individuals, vitamin D deficiency makes you more likely to fall down," says Siris, director of the Toni Stabile Osteoporosis Center at Columbia University Medical Center. "If you get enough vitamin D, you not only improve your calcium, but you're less likely to fall and get a fracture."

Nutrition and Osteoporosis: Why Food Is Your Best Bet

You can get calcium and vitamin D from your diet, supplements, or both. What's most important is that you get them. But if you can, it's best to get these nutrients in the food you eat and the beverages you drink.

Why? First, because it's easier to remember. You may not take a pill every day, but you eat every day.