Top Bad to the Bone Foods

We all have a skeleton that supports our body. It is a key part of what keeps us upright and helps us to move through the world. Without a skeleton, we would find it very hard indeed to do any of the things that we enjoy, like running, walking, dancing or even climbing stairs. While it’s highly unlikely that you’ll ever be without your skeleton, there are risks that are in place for our skeletons like osteoporosis, and this can cause problems later in life if we don’t look after our skeletons now. It’s not the same as not having a skeleton entirely, but bone problems can cause issues with mobility and health. A key part of having a healthy skeleton is ensuring that you eat the right foods that bolster your body with calcium, starting in infancy and moving through your life. We need to take in a certain amount of calcium every day to ensure that we’re meeting intake requirements, but did you know that there are also foods that are potentially bad for your bones? For example it has been found that the more salty foods that you eat, like condiments and processed foods, the more calcium you lose. The reason for this is because salt causes excess calcium loss through the kidneys, so reducing your salt intake will ensure that you’re not losing calcium unnecessarily.

There are other foods that are bad for your bones, so let’s take a look at which foods to avoid.

Sugary foods

If you’re taking in too much sugar, you are risking calcium absorption being inhibited. Too much sugar also depletes phosphorous, which is a mineral that works to facilitate the absorption of calcium. If you are looking to minimize your risk of osteoporosis, you should meet your sugary cravings with things like prunes, cranberries and other sweet fruits.

Cola

If you drink cola or sodas frequently, you can be undermining the integrity of your bones due to the intake of phosphoric acid, a food additive that seems to weaken the intestines and to inhibit the absorption of calcium. Instead of cola, why not think about getting a drink of soda water with lime squeezed into it?

Caffeine

Caffeine works to leach calcium from your bones, effectively sapping the strength of them. About six milligrams of calcium is lost for every 100 milligrams of caffeine you take in. Not really worth the trade off!

Alcohol

If you’re a big drinker or even a moderate one, alcohol can work to decrease your bone mass – leading to decreased bone formation. This in turn can lead to a an increased incidence of fractures and a delay in fracture healing time.

Beans

Beans are high in phytates which can interfere with the body’s ability to absorb calcium. Because beans are also rich in magnesium and fiber, as well as other nutrients, they’re good for osteoporosis prevention overall – and you can actually reduce the phytate content by soaking the beans in water for a few hours and then cooking them in fresh water.

Inflammatory foods

Any vegetable in the nightshade family (things like tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, white potatoes and aubergines) can cause bone inflammation, which can then go on to cause things like osteoporosis. Don’t avoid them entirely; just make sure that you get enough calcium (around 1,200 mg per day) in order to put you in good stead for avoiding osteoporosis.

Leafy greens

These are very good for your bones, but they also contain substances called oxalates which effectively make the calcium in them unavailable to your body. You need to eat these leafy greens with vitamin C in order to make them available to your body to be absorbed.

We hope this short piece on bone bad foods will help you to make better choices about your next calcium-rich meal.