At younger age we don’t spend time thinking about how to build strong bones. There is normally no reason to think this way as we are still young and energetic. However, this good state changes as we grow older. Depending on circumstances around our lives, some people start experiencing pains in different locations of their bodies, especially the feet, back and different joints. These pains are associated with the weakening of the bones.
Sometimes it is the environment we grow in, the weather and how it treats our bones. The diet we depend on through life determines in a big way how the bones develop in strength. Have you heard that, if you had a broken bone when younger, pain would reoccur at the same area in old age? Bones get wounded and retaliate later. I know my dad’s first tooth to lose in old age was a tooth that was hit by a friend when they were playing as young boys. He also happened to have fallen off a bike and broke his leg in his late twenties. It healed well, but in old age he got the pain back and developed a limp. Bones have stories to tell!
I remember very well from my childhood days I never liked milk. I still do not drink fresh milk unless it is in tea or with chocolate. A dislike for something can be triggered by trivial things like smell or flavor or whatever the mind interprets as unpleasant. As a child in pre-school, the school offered us milk every day. This was supplied in transparent, quarter or half liter packages of very cold milk that must have come from a very cold storage. I did not like how cold it was and for me it had a certain smell. After a while I developed a dislike for milk and stopped taking my share. I would Instead get it and pass it to my friend Rose, who loved milk was incredibly happy to have it all. The price of disliking milk at an early age, shows in the strength of the bones at later years.
I also did not have milk at home either because we did not have enough for luxury drinking, being six children in the family. It was only used for making tea for breakfast and on occasional evenings. For that reason, I missed the one basic food item that provides calcium and that is particularly important for bone development. I can tell by how my bones feel that it is for the lack of calcium from early childhood.
It has been over thirty years since I saw my friend Rose who enjoyed the milk I rejected at pre-school. I wonder if her bones and have been healthy from the early foundation of calcium she invested from the milk. I had a moment to briefly catch up with her on phone, but that story never came to mind. I will make a point of calling her soon to chat about this.
It didn’t occur to me that bones can be made strong by many other foods. Bones after 30 start depreciating for many reasons. For me my toes, heels and feet were experiencing lots of discomfort and were starting to worry me. I had to start thinking on how to build strong bones by using right foods. An interest in searching for supplements for strong bones developed. I wanted to work on being strong and running errands for myself. At such times priorities in life, and survival tactics become important. The mind starts looking out for anything that would improve the quality of life.
My teeth started getting cavities as early as junior high, so that by the time I was in the thirty’s majority had fillings. I remember the dentist remarking that I had lost lots of bone density by fifty and I thinking, “I need to do something!” It is good to know that one can be able to work on building strong bones after 30 by reinforcing the diet with calcium rich foods. There are great varieties of foods to use so that even without using dairy or milk, one can still build strong bones.
The gut is the source from where all the good things for the body get introduced and supplied through. It does the magic of passing the nutrients to the different organs by the specifics as required. Or do they take for themselves as they require? That is just a lay man’s way of thinking and wondering! Bones need Calcium and vitamin D for strength. So, we must get the foods that contain those vitamins to promote bone health.
Foods | Examples |
Milk and Dairy Products | Milk, cheese, Yoghurt |
Green leafy Vegetables | Kale, Broccoli, Cabbage, Okra |
Soya Beans | Soy milk, Tofu |
Breads made with fortified flour | Enriched with micronutrients |
Seeds | Sunflower, Pumpkin, |
Nuts | Almonds, Walnuts, Macadamia, cashew nuts etc |
Fatty Fish | Salmon, Tilapia, Sardines, Pilchards |