09 Dec 5 (Ridiculously Easy) Ways to Increase Bone Density After 30
Natural decline of bone density in your 30s is quite a known fact. And there’s more to worry if you’re a woman. It’s all downhill after a certain age.
So, it makes sense to keep your bones thicker so that it takes longer to get to the debilitated stage of weak and brittle bones. Maintaining bone density is good thinking after you hit 30. Here’s our take on what you can do without going to the doctor.
206 in number, each bone has its own specific role. Bones act as a foundation for our bodies. It protects vital organs, assists in free movement, and stores essential minerals and vitamins as well.
Adding to it, the more minerals and vitamins your bones store, the healthier it gets.
Nonetheless, the process of storing the minerals and making the withdrawal is an everyday process. This, as a result, gives rise to weak bones as you age.
Also, the intensity of this process changes over the period due to aging.
This may be the reason why people above the age of 30 have more complaints about bone issues as compared to those in their 20s.
Do you know, low bone density affects around 43.3 million adults in the U.S?
Therefore, it is important to maintain bone density. So, when should you actually start?
At What Age Does Bone Density Stop Increasing?
Mostly, people achieve maximum bone density in their 20s and 30s.
Starting from birth to young adulthood, the body stores more minerals and vitamins than it expends.
However, the ratio reverses after the age of 30. In fact, bone density starts declining from the age of 25.
Yes, the process of breaking down and regeneration starts to take more time than usual after the age of 25.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, from about age 25 to 50, the bone formation and breakdown remains stable. This, as a result, leads to weaker bones.
Further, peak bone mass is determined by genes and lifestyle changes. But one cannot forget the influence of gender here as well.
Reportedly, men have higher peak bone mass as compared to women. Males have higher bone width and size whereas, women have bones with thinner cortexes.
Hence, the possibility of osteoporosis is higher in women at an early age in comparison to men.
Additionally, for women, increasing bone density after menopause becomes even more vital. Those in their early adulthood should start looking for ways to increase bone density after 30.
Can we Increase Bone Density After 30?
Of course, yes!
Bone health is crucial at every stage of life. So, it’s never too late or too early to focus on healthy bones.
While it is ideal to take essential steps to increase bone density while you are still in your 20s, you can take essential steps towards healthier and stronger bones in your 30s as well.
Even though the body is no longer producing new bones, you can reverse osteoporosis in your 30s if take the proper steps.
How to Increase Bone Density After 30?
The first step towards it is to test for bone loss.
You can get a mineral bone density test or DEXA scan to measure the minerals in the bones.
Don’t go by its name. It’s an absolutely painless test that measures the density of the minerals in your bones with a low X-ray.
After that, you can follow the medication and preventive measures as prescribed by your healthcare provider.
But is there anything else that you can do to maintain bone density after 30?
Well, of course, yes!
How to Maintain Bone Density After 30 – Top 5 Ways
Maintaining a healthy bone density even after you’re in your 30s is not really an extremely tough task.
All you have to do is be disciplined and attentive towards what you are eating and what you should add more.
Apart from this, you also need to get rid of such habits that are contributing to damaged bone density.
Here’re some of the ways how to increase bone density after 30 with remedies you can try at home:
#1. Keep PH balance in control
#2. Practice weight-bearing exercises
#3. Consume specific vitamins and minerals for bone health
#4. Increase Protein Intake
#5. Get rid of bone-damaging lifestyle habits
Let’s get into the details…
#1. Keep PH Balance in Control
To begin with, start keeping an eye on the PH levels, nutritionally. The human body tries to balance the acidic, alkaline, and mineral levels to keep running.
Our bodies need both acidic and alkaline foods. However, keeping a balance between the two slows down the process of bone density loss.
Foods with PH levels 1-6 are acidic and those with PH levels 8-14 are alkaline. As per experts, water is neutral with a PH level of 7.
Notably, plant foods like fruits and vegetables are more on the alkaline side. Whereas, legumes, grains, citrus foods, and animal-based foods are more on the acidic side.
You need to maintain the balance between plant-based and animal-based foods after 30 to have healthy bones.
#2. Practice Weight-Bearing Exercises
This might make you wonder how weight-bearing exercises help increase bone density after 30.
Well, the science behind it is quite simple.
It’s all about repair and damage. While doing weight-bearing or heavy-weight exercises, muscles attached to the bones create stress. This stress gives rise to tiny cracks in the bone tissues.
As soon as this happens, the body starts repairing the damage by triggering the bone-building cells to strengthen the bone tissue.
This as a result helps increase bone density. This is one healthy way how to maintain bone density after 30.
Keeping in mind everybody reacts differently, don’t start with heavy-weight exercise all of a sudden. You can begin with jogging, walking, and jumping rope. For those who are not into weight lifting, you can try plank , yoga and tai chi to get the same effects.
#3. Consume Specific Vitamins and Minerals for Bone Health
Talking about bone health what pops into your mind?
Calcium, maybe! You’re not wrong.
The daily intake of calcium for men and women between 18 to 50 years of age should be 1,000 milligrams.
This should, however, increase to 1200 milligrams for women above 50 and men 70 years of age.
Adding to it, vitamin D is also essential for proper bone density. It aids in the better absorption of calcium.
To increase the vitamin D intake, you can add whitefish, tuna, mushrooms, cheese, and eggs.
Other vitamins and minerals that are crucial for bone health are magnesium, vitamin B, Vitamin K, and omega-3 fatty acids.
#4. Increase Protein Intake
This may shock you but around 50% of your bones are made with protein.
Proteins are the building blocks of the body, and it’s essential for better absorption of calcium.
Get over the fact that you need protein only when you are into bodybuilding. Even if you are in early adulthood and looking for how to increase bone density, you can find your answers in protein intake.
Research has examined the relationship between protein intake with fracture and bone mineral density. An analysis included 144,580 women aged 50-79 years at baseline.
After analyzing the reports, the study concludes that higher-biomarker-calibrated protein intake within the range of normal intake was associated with total and hip BMDs.
The study concluded that high protein intake is not detrimental to bone health in postmenopausal women.
To increase the protein intake, you can add protein-rich foods like spinach, soybeans, legumes, and animal-based protein sources.
You can also increase protein intake by adding protein shakes recommended by healthcare advisors.
#5. Get Rid of Bone-Damaging Lifestyle Habits
Many times, your lifestyles have a lot to contribute to the degrading bone health.
People often live a careless life in their 20s this ultimately affects their health adversely when the natural fighting ability of the body starts declining.
The same happens with bone health.
Some of the lifestyle changes that you need to adapt if you need to increase bone density after 30 are:
- Staying indoors a lot: This reduces the body’s natural ability to produce vitamin D.
- Binge Eating salty snacks: It causes dehydration in the body due to increased acid levels.
- Too much sunscreen: Sunscreen also blocks the vital rays the body needs to process vitamin D.
- Alcohol and Caffeine Intake: Both of these interfere with calcium absorption and leads to bone loss.
- Sitting for a longer duration: This habit can cause poor bone structure and add to the bone loss process.
Your age, gender, demography, and even genetics contribute to your bone health. These factors might not be under your control.
Nonetheless, doing proper exercise, eating right, and being disciplined is completely your responsibility.
Therefore, if you are in your 30s and want to increase bone health, better start taking the necessary steps to retain bone health now.
But even if you started today, do you know how soon you will get the results? No? Let’s find out.
How Long Does It Take to Build Bone Density?
You need to be patient to experience any visible changes in your bone health.
If you are opting for weight lifting exercises to make improvements to your bone density, you may not see any changes for the first few weeks.
The process gets even more time taking for those dealing with osteoporosis. To accelerate the process, you can take the help supplements.
Nonetheless, make sure you recommend your doctor before adding any drugs or medications to your diet.
Bone health often takes the back seat when the body is young and active. But keep it working and healthy, the process needs to start early.
Before You Break a Bone!
Building bone density should be a process in your mid-20s but it’s never too late when it comes to your health.
Both men and women should start paying extra attention to their bone health in their late 20s.
Especially women should look to increase bone density after 30. This is because women start losing bone mass in their early menopause. As soon as estrogen level starts declining bone health degrades.
Keep moving, eat healthily, and stay disciplined and you won’t break a bone in your 30s.
If you are in your 30s and reading this while sitting in a bad posture and eating extra salty chips, this might be a sign!
What are you doing to increase your bone density after 30? Tell us about it in the comment section. We’re all ears!
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