No matter who you are, your bone tissue will change throughout your life. As you get older, the need to strengthen and maintain your bones becomes more and more prevalent because they naturally deteriorate, which is why we’ve compiled a guide on how to keep your bones healthy for all ages.

But first, what do healthy bones look like? Healthy bones should be dense and strong in order to support your body as it moves around, according to Healthdirect. At the same time, they should be flexible and able to renew using calcium, collagen, and bone marrow.

Why should you care? Bones are vital for movement and protecting your organs. When aging naturally makes them weaker, you are more fragile and prone to injuries, whether small or large. You can even develop osteoporosis, a chronic disease that makes your bones susceptible to breakage, and you might not even know it until you find yourself constantly injured.

Some poor bone health signs to look out for: You might notice your bone health deteriorating if your posture begins to slope, or if your back starts to hurt for no apparent reason. The most obvious sign will be an increase in the rate of injuries you experience.

To avoid these pains, and maintain your bone health as you age, follow these steps:

#1- A healthy diet: Since your bones rely on calcium, collagen, and bone marrow, your diet plays a significant role in maintaining their health. Each day, you should have at least three servings of food containing high amounts of calcium such as dairy products and firm tofu. Your weight also plays a role.

Going off that note, vitamin D is also important. Even if you’re upping your calcium intake, your body needs vitamin D to absorb it all. A good way to get this without supplements is oily fish like salmon, trout, or tuna, as well as mushrooms and eggs. Vegetables in general will do a good job at also improving bone density. And, of course, sunlight plays a role. If you’re still low on vitamin D, it’s time to look into supplements.

#2- Exercise: Strength training can strengthen both your bones and muscles. Examples of this would be weightlifting, pilates, or resistance training. Things like walking, hiking, running, etc., can all be useful ways of staying active to stay healthy.

#3- Maintain a healthy weight: If you are either over or underweight, the fragility of your bones is affected. When you’re underweight, you’re more at risk of osteoporosis and osteopenia. Having low body weight leads to similarly low bone density, especially in postmenopausal women, according to Healthline. If you are overweight, you increase the level of stress on your bones, making your body more prone to fractures.

At the same time, weight fluctuations play a role. If you lose and regain weight quickly, or lose a lot of weight too fast, you affect your bones because density might not be regained.

#5- Stop smoking: Smoking could reduce bone mass and increase your risk of fractures, among the long list of health detriments it causes. Alcohol can have similar effects so reducing or cutting out both of those from your lifestyle will improve your bone health along with our other tips above.

NOTE- Genetics play a big role in your bone mass, but supplementing that with lifestyle changes is ideal and necessary to improve or maintain your bone health.

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