Best foods for healthy and strong bones
Do you suffer from frequent muscle cramps? Are your hair and nails brittle? Do you take good care of your teeth, yet still deal with cavities? Perhaps you should consider a medical check-up because you might be lacking calcium.
Common wisdom associates the consumption of milk and dairy products with good bone and dental health. However, it's been found that milk isn't the best source of calcium for the body.
What is true is that calcium plays a fundamental role in health. It's the most abundant mineral in the body, with its primary mission being to keep bones healthy and strong. Nonetheless, it also contributes to dental health, blood clotting, muscle contraction and relaxation, heart rhythm, and cell aging.
So... how do we obtain the necessary calcium for all these functions to occur correctly?
Key calcium-rich foods for healthy and strong bones
By improving bone health through adequate calcium consumption, we ensure that the body has the necessary reserves to function normally.
It's also important to note that calcium requires vitamin D to be absorbed and utilized by the body, and this vitamin is obtained from sunlight. Spending between ten and fifteen minutes under the sun's rays in the summer, frequently and with proper protection, replenishes vitamin D reserves. This way, the body can utilize them throughout the winter when we're a bit lacking in sunlight in Mediterranean regions.
Contrary to popular belief, dairy isn't the most reliable source of calcium. We have other foods to consider:
- Seeds. They're quite trendy and can be found in bulk or packaged to add to bread dough, yogurt, cereals, and even juices. Chia, sesame, poppy seeds, fennel... these are just a few of the many varieties we can incorporate into our diet. Some of them need to be ground to extract the maximum nutrients. Seeds contain calcium, vitamin C, and vitamin D.
- Nuts, easily added to salads, cold creams, and dairy. Walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, sunflower seeds... these contain a significant amount of calcium, but also phosphorus, vitamin E and D, and iron.
- Salmon, sardines, and other oily fish, besides being rich in Omega 3, particularly salmon, have calcium, phosphorus, and healthy fatty acids, beneficial for both bones and the heart. The best way to consume them is cooked - if consuming them raw, freezing for at least 48 hours before consumption is necessary to prevent anisakis effects - grilled, or baked.
- Egg yolk is like the queen of the crown. It's good for almost everything and nutritionally provides vitamins from groups A, B, D, E, and K, as well as magnesium, calcium, selenium, and iron.
- Tofu, known as the cheese of vegans, is a great calcium source. Additionally, it offers high-quality plant proteins and is very low in fat. It might lack flavor, but that can be solved with a good marinade before grilling or adding it to a salad.
In any case, at Juaneda Hospitals, we advise our patients to consult one of our specialists to ensure a personalized diet and an exercise regimen suitable for everyone.
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