What should you eat for osteoporosis? Middle-aged and elderly individuals often experience osteoporosis symptoms. What foods are beneficial? We want to emphasize that diet plays a crucial role in both preventing and treating osteoporosis. So today, let's learn two tips together about what to eat for osteoporosis.
What to Eat for Osteoporosis?
1. Animal bones. Beyond drinking milk, consciously incorporate animal bones into your daily diet to boost calcium intake. Over 80% of animal bones consist of calcium, so regularly consuming bone broth provides abundant calcium. When making pork bone broth, adding a splash of vinegar helps dissolve bone calcium, enhancing the body's absorption and utilization of calcium.
2. Kelp and dried shrimp. Kelp is rich in minerals, containing 1100mg of calcium per 100g. It also contains abundant sodium alginate, which helps prevent leukemia and bone cancer. Dried shrimp is nutrient-dense, affordable, and an excellent calcium source.Incorporating these foods into your daily diet can help supplement calcium intake.
3. Salmon. Salmon and other fatty fish provide substantial nutrients beneficial for bone health. They contain calcium along with vitamin D, which aids calcium absorption. They are also rich in omega-3 fatty acids. Studies indicate fish oil supplements can reduce bone loss in older women and help prevent osteoporosis.
Next, here are additional foods recommended for osteoporosis prevention:
Legumes and bean products: Soybeans, edamame, lentils, broad beans, tofu, dried tofu, tofu skin, fermented tofu, etc.
Dairy and dairy products: Cow's milk, goat's milk, cheese, yogurt, condensed milk.
Seafood: crucian carp, carp, silver carp, loach, shrimp, dried shrimp, crab, kelp, laver, clams, sea cucumber, snails, etc.
Fruits and dried fruits: Lemon, loquat, apple, black jujube, dried apricot, dried tangerine peel, dried peach, almond, hawthorn, raisin, walnut, watermelon seed, pumpkin seed, sesame seed, dried mulberry, peanut, lotus seed, etc.
Meat and Poultry/Eggs: Lamb, pork brain, chicken, eggs, duck eggs, quail eggs, preserved eggs, pork floss, etc.
Vegetables: Celery, rapeseed greens, carrots, radish tops, cilantro, snow peas, black fungus, mushrooms, etc.
Dietary Tips for Calcium Supplementation and Bone Health
Milk is the optimal calcium-rich food. Soy products also contain abundant calcium. Animal bone broth is highly calcium-dense; adding vinegar during cooking enhances calcium extraction.Therefore, drinking milk daily, combined with adequate intake of vegetables, fruits, and soy products, can already meet the body's needs. There is no need for additional calcium supplements. Instead, focus on consuming more dairy products, tofu, dried shrimp, etc., which provide ample calcium and nutrients.
Proper food preservation and storage can minimize calcium loss. Avoid stirring milk while heating. When stir-frying vegetables, use more water and keep cooking time short. Avoid chopping vegetables too finely.Spinach, water chestnuts, and leeks contain high levels of oxalic acid. Soak them briefly in hot water to dissolve the oxalic acid, preventing it from binding with calcium-rich foods to form insoluble calcium oxalate. Lactose helps retain dietary calcium. Whole grains like sorghum, buckwheat, oats, and corn contain more calcium than rice or wheat flour. Incorporate these whole grains into your diet regularly.
Experts recommend supplementing with zinc before calcium. This is because zinc supplementation first enhances calcium absorption, deposition, and utilization, achieving twice the result with half the effort in calcium supplementation.