How to Maintain Your Bone Density Through Menopause and Beyond

And not only do women age, but men do too. However, I feel like when women age, it's always so much more dramatic. Mainly because of menopause, but you know, we're women. We do things with flair. So if we're gonna do it, we do it. Aging is no different.

Now one of the issues, though, when it comes to bone loss, bone density, osteoporosis, those are words that you hear a lot and aging for women, in particular, one of the biggest issues as opposed to being a man and aging and losing those things is we are losing estrogen.

And because we're losing estrogen, really, estrogen depletes everything you do want and gives you things you don't want. Like facial hair. For us, these effects are much more drastic.

Not only that, but as women, we actually tend to lose bone faster and we lose it at an earlier age. Do you know that as women, we start losing bone by the age of 30? When I think of that, it's mind-boggling because 30's so young to me.

I'm 45. I already feel like I'm behind the power curve.

So knowing this, armed with this knowledge, I definitely started doing my research because I wanted to find out what I can do to slow this thing down — to stop losing bone so fast and to actually start aging youthfully and not be hunched over at 70 years old. That's a scary thought for me.

So I found a few lifestyle changes and I'm gonna share them really quickly with you.

Tips for Maintaining Bone Density

First of all, you're gonna want to start this process as soon as possible because if you're already losing bone at 30, if we're in our 50s, we're already, again, like I said, behind the power curve.

The best way to start, though, is to start with exercise and diet, which I know they tell you for everything its exercise and diet, but in this case, you want to get those calcium rich foods in, those green leafy vegetables. Get those dairy products. A lot of fish into your diet as well.

You also want to start moving more. And I know we always say this with health problems, but in this case, you don't just want to start moving, you want to start doing weight bearing exercises. Weights are your friend.

Get those weights out, ladies. Start lifting those weights. You will not look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. You will not bulk up. That is a myth. You will actually begin to support your bones, which is the key to success in this area.

You want to support the bones. So you're supporting them with what you eat, as well as how you move. And you don't even have to use weights; you can also use body weight for weight bearing exercises as well.

The Importance of Calcium

All in all, what we want to do, though, is keep the calcium in the body. Get those calcium supplements, vitamin D supplements. Get out there in the sun for 15 minutes a day when it's warm and don't be afraid to discuss supplements with your doctor to see what you can do to optimize your bone health.

Now some things you're gonna want to stay away from caffeine, you're gonna want to stay away from table salt, which was really a surprise to me, as well as less alcohol. You don't have to cut these things out completely but just moderate them.

You don't want to do too much because they leech the calcium out of your body. A good substitute for table salt is Himalayan sea salt, the pink salt. It's really good. It tastes good, in fact, better than table salt and you won't miss it at all.

So these were just a few lifestyle changes that I found in my research that I believe will help us begin, like I said, to age more youthfully. I think if we incorporate these things, we will be in our 70s, 80s, and even 90s still walking tall and gracefully. We won't need a cane and we won't be pulled over. And we'll still be as beautiful as we can possibly be.