9 Foods That Are Bad for Your Bones

You must be clear about the foods necessary to be eaten for the health of your bones, including bone-strengthening content as calcium and anti-osteoporosis content as Vitamin D. But rarely would you have heard about what foods are kind of corrosive and damaging to your bone health other than some carbonated drinks.

Sugar-filled sodas, some beverages and extremely salted snacks are inhibitors against calcium absorption and they also cause reduction of mineral density of your bones.

Image: healthyvogue.com

Here’s a list of 9 foods that can hurt your bones health.

1. Legumes

Beans are another reason behind preventing your body to absorb calcium. Various bean varieties from pinto beans to navy beans as well as peas have phytates which act against body’s absorption of calcium, according to Cosman. In contrast, beans are richly packed with magnesium, fibers and several other nutrients so it’s not good to avoid beans altogether for the sake of prevention from osteoporosis.

You only need to soak beans in plain water for some hours before you are ready to cook them so that phytate level is reduced.

2. Foods High-in-Sodium Content

Greater the amount of salt intake, lesser goes the amount of absorption of calcium by your bones. Felicia Cosman-who is endocrinologist and professor of clinical medicine in New York and along with that she is spokesperson of National Osteoporosis Foundation-explains that salt causes excessive amount of excretion of calcium from kidneys, so according to required need we should have less than 2,300 mg of salt intake to allow calcium to work for our bones.

Those Chinese who were addicted to eating salty foods were found to be suffering from osteoporosis that led to thinning of bones, according to a report published in a Journal of Clinical Nutrition in 2016. According to another research published in Osteoporosis International journal in 2017, salty foods and osteoporosis have some association with post-menopausal phase in women.

If you have high blood pressure problem, even then you need to be careful about your salt intake according to U.S. Health and Human Service Department.

3. Snacks High-in-Sugar Content

Have a sweet tooth and a love to munch on snacks and chocolates? Beware to keep track of how much sugar you take in.

Apparently, sugar isn’t harmful for bones but indirectly extra consumption of added sugar doesn’t let you get enough rich-in-nutrients foods which definitely is going to make your bones grow weak at later stage of life, reveals Heidi Skolnik, who is senior nutritionist at The Women’s Sports Medicine Centre in Special Surgery Hospital in New York. As a suggestion, try to have cranberries, prunes and fruits that are rich in nutrients and antioxidants to support bone health.

4. Carbonated Drinks

Soda addiction isn’t good at all for your bones. If it can dissolve a tooth completely in a day, then, how can it be good for your bones? Cosman revealed that consumption of more than seven sodas in a week causes lowering of mineral density of your bones with an increased risk of fractures or bone breakage. Not just for the health of bone, but for healthier lifestyle, sodas are not a good option.

A study that observed 73,000 post-menopausal women, showed that those who drank soda whether it was regular cola or diet cola or non-cola or caffeinated or non-caffeine drink, they had an increased risk of hip fracture. A study was published in Clinical Nutrition’s The American Journal in Sept, 2014 and it reported a higher risk of bone weakness in those participants who drank soda a lot.

5. Caffeine

Coffee addiction is quite a popular trend to beat laziness and hectic work routines. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders have a study published in Oct, 2016 which says that caffeine contributes to decreased bone-density during the phase of post-menopause in women. Dina Khader, who is an integrative nutritionist in Mount Kisco in NY, says that caffeine sucks out calcium from bones leaving them weak and without strength. She explains that 6 milli-grams calcium is lost with intake of only 100 milli-gram caffeine.

Another study that was published in Jan, 2016 in European Journal of Clinical Nutrtion reveals that sugar added to caffeinated drinks has greater harmful effects on health of bone in women passing through postmenopausal phase.

For a preventive diet from osteoporosis, non-caffeinated coffees, tea and chocolates along with limited consumption of sugar is necessary to be followed.

6. Foods Causing Inflammation

Most of the nightshade vegetables like tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, mushrooms and white potatoes are reasons behind inflammation of bones leading to osteoporosis, reveals Khader.

Similar to beans in action, the nightshade vegetables have several minerals and vitamins which are vital for health. Cosman suggests having thousand to twelve-hundred milli-grams of calcium consumption a day, to neutralize the effects of these vegetables.

7. Alcoholic Drinks

We have another reason to keep your booze consumption in control. Khader elaborates the fact by telling that heavy consumption of alcohol is contributive towards low density of bone mass and decreased level of bone formation with an increased risk of fractures and long-term healing process of those fractures.

A study published in BMJ in Oct, 2015 uncovered the reality behind low bone mass density in women between ages nineteen to thirty by revealing their high levels of alcoholic drinks consumption.

National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends consumption of only about two to three glasses of alcohol a day for maximal bone health.

8. Raw Spinach and Swiss Chard

Raw green spinach as well as Swiss chard have two qualities that neutralize effects of each other. How? They have bone-strengthening calcium and other contents like oxalates. Oxalates have a tendency to bind with calcium and then make it un-absorbable by the body.

You can enjoy them by employing a simple trick of consuming them with other foods that contain calcium which is immediately absorbed by body. Cosman suggests combining spinach with cheese so that calcium need of body can be satisfied from the cheese containing calcium.

9. Red Meat

Animal Protein is commonly recommended by doctors to be avoided in case of osteoporosis. Khader tells that intake of red meat need to be limited to 2 times per week with smaller portions to be consumed only i.e. from four to six ounces, in case of people suffering from osteoporosis.

Cutting down your consumption of sodas, red meat, fried foods, sweet delights like desserts and refined grains can impact positively on the health of your bone, according to a study published in Advances in Nutrition in Jan, 2017.

What should be eaten? Have lots of fruits and vegetables, fish, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy products etc. for better health of your bones.