Foods to Avoid If You Have Osteoporosis

It’s just a fact of life, certain foods can be good for you, and there are also certain types that will do you more harm than good. This is especially true if you are suffering from osteoporosis. Since osteoporosis is something that can not be reversed; meaning that once you have it I’ll always be with you, the next best thing that you can do is to manage it so that it will not progress.

This calls that you avoid certain types of food. Avoiding them may require self control on your part, but I’m sure for the sake of health, it’ll be something that’s worth doing, especially if the prize is stronger and healthier bones.

So what are these foods to avoid if you have osteoporosis?

1. Salt

Salt

Too much salt is bad for the bones! Why is this? According to Linda K. Massey, PhD, RD, a professor of human nutrition at Washington State University in Spokane, for every 2,300 milligrams of sodium taken in, more or less 40 milligrams of calcium is also lost in the urine. This is not good simply because calcium is very important for bone health. For this reason, people are advised to take in as little salt as possible so that calcium will be retained in the body for bone strengthening requirements.

2. Soft Drinks or Carbonated Soft Drinks

Most carbonated drinks available in the market now contain phosphoric acid, which actually increases calcium excretion in the urine. Moreover, all these soft drinks lack calcium. The excess phosphorus in the body promotes calcium loss calcium intake is low.

A good alternative to soft drinks would be the following:

A healthy, fresh, and delicious fruit smoothie made by combining in a blender 8 ounces fat-free yogurt, one medium banana or a cup of fresh or frozen berries and 2 ice cubes;

Orange juice fortified with calcium and vitamin D;

A mixture of fortified orange juice and seltzer or club soda that’s free of phosphoric acid

Fat-free plain milk or chocolate milk

3. Caffeine

Coffee contains caffeine

Do you know that people lose about 6 milligrams of calcium for every 100 milligrams of caffeine consumed?

It’s almost similar to what happens when too much salt is taken into the body; you loose calcium.

So does this mean a person with osteoporosis can not take anything with caffeine? Not necessarily. Limiting caffeine will do, to as much as 300 milligrams per day. This is good enough as long as adequate calcium intake is ensured on a daily basis from calcium supplements and a well-balanced diet.

Since coffee is the culprit here as most caffeine intake is due to coffee drinks, it will be best to start reducing coffee intake by replacing the coffee drink with something else with less caffeine. Maybe one can start drinking half regular and half-decaffeinated drinks as a start. Then as much as possible avoid caffeine-laden drinks and choose decaffeinated iced tea or hot tea instead.

Living with osteoporosis is not really very hard as long as one is willing to begin living a healthy lifestyle. This requires streamlining the diet and avoiding some harmful stuff such as salt. It also requires giving up carbonated drinks and caffeine.