Transition Hawaii

Transition Hawaii Health

Nutrition

Bone Health

Bones, like all other organs, are living tissues that need to be taken care of to maintain their health and function. Bones are important because they provide structure to the body, protect the vital organs, and allow movement by anchoring the muscles. Bones are also "storehouses" for the minerals found within, the majority of which is calcium. Your body has other uses for calcium, such as for muscle and nerve functions. When it needs calcium for these other functions, your body removes the calcium in your bones. What is removed can be replaced with the minerals you get from the foods you eat. But if you don't eat enough calcium-rich foods and replace what is taken from your bones, they will constantly weaken.

Teens who don't build their bones

during the critical growing years can never make it up.

In childhood and adolescence, your bones build at a very rapid rate. As you grow, your bones become longer and as a result, you get taller. Your bones also grow denser and stronger, but how strong they become depends on what you do to maximize bone building during this time (we'll come back to this). As you get older and move out of the teen years, the rate of bone growth slows down. At around age 30 to 35, the bone building stops and you reach what is known as your "peak bone mass." This is the strongest your bones will ever become, as you can no longer add new bone. In fact, the opposite starts to happen - from this point on, as you age, you will slowly lose bone density. All you can do is try to maintain the bone mass that you already have. You're going to lose bone as you age, so you want to build up as much mass as possible to minimize bone loss that will occur later on in life. (Read more)