Vitamins, minerals, healthy fats, protein and exercise help maintain strong bones

Carol Slager Times correspondent

Bone health is something we don’t often think about in our younger years. The broken bones of our youth typically heal quickly and without complications.

Bones are living tissues that are constantly breaking down and remodeling. The same nutritional, exercise and lifestyle strategies that are necessary for improving overall health are also critical for building and maintaining healthy bones.

Bone mineral density peaks from ages 25-30. After 40, most people in the U.S. lose about 0.5% of bone mass each year. Women age 50-54, around the time of menopause, experience a sharper rate of decline. Bone loss accelerates substantially in late perimenopause and continues at a similar pace in the early postmenopausal years, primarily due to the loss of estrogen.

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