You cannot change your age, gender, sex, race, fracture history, family history, menstrual history, time of menopause, genetic factors, and most medical conditions. You can, however, change some risk factors because most of them are related to lifestyle. Here’s what you can do to lower your risk of developing osteoporosis or low bone mass:
If you smoke, stop. If you don’t already smoke, don’t start. Appendix B lists resources for quitting smoking.
If you drink alcohol, use moderation. More than two drinks per day increases your risk of osteo-porosis as well as your risk of falling and breaking a bone.
Replace caffeinated beverages with beverages rich in calcium. If you drink coffee or tea, consider adding milk. When drinking hot chocolate or cocoa, consider making it with milk to increase your calcium intake.
Change your sedentary lifestyle to an active one by exercising daily.
Improve your diet. Take in adequate amounts of calcium, vitamin D, citric acid (found in citrus fruits), and phosphorus, and cut down on the amount of salt you eat. Be sure you get adequate amounts of protein and fiber, but remember that excessive amounts of fiber and protein can interfere with absorption of needed nutrients for bone development, unless you also supplement with calcium in your diet.
Ask your clinician if you could substitute medications that you are taking with ones that are less likely to cause bone loss or that will protect bones.
If you have any medical conditions that put you at greater risk for bone loss, discuss with your clinician how your condition could be managed to reduce the risk of jeopardizing your bone health. For example, if you have an eating disorder, discuss getting the help you need to resume eating a healthy diet. Or if your BMI is less than 18 (meaning you are underweight), get the help you need to gain enough weight to have a healthier BMI. Although having a BMI of <22 increases your risk for osteoporosis, exercising and maintaining a healthy BMI (18–25) is important for overall health. Exercise will also reduce your risk for osteoporosis.
If you are exercising to the point of not having menstrual periods (amenorrhea), consider reducing the amount of time that you exercise or try taking in more calories to make up for the extra expenditure of calories from extreme exercise.
If you are experiencing moderate to severe symptoms of postmenopause such as hot flashes and night sweats, talk with your clinician about taking estrogen to help relieve your symptoms as well as lower your risk of osteoporosis.
Grace’s comment:
Well, being Black, I didn’t really think it was a big problem for me. But my girlfriend just found out she has osteoporosis, and she has to take medication for it! She told me to get tested, so I talked to my doctor about it. He said we don’t need to test for it until after my periods stop, that the estrogen I have in my body helps protect my bones, but that after the estrogen goes down due to menopause, then I will need to be tested. I asked what else I can do to protect my bones now and he said regular exercise, vitamins C and D, and calcium. And he said it is good that I don’t smoke. So I learned that I can be at risk, too!