44 Heed these Diet Don’ts for Healthy Bones and Joints for Life
To protect your frame for the long haul, you need to do more than just eat foods rich in calcium, vitamin D, potassium, and other bone-benefiting nutrients. You should also minimize your intake of a few foods that can actually harm bone and joint health by triggering inflammation or leaching calcium from bones and blocking its absorption.
Pare Down Processed Foods to Protect Your Frame
Processed foods contain a variety of health-sapping substances, including trans fats, refined carbs and sugar, and sodium. While these things aren’t necessarily good for you at any age, you’d do especially well to avoid them as you get older because of their harmful effects on your bones and joints.
Trans fats, processed carbohydrates, and sugar all increase inflammation in your body (
25, 34), worsening stiffness, pain, and range of motion, and destroying cartilage in your joints. Inflammation also appears to accelerate bone breakdown and age-related bone loss. Sugar, in particular, has been implicated in increased osteoporosis risk, since it negatively affects the balance of minerals such as calcium and phosphorus needed for healthy bones. In animal studies, sugar has also been shown to decrease bone strength, potentially raising the risk of fracture. In general, experts recommend that you limit the amount of added sugars in your daily diet to less than 6 teaspoons (about 100 calories or 25 g) for women and no more than 9 teaspoons (about 150 calories or 37.5 g) for men (naturally occurring sugars, such as those in fruit and dairy products, are fine). You should also aim to eliminate trans fats entirely and swap processed carbs for whole grains whenever possible.
Excess sodium causes you to excrete more calcium, decreasing the amount available to bones. Sodium can also cause fluid retention and swelling, increasing pressure on tender joints. Manufacturers use salt and other high-sodium substances to preserve food and enhance flavor and texture, and processed and prepared foods such as canned vegetables, soups, deli meat, and frozen foods account for a whopping 77 percent of the average American’s daily sodium intake. The USDA recommends limiting your sodium intake to 2,300 milligrams (one teaspoon of table salt) per day. By far, the easiest way to cut back is to reduce the amount of processed and prepared foods you consume.
Watch What You Drink to Age Well
Although research is mixed about whether caffeine increases osteoporosis risk, studies do show that caffeine can cause bone loss and may leach calcium from bones and interfere with calcium absorption. That’s especially problematic for older adults, who need all the calcium they can get to preserve their bones. A 2001 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that women over the age of sixty-five with high caffeine intakes had significantly higher rates of bone loss of the spine than did those with low intakes. A moderate intake (less than 300 milligrams per day) appears to be fine, but when you do consume caffeine, eat calcium-rich foods at other times to ensure maximum absorption of the mineral.
Sweetened beverages are bad for bones and joints because of their sugar content, which can lower bone mass and strength and aggravate inflammation. A 2008 study in the Journal of Critical Care found that soda drinkers, in particular, had reduced blood calcium and increased calcium excretion, setting them up for osteoporosis. Sugary soda that also contains caffeine is double trouble. But don’t think you can simply reach for diet caffeine-free soda instead—a 2006 study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that even drinking diet and caffeine-free sodas a few times a week led to lower bone density in older women. Soda also contains phosphoric acid, which interferes with calcium absorption and contributes to imbalances that lead to additional loss of calcium. And nutrition experts point out that people usually drink sugar-sweetened or diet beverages in place of healthier sips such as water, milk, and tea, causing them to miss out on those beneficial drinks.
In addition to its other health benefits (26), moderate alcohol intake appears to boost bone density. However, heavy drinking disrupts calcium balance in the bones, reducing bone mineral density and increasing risk of fracture. Alcohol can also aggravate some forms of arthritis, such as gout. Limit your intake to two drinks or less per day for men (one or less per day for women) for the best bone and joint protection.
