0:06 hey there and welcome to another Health
0:08 Essentials podcast I'm John Horton your
0:11 host bones give our body structure and
0:14 those pieces parts are incredibly strong
0:17 in fact ounce for ounce bone is stronger
0:19 than steel don't be fooled by that tough
0:22 sounding truth bones need our help to
0:24 stay sturdy what you eat can affect your
0:26 bone health and prevent or limit the
0:27 development of
0:30 osteoporosis so what food should be on
0:32 your plate to boost your bones that's
0:33 what we are going to find out today from
0:36 registered dietitian and podcast regular
0:38 Julia Zano she is one of the many
0:40 experts at Cleveland Clinic who pop into
0:42 our weekly show to help us make
0:44 healthier decisions now let's see what
0:46 we can do to keep our bones as strong as
0:47 we need them to [Music]
0:55 be welcome back to the podcast Julia I
0:57 always know we're in for a great chat
0:59 when you stop by thank you so much for
1:02 having me so bones just seem like such a
1:05 solid piece of personal Hardware uh it's
1:07 hard to believe we can damage them just
1:10 with what's on our Fork well you know we
1:12 can of course because our bones are just
1:15 like any other body part and you know we
1:17 we grow them and build them and support
1:21 them by the food that we eat and we can
1:24 damage them by the the food we eat so
1:26 certainly can can go both ways with
1:27 everything you got to be careful with
1:29 what you pick out and and what you eat I
1:32 guess has has consequences absolutely
1:33 right so since we're going to talk about
1:36 kind of setting a menu for bones uh
1:38 before we get there let's spend a little
1:40 time talking about bones in general uh
1:42 starting with the fact that they're
1:44 actually living tissue and constantly
1:47 growing and changing throughout our life
1:49 that's exactly right John and it's
1:52 fascinating that we have a little over
1:55 200 bones in our body their job is to
1:57 give our body its shape um to protect
2:00 our internal organs they help us do you
2:04 know every Movement we do every day so
2:06 bones are as you said strong heart
2:09 tissue and they're constantly growing
2:11 and they're typically self-sufficient
2:14 although at certain health conditions
2:15 such as
2:18 osteoporosis certain diseases can cause
2:21 our bones to be more brittle and break
2:23 easier well and our bones do just change
2:25 over time don't they I mean I'm I'm
2:27 getting up there a little bit and I'm
2:29 feeling like mine are is that just kind
2:31 of a real we all we all live with
2:33 absolutely yes your bone density does
2:36 decrease as you age women specifically
2:39 during menopause and after their their
2:42 because of the drop in estrogen their
2:44 bone density also decreases so something
2:47 we need to be very Mindful and our bones
2:49 are not going anywhere so we need to
2:52 take really good care of them you do
2:55 only get one set so you want to keep it
2:56 there for as long as you as long as you possibly
2:58 possibly
3:01 can so so so big picture what do our
3:05 bones need from us in order to be their
3:07 best as long as we need them many
3:09 nutrients play a role in bone health
3:12 such as calcium vitamin
3:16 K2 protein magnesium phosphorus
3:19 pottassium they all do play a role I
3:20 mean there's some bigger hitters than
3:23 others but really maximizing all your
3:25 nutrients are important so all these
3:26 nutrients I mean what do they do
3:28 specifically you mentioned a few of them
3:30 like calcium I I think we all know
3:32 that's kind of a a big does it just add
3:36 strength does it just help the bones be
3:39 what does it what does it do so calcium
3:41 supports bone growth so supports the
3:43 growth of the bone and the Integrity of
3:46 it vitamin K2 helps activate a certain
3:49 protein that binds with calcium to build
3:52 bones so that makes vitamin K essential
3:54 for bone health well now you we were
3:56 talking earlier and you had mentioned
3:58 that there was a lot of new development
4:00 stuff with with vitamin K2 and how
4:03 important it is yeah so you know Vitamin
4:06 K is something we've always known about
4:07 um and normally we've known it more in
4:10 the form of K1 but now we're finding
4:14 more about vitamin K2 and it's a central
4:17 role in the body and and specifically
4:19 with bone health it works
4:21 synergistically with vitamin D and
4:23 calcium so it's really very essential
4:25 now you had also also mentioned uh
4:27 protein as something that that's
4:28 important uh how do how does that
4:30 benefit our bones we need protein to
4:34 build um collagen and tissues and organs
4:36 and Bones it's really the building
4:38 blocks and growth of of our our entire
4:41 system so it supports bone growth and
4:43 and and health and the strength of the
4:46 bones as well it's amazing all of this
4:48 is going on inside us and we just we
4:50 have no idea it's happening yeah it's
4:52 completely fascinating how much is going
4:54 on we have a lot of influence on it
4:56 though by what we eat so that's that's
4:59 really such a blessing to have as as
5:01 really being able to kind of take
5:04 ownership and control of steering your
5:06 health one way or another well and you
5:07 had mentioned the food and that's what
5:10 we're going to get into next here um
5:12 because you know we kind of talked about
5:14 the nutrients a little bit but I I know
5:16 when I'm at the grocery store um I don't
5:20 see vitamin d and vitamin K2 um on those
5:23 helpful little signs above the aisles so
5:25 uh so so let's let Let's help us get a
5:27 get a shopping list together um I you
5:29 want to start with with vitamin D that
5:31 you mentioned as being so important sure
5:35 vitamin D is abundantly found in fish so
5:38 more of those fattier cold water fish
5:42 such as salmon trout Herring sardines
5:45 tuna so that's one of the best sources
5:47 it's also found in some dairy products
5:49 and dairy Alternatives because it's
5:52 fortified um dark chocolate even has
5:54 some vitamin D I like the idea of that
5:56 so anything that calls for more dark
5:58 chocolate in my diet I I think I I can
6:00 get behind now the the darker the better
6:02 with that so you want to go higher
6:04 percentage of cocoa to maximize that now
6:08 you had said too that vitamin K too is
6:10 kind of really linked with vitamin D
6:14 yeah so vitamin K2 is just important
6:15 they work
6:17 synergistically so they work well
6:20 together um K2 is found in natto which
6:23 is fermented soybeans it's found in guda
6:26 cheese and blue cheese and also an egg
6:29 yolks so some foods we may eat more than
6:31 others but a lot of those Foods we're
6:34 not eating on a regular daily basis so
6:36 you know you may want to talk to your
6:39 healthc care provider if you need a
6:41 vitamin K2 supplement that could be
6:44 something you discuss in the future
6:45 based on kind of your bone health
6:47 outcomes all right now what about moving
6:50 through some of um uh calcium uh which I
6:52 feel like we all kind of know the good
6:54 spots to get those but that we may miss
6:57 some too sure so we know that calcium's
7:00 found in Dairy and then um non-dairy
7:02 fortified foods like orange juice milk
7:05 Alternatives tofu some grains and
7:07 almonds same with the bones those are
7:09 all sources of calcium now what if
7:12 you're lactose intolerant because if if
7:13 if Dairy is one of the things that you
7:15 should really be hitting um that could
7:18 become an issue uh there substitutes you
7:19 can have in there so you know probably
7:21 one of the best substitutes to kind of
7:23 match the amount You' get in Dairy would
7:26 be a dairy alternative so it would be a
7:29 nut or oat milk or um any of those milk
7:32 altern is rice most of them are
7:34 fortified with calcium you always want
7:36 to check and be sure they're fortified
7:40 with calcium and vitamin D possible but
7:43 that's probably the best um alternative
7:45 when it comes to the amount of calcium
7:47 you gain you can get it from greens and
7:51 tofu so those are other ways some orange
7:54 juices can be calcium fortified as well
7:56 you had mentioned protein too and I
7:58 always feel like when you hear that you
8:00 think meat or maybe I just think meat
8:04 because I I like my grill too much um
8:06 how do you balance out getting the you
8:08 know the the protein you need for your
8:11 bone health with not getting too much in
8:13 and uh you start worrying about those
8:15 other issues sure so you know meat is a
8:16 source of protein of course but there
8:19 are so many other sources of protein we
8:21 just spoke on vitamin D and which foods
8:23 are high there I mean fish is a
8:25 phenomenal source of protein as well as
8:28 the vitamin D so you're kind of gaining
8:31 both benefits there um third benefit to
8:33 fish is that it's high in omega-3 fatty
8:35 acids specifically the fish that we
8:37 talked about that are high in vitamin D
8:39 those fatty oilier fish can provide
8:42 omega-3 which we know helps with
8:44 inflammation so we have fish as a source
8:46 of protein and then you know we're
8:49 talking about bones and calcium and
8:51 dairy products are a great source of
8:55 protein and calcium and vitamin D so
8:57 things like Greek yogurt like a lowfat
8:59 Greek yogurt or cottage cheese those are
9:03 great sources of protein and if you want
9:04 to hit the red meat is that still is
9:07 that still okay yeah occasionally yeah
9:08 you can still have some red meat you
9:11 know we know that varying your protein
9:13 is ideal so red meat a couple times a
9:15 week once or twice a week is absolutely
9:17 fine just don't make it one of those two
9:21 pound Burgers right exactly exactly and
9:24 you know if if you want to try to do a
9:27 meatless and a dairyfree meal tofu is
9:29 another great choice for protein
9:32 and and calcium and in some cases it's
9:34 also fortified with vitamin D there were
9:36 three other uh nutrients that that you
9:39 had mentioned uh when we talked earlier
9:41 and that was phosphorus magnesium and
9:43 potassium are are those just things that
9:45 you find in in a bunch of different
9:47 foods or are there some specific things
9:49 we should be grabbing to to make sure we
9:52 get that in sure so each of them have
9:56 specific foods but in general you know
9:58 you're really going to gain those from
10:00 things like nuts and Seed SS fruits and
10:03 veggies magnesium specifically nuts and
10:06 seeds are um a great source of magnesium
10:10 legumes Dairy can also provide some
10:13 magnesium phosphorus is found in meat so
10:16 meats and organ Meats seafood and dairy
10:18 again and then some seeds and then
10:21 potassium also found in some meat but
10:23 greens beans bananas blackx seeds
10:26 potatoes so a lot of crossover with
10:29 these Foods as you see you know so kind
10:32 of the theme Here is that we can eat a
10:35 lot of fat fat fatty oily fish a lot of
10:39 low-fat dairy products a lot of nuts and
10:42 seeds and beans and greens and we going
10:46 to pretty much hit most of these
10:48 nutrients um you know and a little egg
10:50 yolk here and there for uh for the
10:52 Vitamin K you know everything you just
10:54 said reminds me of of the the wisdom you
10:56 gave us in in a previous podcast which
10:59 is to shop the perimeter of the store
11:01 which is where it sounds like all of
11:04 these products are absolutely that is
11:06 100% accurate and I would definitely
11:08 still advise that and especially in this
11:10 case oh see this is I listen to you when
11:12 you talk Julia and it's making me a
11:14 healthier person so I I appreciate all
11:18 your advice um so we're talking about
11:20 eating the right food but I know there's
11:24 also you need to avoid the wrong food so
11:25 is there some particular things you
11:28 should try to stay away from if you want
11:32 to keep your bones um good sure yeah no
11:34 surprise with the things you should stay
11:36 away from because they're the same
11:38 things that we should stay away from for
11:41 General Health um but specifically
11:44 things like salt and sodium so salt and
11:46 sodium can cause the body to lose
11:48 calcium we definitely don't want that
11:51 most Americans eat way more sodium than
11:54 we need to and most of it's coming from
11:57 processed food not necessarily adding
12:00 salt to Whole Foods so that's another
12:03 category that we want to avoid it are
12:07 processed foods and again U because they
12:10 can decrease your absorption of calcium
12:13 and um you know have things like
12:15 phosphates that again compete with
12:17 calcium so that's the reason we want to
12:21 avoid those um sugars of course we all
12:23 know that sugar is not necessarily good
12:26 for us but you know to kind of take it a
12:28 step further sugar may actually cause the
12:29 the
12:32 excretion of calcium so you really want
12:35 to limit um sugars and sugar containing
12:38 beverages specifically like colas and
12:41 things that may even have caffeine in
12:44 them because caffeine has also um been
12:48 shown to decrease that absorption of
12:50 certain nutrients and calcium being one
12:53 of them wow it's amazing to me that this
12:55 calcium can just kind of be be sucked
12:57 out of your bones uh by by eating the
12:59 wrong Foods yeah
13:02 and one thing I failed to mention was
13:05 alcohol again this again can inhibit the
13:06 absorption of certain nutrients such as
13:10 calcium so just general foods and rules
13:12 that we would follow for General Health
13:15 apply strongly here is really trying to
13:18 keep you know sodium sugar caffeine and
13:21 alcohol and processed foods to a minimum
13:22 well and that's I know we've talked
13:24 about that so many times in your on this
13:27 this concept of of moderation which I
13:29 feel like is where a lot of people get
13:32 into trouble with their diet right so
13:34 moderation is key and if if there's
13:36 certain anything of those you know five
13:40 things I've listed that if you do don't
13:42 can't moderate it's okay not to have it
13:44 all actually if you have the
13:46 self-control they're not giving you any
13:49 nutrition or benefits so sugar isn't
13:51 processed foods isn't alcohol caffeine
13:54 none of those are necessarily providing
13:57 you strong benefit now certain
13:59 ingredients or nutrients that have
14:01 caffeine like green tea and coffee
14:03 they've been shown to have some some
14:04 health benefits but this is talking
14:07 about excessively CA caffeinated
14:09 beverages or specifically things like
14:11 sodas that have caffeine and sugar and
14:13 phosphates so they're all NE very
14:16 negative for bone health so instead of
14:18 having a pot of coffee just make sure
14:20 you limit it to a cup or two right
14:22 exactly exactly now you've kind of given
14:25 us a game plan uh and to help our bones
14:28 but if somebody has has not really been
14:31 following sort of plan for a while um
14:35 can you reverse any bone mass losses by
14:37 changing your habits it's at some point
14:40 later sure so we know that bone M bone
14:43 mass can be improved and the rate of
14:46 bone loss can be slowed so there's
14:48 certainly impacts you can make even if
14:51 you're a little later in the game if
14:52 you're dealing with osteoporosis it's
14:54 sounds like if you make some of these
14:56 changes um it's not going to it's not
14:58 going to turn you into a teenager again
14:59 uh with your bone strength but it's
15:02 going to prevent you from from sliding
15:04 back and having maybe additional
15:07 problems absolutely one thing I failed
15:10 to mention was that strength training
15:13 can really help support bone health so
15:15 it's never too late to start some light
15:18 resistance training and really you know
15:20 the heavier you go you put some of that
15:22 pressure on those bones that can really
15:25 help support them and and help build
15:27 those bones too well that seems to get
15:29 to the point where whenever we talk it's
15:32 never just one thing you do that that
15:34 fixes or helps anything it's kind of a
15:36 combination of everything going on in
15:38 your life absolutely it's a whole
15:40 systems approach I mean our body is so
15:42 vast and complex that one thing is not
15:45 necessarily going to to treat and cure
15:48 the problem so there's they're all all
15:50 the parts of our bodies and all the
15:52 nutrients are really intertwined and
15:55 interrelated and they work together so
15:57 it's very important to remember that so
15:59 it's really the whole picture but you
16:02 know in the end it's it's what we advise
16:04 for General good health is to eat a
16:07 Whole Foods heavy plant-based diet you
16:09 know maintain a good good source of of
16:13 protein and calcium and and move and and
16:14 get some activity and and if you can
16:16 some resistance and and strength
16:18 training in there too well this is all
16:20 information that that makes me feel good
16:23 to my bones Julia uh but before we say
16:25 goodbye uh is there anything else you'd
16:27 like to add about what we should be
16:30 eating for our bone health I think just
16:33 reinforcing the key of the variety of
16:35 nutrients and really looking at all
16:37 those different nutrients we spoke about
16:39 today and all the different food sources
16:41 and making a plan as to how you're going
16:44 to get those into your diet on a regular
16:47 daily basis so maybe even you know
16:49 setting up your grocery list where you
16:51 make sure you're kind of hitting all
16:54 these nutrients and um really you know
16:56 giving yourself the fuel and the needs
16:59 to support bone health Julia I always
17:01 when you come on you make us all think a
17:04 little bit more about what we eat and
17:06 how it affects us so thank you very much
17:07 for coming in thank you so much for having
17:15 me your bones are amazingly strong but
17:17 they need your help to stay that way
17:19 eating bone healthy food such as
17:21 calcium-rich dairy products nutrient
17:23 dened fish and even a bit of dark
17:25 chocolate can help keep your skeleton in
17:27 tiptop shape if you liked what you heard
17:29 today please hit to subscribe button and
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