When you think of your bones do you imagine that they are like a really sturdy framework of a building.

And no matter what you do -they’ll always remain strong?

Especially as you age.

As we get older we need our bones to be strong as every move that we make, or want to make is a result of the muscle pulling on the bone.

But ladies we are at greater risk of brittle bones and stress fractures as we age.

Do you know what ‘brittle bones’ are ?

What about oesteoporosis ?

Osteoporosis is a condition that weakens our bones, which means that they become brittle and are then more likely to break.

1in 2 women over the age of 50 in the UK will have fractures, mainly because of weakened bones.

And half of women over the age of 50, will break a bone due to oesteoporosis.

But don’t panic.

Let’s have a look at what’s going on.

Bones are constantly remodelling , creating new bone and removing the old.

We actually build more new bone then we use, this hits a peak at about 30-35.

After this peak, it starts to go in the other direction.

The breaking down of the bone starts to be greater than the rebuilding.

And yes it’s your pesky hormones again, mainly estrogen that’s to blame.

Estrogen plays a major role in bone rebuilding.

Pre/perimenopausal ladies tend to lose bone at a slower rate (0.5 to 1percent per year).

After menopause, when our estrogen has declined significantly, bone loss speeds up to 2-3 percent per year.

So women in the first 5 years of menopause can lose about 10 percent of their bone mass.

What can you do?

Take some action – times is of the essence.

  1. Boost your hormonal health by improving your lifestyle.
  2. The more active you are, the more strain you put on your bones, which increases bone density. This helps in preventing bone loss and can even replace some lost bone as you age.
  3. The best exercises are those that are weight bearing, aim to do them 2 or 3 times per week ; resistance training (working out with weights or small equipment), walking (recent research suggests that you need to walk at a faster pace to improve  bone health) running, dancing , tennis and other ball sports.
  4. Make sure you work your upper body as most women tend to have weaker muscles in this area, so less muscle mass, which means thinner bones.
  5. Look at your diet and include enough calcium rich sources, as it’s key in building bones,but is also used for other bodily functions. If there isn’t enough to go around then the body takes it from your bones. Rich sources include sardines, salmon, fortified yoghurts, milk – as well as a Vitamin D supplement (there is an ongoing deabate about this).
  6. Eating your greens can also help – studies have found that eating just one serving of lettuce or spinach etc per day can cut your risk of a hip fracture by 50 percent, compared to eating just one serving a week.
  7. Quit or reduce smoking – it has been linked to low bone density.
  8. Reduce your alcohol – it’s another bone stealer. Heavy drinking is bad for your bones.
  9. Cut back on drinking soda or coke, as it can weaken your bones through altering the balance of calcium & phosphorus.
  10. Make changes now- just choose 1 or 2 things from this list – write them down and put them into practice.

Claire x