5 Ways Women Can Keep Their Bones Healthy

Staying healthy and in proper shape is more important than ever, yet many women are struggling when it comes to keeping their bones healthy. Osteoporosis and other bone conditions continue to plague countless millions each year, too, making it imperative that solid strategies for maintaining your overall healthy are widely known. Finding authoritative sources can be challenging, however, and many women have no idea where to start when it comes to keeping their bones healthy.

Luckily, the CDC has provided a number of useful guidelines that can be relied upon. Here are 5 ways that women can keep their bones healthy, and what you need to know about pursuing a healthy lifestyle.

1. You need to exercise to keep your bones healthy

If you think that you can skimp out on exercise and still maintain healthy bones, think again. Recent research has demonstrated something that's long been believed by medical professionals and professional athletes alike; constant exercise is good for your bones and helps diminish the chances that you could suffer from certain conditions. The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases recently released a report detailing the immense ways that a proper exercise regime can produce tremendous results when it comes to your bone health.

As the Institute makes abundantly clear in their report, your bones are part of your body and are composed of living tissue, meaning they must constantly be exercised if they're going to develop and become stronger over time. Young women in particular need to exercise to develop their bone muscles fully, with those who refuse to exercise finding themselves incapable of achieving greater peak bone mass.

At least 30 minutes of rigorous physical activity every day can be enough to make a difference in your health. Keep moving and develop a solid exercise regime if you're serious about keeping your bones healthy.

2. Maintain a well-balanced diet

What you eat impacts your overall health, so it should be of little surprise that keeping your bones healthy as a young woman necessitates maintaining a well-balanced diet. This doesn't mean you have to permanently shun sugar or swear off soda forever but being stricter about your nutritional intact is a surefire way to bolster your bone strength and enjoy a healthier lifestyle. A report from the Surgeon General indicates that many common tactics, like relying on the sun for Vitamin D, are insufficient when it comes to proper nutrition and vitamin intake. Knowing what you need to do to stay healthy is essential, so be sure to brief yourself on the recommended amount of calcium you need.

Low fat milk and other calcium-rich foods can be excellent ways of bolstering your bone health. Besides making changes to your diet, there are also other ways to keep your bones healthy as a young woman.

3. Know your family medical history

Knowing the medical history of your family could be the difference between having a warning for something like osteoporosis or suffering from broken bones without even being aware of what's wrong. People who suffer from such conditions as osteoporosis may find their bones to be particularly brittle, and may break bones more easily when falling or doing physical activities of any sort. Women are particularly vulnerable to osteoporosis, too, according to information from the CDC, making it imperative that you know your family medical history if you're trying to be safe.

About 1 in 4 women in the U.S. are impacted by osteoporosis when they hit the age of 65 and up, according to the CDC, so be sure to get proper screening conducted if you're in a more vulnerable demographic.

4. Abstain from alcohol and tobacco

As addicting and tough to give up as they can be for some, alcohol and tobacco have serious negative consequences for your long-term health. Besides putting you at risk for lung disease, however, such products as cigarettes also increase the risk for women of suffering from bone conditions like Osteoporosis.  The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism has released information detailing that certain unhealthy habits can have steep consequences for women in the long-term when it comes to maintaining good bone health.

Chronic drinking in particular can be very dangerous, and those who are young and suffer from an addiction to alcohol or tobacco may never develop to their full bone mass.

5. Get a Vitamin D supplement

Many young women who fear they're not doing enough for their bones get a Vitamin D supplement in an effort to bolster their health. Vitamin D is particularly important because it helps you absorb calcium in the food you eat, so suffering from a deficiency could lead to lower bone health. If you're worried about keeping your bones healthy, speak to a reliable medical professional about a Vitamin D supplement and other methods you can pursue for keeping your bones healthy.