Eating right is essential to maintain a balanced weight that helps in keeping your bones and muscles strong for long. The right incorporation of nutrients, minerals, and vitamins in your diet helps in the better functioning of your body.
We are forced so much for maintaining a slimmer body and lose weight that we often forget to address the need of our bones and muscles. The strict diet that you put your body through doesn’t necessarily be the right intake for your bones.
In this blog, we are up with the most overlooked aspect of bone health – foods to eat for strong bones and muscles. We have also shared a few exercises that play an equally crucial role in maintaining your bone health.
Foods to eat to build strong bones and muscles
Calcium
As kids, we all come across facts from elders that talk about the effectiveness of calcium in building stronger bones. Yes, it stands completely true! Along with stronger bones, calcium also contributes to enabling healthy muscle contraction.
We lose calcium from our body continuously through our hair, nails, and skin. For sufficient calcium intake, include foods, such as tofu, soybeans, sardines (bony fish), green vegetables like spinach, kale and collard greens, and dairy products like milk, yogurt, and cheese. Among nuts, eat walnuts and almonds.
Vitamin D
When you balance the amount of Vitamin D you intake, it promotes muscle health essential for the protection of bones. Foods to include in your diet for vitamin D are mushrooms, fatty fish like mackerel and tuna, egg yolks, fortified foods like orange juice, cereals, and milk.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Omega-3 fatty acids are proteins having anti-inflammatory properties. It proves effective in reducing joint discomfort. You should add food like tuna, sardines and salmon to your diet for Omega-3 fatty acids intake.
Protein
Protein is one of the most essential elements to ensure your diet favors bone and muscle health. They offer structural support for body movement. Foods that include protein are eggs, beans, almonds, sesame seeds, red meats like lamb and beef, turkey, and chicken.
Note: In case you are a vegan, you can rely on foods like soya beans, calcium-set tofu, fortified rice, soya, and oat drinks, pulses, tahini, sesame seeds, white and brown bread, and dry fruits like figs, raisins, dried almonds, etc for strong bones and muscles.
Role of exercise in building strong bones and muscles
As crucial as it is to add healthy foods to your diet, you must exercise to maintain the strength and fitness of your bones and muscles. Regular exercise will promote balance and coordination of your body. Exercising provides a long-term benefit in form of good bone health in older age.
For stronger bones and muscles, you can include various types of exercise in your workout regime. Create one if you don’t have one already!
Some of the most recommended exercises are weight-bearing exercises, strength-training exercises, and various other forms.
According to your current bone health, your orthopedist will provide you with a customized regime of the foods and exercises you need to make a part of your life for stronger and healthier bones.