Can You Increase Your Bone Density After 70?
What is bone density?
If you’ve taken a secondary science class, you probably remember memorizing the mass/volume formula for density. The concept of bone density is pretty similar.
Bone density or bone mineral density, is defined as the total amount of minerals in a (certain volume of) bone tissue. And minerals like calcium and phosphorus are key to the proper functioning of our bones, which is why decreasing bone density leads to falls, fractures, and other life threatening injuries.
Before we get into the ways to increase bone density, let’s first learn why and how bone density changes over time.
How does bone density change?
Our bones are constantly broken down and rebuilt, courtesy of cells like osteoblasts, osteocytes and osteoclasts. During the first 25 years of our life, the amount of bones added is greater than the bones breaking down, increasing our bone density.
Bone mineral density is steady from 25 through 50 and then the number of breakdowns outpace the amount of bone formations, causing a decline in bone density.
As a result, if you’re 25 or under, your bone density increases naturally, although there are of course ways to improve it still. Decreasing bone density is a natural process and while we can’t exactly reverse this change, there are ways to maintain and increase your bone mineral density even in older age.
Can bone density be increased after 70?
Most articles that deal with bone density mention maintaining bone density levels as we grow older. And that’s for a good reason. In our older age, just slowing down and maintaining a stable bone density is a huge accomplishment.
That doesn’t mean you can’t improve your bone density levels though. So, the answer to the question, “Can bone density be increased after 70?” is a yes. Let’s now look into how exactly we can accomplish that.
How to increase bone density after 70?
Diseases like osteoporosis - which make the bone so weak that a simple nudge can lead to broken bones, result from low bone density.
You might already know that old age is a risk factor for fractures, and mitigating the cause behind that - low bone density - is essential.
These are some ways to maintain and increase your bone density after 70:
Nutrition:
A well balanced diet is always key to maintaining your health. This rings true for your bones as well. If you want to maintain and improve your bone density, you should focus on calcium in particular. These are the levels you should aim for with your calcium intake:
- 1,000 milligrams daily for women age 50 and younger and for men 70 and younger
- 1,200 milligrams daily for women over age 50 and men over 70
You can hit these numbers by including beans, orange juice and greens(like kale) into your diet.
Exercising:
Exercising is another staple for improving your health, and I’m sorry to be adding to that, but exercising, especially through activities like weight training and walking, is a proven way of maintaining and increasing your bone density.
Activities that put stress on the bones result in extra calcium deposits and prompt bone forming cells into action. And walking and weight exercising in particular can provide this stress. This results in stronger, denser bones, even for people who are over 70.
Avoiding alcohol and tobacco:
While there are considerable differences between bones and muscles, they share the fate of being negatively affected by alcohol and tobacco. Unsurprisingly, excessive consumption of tobacco and alcohol plays a big role in reducing bone density.
As a result, avoiding both can lead to maintaining and improving your bone density levels.
Medication:
While this should definitely not be your first choice, there are certain medicines available that prevent low bone density.
Bisphosphonates, the selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs), parathyroid hormone (PTH), calcitonin and hormone replacement therapy (HRT) are some of the few medical options available to you.
Considered a last resort, you should consult your doctor before medicating.
If you feel like you are bruising too easily, you should get a bone density screening just to be safe as that is a symptom of osteoporosis.
You can book a consultation here!
