Eat Greens to Prevent Osteoporosis

Greens

The National Osteoporosis Foundation (NOF) and the U.S. National Institutes of Health both recommend eating plenty of dark green leafy vegetables as a way to prevent osteoporosis. Many people think that it is more important to focus on including plenty of dairy products in the diet, but several recent studies have shown no link between a high-dairy or high-calcium diet and reduced risk of hip fractures among older women. At the same time, studies are showing improved bone density throughout life in people who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables.

That is not to say that calcium isn’t important. Medical writer Michael Castleman put it this way: “Think of calcium as the bricks in a brick wall of bones. Bricks are essential, for sure, but without enough mortar -- which comes in the form of about 16 other nutrients -- the wall can’t hold itself up.” ( Castleman, Michael. “The Calcium Myth. Natural Solutions. Aug. 1, 2009.) Greens provide the body with calcium, but also provide a balance of other important vitamins and minerals.

Eating Greens to Prevent Osteoporosis

Method

• Eat salads made with spinach, romaine lettuce, or other dark leafy vegetables (the darker the leaves of the vegetable are, the higher the vitamin and mineral content). You can also add broccoli florets to your salads.
• If you prefer your vegetables cooked, eat them lightly steamed, or added to soups and stir fries at the last minute. Cook them just as much as you have to, and no more.
• If you dislike salads or cooked greens, or are often in a hurry and need to drink a meal, try making green smoothies.
• One simple recipe is to fill a blender halfway with spinach.
• Then add three bananas (they will taste better if they are frozen) and about two cups of water.
• Blend until smooth.
• The result is a smoothie that looks green but tastes like a milk shake.
• Bananas have a much stronger flavor than spinach, so the smoothie tastes sweet.
• Bananas are also a good source of potassium, which is another mineral that is needed for bone health.
• You can sneak greens into some foods for picky eaters.
• Pureed spinach (which will taste even better mixed with blueberries) can be added to baked foods that are chocolate-flavored, such as brownies, or double chocolate-chip pancakes.
• Use about two tablespoons of pureed spinach (or spinach and blueberries if you need it to be a little sweeter) per batch of brownies or pancakes.
• Or, mix pureed spinach with chocolate pudding or a chocolate milkshake.
• A “chocolate milkshake,” in fact, can be made using frozen bananas, carob powder, a nondairy vanilla or chocolate milk, and a tablespoon or two of pureed greens.
• Pureed greens can also be added to some bean dishes, such as lentil soup, baked beans, or black beans.
• Cooked greens lose quite a bit of volume as they cook, so this method can be surprisingly helpful. If you don’t have time to puree greens, you can buy baby food greens to use instead.
• It is also possible to buy powdered greens that you can take in capsules or mix with juices or other beverages.

Why It Works

Some vitamins and minerals work better together than they do independently, because they are absorbed better by the body in certain combinations. This is especially true for calcium and several other nutrients that are important for bone health. Osteoporosis is not so much caused by deficiency of vitamins and minerals, but rather by an improper balance of these nutrients. For healthy bones, the body needs not only calcium, but phosphorus, magnesium, fluoride, silica, zinc, manganese, copper, boron, potassium, folic acid, and vitamins A, B6, B12, C, D, and K. Almost all vegetables contain calcium and a wide spectrum of other nutrients, but green leafy vegetables are particularly high in calcium, magnesium, phosphorus, folic acid, and vitamins A, B6, C, and K. Spinach, for example, contains potassium, phosphorus, magnesium (24 mg per cup), calcium (30 mg per cup), zinc, copper, manganese, folate, and vitamins A, B6, C, and K. Swiss chard is even better, with 102 mg of calcium per cup and 150 mg of magnesium, as well as potassium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese, folate, and vitamins A, B6, C, and K.

In addition, greens have an alkalinizing effect on the blood. Animal products, including milk and other dairy products, are highly acidic. If the blood becomes too acidic, the body must draw on calcium in the bones to neutralize the acid in the blood -- so, ironically, consuming large quantities of dairy can make a person more likely to develop osteoporosis, not less so. Because greens are more alkaline, they can provide calcium to the blood that the body can absorb.

Precautions

Eating plenty of green leafy vegetables is a very safe approach to preventing osteoporosis. Negative side effects are unlikely unless you are allergic to a particular vegetable or have a digestive disorder that makes you especially sensitive to foods that are high in fiber. If you are not used to eating fruits and vegetables, it is wise to start slowly and build up your tolerance to having higher amounts of fiber in your diet. If you start to experience indigestion, slow down and eat fewer greens, building up your dose slowly over time.

Doctors do not yet know exactly what causes osteoporosis, but there are many factors that can put a person at risk besides vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Osteoporosis is also associated with smoking, eating a disproportionate amount of meat, consuming large amounts of caffeine, having an eating disorder, overindulgence in alcohol, use of corticosteroid medications, and not getting enough weight-bearing exercise.

In addition, some risk factors for osteoporosis are beyond your control. You are more likely to develop osteoporosis if you are a woman, are getting older, are white or Asian, have family members with osteoporosis or with a tendency to develop fractures, are small or thin, have too much thyroid hormone in your body (from hyperthyroidism or from taking hormones to treat hypothyroidism), or if you have any of a number of other diseases that can affect bone health. Any disease that affects your body’s ability to absorb calcium from food can put you at risk for osteoporosis.

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