How can I prevent weak bones?

The best way to prevent weak bones is to work on building strong ones. No matter how old you are, it is never too late to start. Building strong bones during childhood and the teen years is one of the best ways to keep from getting osteoporosis later. As you get older, your bones don’t make new bone fast enough to keep up with the bone loss. For females, after menopause, bone loss happens more quickly. But there are steps you can take to slow the natural bone loss with aging and to prevent your bones from becoming weak and brittle.

Bones contain a lot of calcium. It is important to get enough calcium in your diet. You can get calcium through foods and/or calcium pills, which you can get at the grocery store or drug store. Getting calcium through food is definitely better since the food provides other nutrients that keep you healthy. Talk with your doctor or nurse before taking calcium pills to see which kind is best for you. Taking more calcium pills than recommended doesn’t improve your bone health. So, try to reach these goals through a combination of food and supplements. Here’s how much calcium you need each day.

The calcium amounts of these foods are taken from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

For More Information on osteoporosis prevention please reference:

http://womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/osteoporosis.pdf

Makes six ¾-cup servings stir-fry and six ½-cup servings brown rice

1. Combine brown rice and 4 ½ cups water in a large pot and bring to a rolling boil. Turn heat down to low. Cover and cook until water is absorbed, about 30-40 minutes. Sprinkle with ½ tsp salt-free seasoning blend, granulated garlic, and cilantro. Mix well. Keep warm. A rice cooker may be used with the same quantity of brown rice and water.

2. Heat canola oil in a large skillet or a wok. Cook onions for 2 minutes or until translucent.

3. Add chicken, squash, and remaining salt-free seasoning blend. Stir-fry over high heat for 10 minutes or until squash is tender.

4. Add red peppers, corn, green chilies, tomatoes, pepper, cumin, and garlic powder. Stir-fry over medium-high heat for no longer than 2 minutes so vegetables will remain crunchy. Do not overcook. Reduce heat to low and let simmer 2 minutes. Serve hot.

https://blogs.butler.edu/healthyhorizons/wp-admin/post.php?post=5687&action=edit

¾ cup stir-fry and ½ cup brown rice provides 1 ¼ oz equivalent meat, ¼ cup red/orange vegetable, V cup starchy vegetable, ¼ cup other vegetable, and 1 oz equivalent grains.

Basic Mashed Potatoes

Place potatoes into microwave-safe dish. Do NOT puncture the skin. Cover — if covering with plastic wrap, poke small hole in plastic. Microwave on high, 10-12 minutes. Using a kitchen towel or oven mitts, remove hot dish. Carefully remove cover. Mash well with a fork. Stir in ½ cup each low-fat plain yogurt and low-fat milk, plus 1½ Tablespoons oil.

At about 19 cents per serving, potatoes are the largest, most affordable source of potassium in the produce department. They have even more potassium than a banana! Most Americans are not meeting the recommended amount of potassium per day — and that’s a big deal. Potassium can help lower blood pressure and may decrease chances of kidney stones and bone loss.

http://whatscooking.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/featuredlinks/MeetingYourMyPlateGoalsOnABudget.pdf

For more heart-healthy bilingual recipes see link below:

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/files/docs/public/heart/sp_recip.pdf