Bone Health

Your bones aren’t something you really think about until you suffer some misfortune, such as a fracture.

While the most common broken bone in the UK is the collarbone, the most troubling bone to break is probably the hip.

In the UK at least 76,000 people fracture their hips every year and a third of them die over the following 12 months as a result of complications such as infections or heart failure.   Even if you don’t fracture a hip, thinning of the bones (or osteoporosis), which affects largely women, but also men, with age can lead to frailty, and a lock of independence.

So it really is worth tying to protect your bones at all cost.   A good way to do this is not only to be active and keep your body stores of vitamin D and calcium topped up, but also to ensure you are eating enough good quality protein.   The importance of diet for bone health was recently highlighted by two major studies, which showed that vegetarians and vegans are at much greater risk of fractured hips.   You can get plenty of protein on a vegetarian or vegan diet, but people who avoid meat and fish tend to have a lower intake.

However, even if you are a meat-eater, you may not be getting enough protein, particularly if you are aged 60 or over.   As we get older, our bodies are not as good at absorbing or making use of protein.   A lack of protein leads to fracture, as well as weaker muscles and a less effective immune system.

NHS guidelines say women of all ages should eat around 45g or protein a day and men 55g.   To get that you might go for porridge with milk for breakfast (14g protein) and a little fish with green veg for lunch (another 34g) plus a handful of nuts.   A Mediterranean diet, rich in oily fish and nuts, contains around 18 per cent protein, nearly twice the UK recommended level.   Eating plenty of protein is also vital if you want to avoid frailty and age-related muscle loss, because protein provides amnio acids, the building blocks of muscle.

The Best Sources

Obviously meat a particularly good source of protein, fish, Greek yoghurt, eggs, lentils, nuts.   A great meat substitute in your stir fry or stew is tofu.