COOL FACT: Did you know… bones rebuild about every decade?

Bone is alive. And 2 players do the work:

• Osteoclasts: the clean-up team that dissolves old, micro-damaged bone so there is room for stronger bone
• Osteoblasts: the builders that form new collagen and minerals to make bone stronger.

Estrogen and progesterone act like site managers: They tell the clean-up team and the builders what to do and yes… every 10 years, your skeleton has been replaced! For women, after menopause, these hormones decline and as a result, bones can lose density and eventually become fragile.

However, this is not a fate set in stone. Again lifestyle matters here:

Things that help:

• Strength training: 2 to 3 sessions weekly, focus on legs and hips, think squats, step-ups, deadlifts at safe intensity. Your body needs to know your bones are needed!
• Impact: short sets of hops or jump rope, or brisk stair climbs if joints prefer it.
• Fuel: protein about 1.2 to 1.6 grams per kilogram body weight, calcium from food first, vitamin D and pair with vitamin K2-MK7 if you are using supplements
• Consider HRT: discuss hormone therapy with your clinician.

Things to skip:

• Smoking and heavy alcohol use (no big suprise perhaps!)
• Long sitting without breaks (you’ll signal your body that your skeleton doesn’t need to do much and it therefore will weaken over time)
• Long-term use of certain OTC medications like PPIs
• Crash diets and chronically low protein

Pick one action above and repeat it this week. Let your skeleton notice!