Step 3: Maintain a healthy weight
We always hear about obesity being bad for you – and being overweight certainly can put a strain on your bones and your heart. However, being underweight can also be extremely bad for your bone health.
Maintaining a healthy weight is particularly important when we’re young, as that is when your body is furiously developing bone mass – or at least it should be. Unfortunately, young American females bear a greater societal pressure to be thin. These pressures often lead to eating disorders, such as bulimia or anorexia nervosa, which eventually leads to bone loss by way of a lack of estrogen production. The negative impact on bones is increasingly becoming a problem in female athletes, whose estrogen production is suppressed by the combination of intense exercise and insufficient calorie intake. Without sufficient estrogen, the young female athlete will lack the nutrients to grow strong bones and the hormones to maintain bone. Read about the Female Athlete Triad to learn more. And although men, young or old, may not have to worry about estrogen, being underweight can lead to weak bones for them as well.
Consult your doctor to determine how many calories you should be consuming every day.
Step 4: Don't smoke and reduce alcohol intake
