Who should be concerned about bone health?

Since bone is a living tissue that changes throughout life, people of all ages need to adopt healthy habits that build and keep bones healthy. The majority of bone growth occurs during childhood. There is a ‘bone growth spurt’ during puberty at 11-14 years of age for girls and 13-17 years of age for boys. By the time you reach 20 years of age, our skeletons are almost complete and by age 30 your body begins to break down old bone faster than it can build new bone. As a result your bones slowly become weaker and that could lead to osteoporosis. So even though you are not building bone after age 30-35, it is still important to be concerned. It’s never too late to start healthy habits and help maintain the bones you have. It's never too late to start healthy habits and help maintain the bones you have.

Can a calcium supplement keep my bones healthy?

Bones are more than calcium. You need all six of the bone building nutrients to build and maintain healthy bones. When the effect of a calcium supplement on bone mass was compared to the effect of calcium from dairy products, researchers found the following: although both sources of calcium were effective in building bones, once the calcium supplement was stopped its positive effect on bone disappeared. However, the positive effect of dairy products remained after the dairy products were discontinued. Therefore, think of milk as a complete tool kit for healthy bones.