A Menu Plan for Preventing Osteoporosis while on Macafem

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What Should I Eat to Prevent Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis prevention is sensitive to many factors, from hormones to genetics to medical history, but ultimately it always requires you to feed your body the nutrients that will let it keep bones intact. These are:

• Calcium
• Magnesium
• Potassium
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin K

Breakfast Ideas

Get your day off to a good start with some calcium and magnesium rich foods, such as fortified cereals (try to avoid the overly processed ones loaded with salt and sugar), low-fat milk, orange juice, and bananas. A few recipe ideas could be:

• Porridge with low-fat milk and berries. To make this extra-tasty you could try freezing the fruit beforehand. This also has the extra benefit of preventing your fruit from going bad, meaning you can buy it in bigger quantities.
• Poached eggs on whole-grain toast. You could even add baked beans for an extra protein boost.
• Fruit with low-fat yoghurt poured on top. And if necessary, a spoonful of honey to sweeten.
• Fresh juice. Pure orange juice or fruit smoothies complement breakfast excellently.

Lunch Ideas

Lunch is usually a smaller, lighter meal and might have to be easily portable. For this reason, it is usually better to use this time of day as a good excuse to incorporate salad ingredients. A few lunch ideas are:

• Cheese and veggies sandwich. Try and include lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, and onions, or experiment yourself and find your preferred salad vegetables.
• Shrimp salad. With shrimp being such a good source of calcium, it is a healthy and bone-strengthening extra to add to a salad. With salad being so versatile there are a host of delicious vegetables to choose from. Just try and include as big a variety as possible, in all possible colors.
• Slimmed-down baked potato. Using low-fat cheese and beans seems like a simple swap, but it will increase your levels of potassium, magnesium, calcium, and protein. Just add a delicious crunchy salad on the side for the extra vitamins.

Dinner Ideas

A good time of day to get some protein rich meat and leafy greens into your diet, there are a host of healthy, osteoporosis-preventing foods out there that will leave you feeling satisfied and full. Here are a few ideas:

• Turkey and potato casserole. Put onions, garlic, turkey, boiled potatoes, cream, and low-fat cheese into a casserole dish and cook at 190°C (375°F).
• Chicken breast, broccoli/cauliflower, and rice. Try using steamed vegetables, as they are going to retain their goodness far better than other ways of cooking them.
• Steamed fish. A side of with kale or spinach and boiled potatoes will make it nourishing and fulfilling.

Snack Ideas

Contrary to popular belief, snacks are not all bad news and can actually help you achieve optimum bone health if carefully chosen. Instead of opting for the chocolate bar or packet of crisps, try the following:

• Nuts and dried fruit.
• Low-fat yogurts.
• Keep fruit in an easy to reach place – the far healthier option when that sweet craving strikes.

It’s never too late to start eating bone-friendly foods, and improving your diet now could bring you happy, osteoporosis-free years in the future.