Want stronger bones? It’s going to take more than just calcium. It needs a little help. Without enough of this supporting ingredient, your bones may go brittle.

These Nutrients Go Hand in Hand for Stronger Bones

In All Health Watch, Diet and Nutrition, Featured Article

If you’re taking calcium to keep your bones strong, there’s something you need to know.

Calcium doesn’t work very well on its own. It needs a little help. Without support, it won’t ever make it into your bones. Even worse? It can even wind up in places that may put you in danger.

Getting too much can increase your risk for having a heart attack by 30 percent. It hardens your arteries and promotes plaque buildup. The calcium you find naturally in food doesn’t present as much of a risk as supplements.

There’s just one problem. You may not know how much calcium you get each day.  Common foods get extra calcium added to make them “healthier” for you. Orange juice, breakfast cereals, and non-dairy milks are just a few examples.1

The solution? Eat foods that actually help keep it out of your arteries. These foods, when combined with calcium, make it safer and better absorbed.

This natural combination of nutrients is the real recipe for stronger bones.

Prebiotics are the fuel that powers the helpful bacteria in your gut.

Prebiotics are made up of fructo-oligosaccharides (FOS) that make your probiotic gut flora grow and thrive. These FOS also aid in calcium absorption and bone mineralization.2 They allow your small intestine to digest calcium more efficiently. So instead of building up in your arteries and putting your heart at risk, calcium gets to where it’s needed most—your bones.

Getting enough prebiotics isn’t just important for getting calcium into your bones. They’re just as vital for keeping the calcium from leaving your bones.

Taking in FOS and calcium together helps you prevent bone turnover.3 The nutrient combination helps your bones stay dense and strong as you get older.

You can get your prebiotics and calcium from supplements. It’s a better idea to get them from food. Good sources of calcium are spinach, kale, and collard greens. You’ll find prebiotics in foods like garlic, banana, fermented foods, artichoke, and onions.

Without a doubt, calcium is an important building block of bone tissue… if you give it the right support. Adding prebiotics to your diet will usher it into your bones while keeping it out of your arteries.

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References:
1 http://chriskresser.com/calcium-supplements-why-you-should-think-twice
2 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12691259
3 http://jn.nutrition.org/content/early/2014/01/21/jn.113.188144.abstract