Even though your bones serve as the scaffolding that supports your body, you might not give those all-important bones a second thought until something goes wrong with them. Nutritional imbalances can contribute to bone-thinning conditions such as osteopenia and osteoporosis, raising your risks for fractures and collapsed vertebrae.Fortunately, you can improve and maintain the health of your bones by feeding your bones with the nutrients they need most. Depending on your diet, lifestyle, and baseline health, you may get these nutrients from food or supplements as directed by your physician. Pay special attention to the following four vitamins and minerals.1. CalciumThe human body contains more calcium than it does any other mineral, with nearly all of this mineral residing in your bones. The more calcium your bones can absorb, the greater your bone density and the less trouble you may have with degenerative skeletal conditions such as osteoporosis.Most adults should get betw…

The biggest misconception about osteoporosis is that it can be prevented simply by getting enough calcium in the diet or through supplements. At Beyond Health we often get questions about “what’s the best calcium for building good bones?” On the other hand, many people tell us they’ve heard that supplemental calcium can be dangerous (we’ll get to that later).But first, while we’re glad that more and more women (and men!) of all ages are taking proactive steps to build bones that will last a lifetime, building healthy bone is a little more complicated than just getting enough calcium. Calcium plays many vital roles in our bodies—in energy production, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, blood clotting and more—but it is certainly most well known as the major component of bone (it makes up about 65% of our bones). But like the star player on a football team, calcium can’t “win the game” by itself. It needs a complete team of vitamins and minerals backing it up.For examp…