What bad eating habit can lead to bone loss?

While your bone mass may peak by age 30, there is still a lot you can do to prevent or speed up bone loss if you're not careful, writes Eat This, Not That!

Most people are not aware of low bone mass until they have a broken bone. While many drinking and eating habits can speed up bone loss, there is one insidious habit that can wreak havoc without you even knowing it: it has to do with poor intake of calcium and vitamin D.

You can do this by replacing all dairy products, which are good sources of calcium and vitamin D, with plant-based alternatives that are not fortified with these two nutrients. You may also regularly eat red meat instead of fish rich in vitamin D.

The recommended dietary allowance for calcium for adults is 1,000 milligrams per day. For women over 51, this rate increases to 1,200 milligrams per day. Up to 40% of the US population does not meet recommended calcium requirements through diet alone.

Include high-calcium foods such as milk, tofu, sardines, yogurt, or calcium-fortified foods in your diet daily. If you can't meet your needs through nutrition alone, ask your doctor about taking bone health supplements.

However, without vitamin D, your body will not be able to use the calcium you consume to build strong bones. Vitamin D is unique in that the body can produce it from exposure to the sun, but due to time spent indoors, living north of the equator, and the ability to produce vitamin D declines with age, certain foods and supplements can help get enough of it.

Follow NEWS.am Medicine on Facebook and Twitter