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Healthy Bones: How To Make Strong Bones. So you've got the message that you need to eat and drink plenty of foods with calcium and do lots of bone-strengthening activity. But I bet you're wondering why these things give you powerful bones. Check it out... An image of a girl climbing off a rock and an image of a girl eating an ice cream cone.

From the day you're born, your bones are being built with calcium to make them stronger.

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Calcium Makes Bones as Strong as Steel
When your body makes new bone tissue, it first lays down a framework of collagen. Then, tiny crystals of calcium from your blood spread throughout the collagen framework. The hard crystals fill in all the nooks and crannies. Calcium and collagen work together to make bones strong and flexible.

Too Little Calcium Makes Bones Weak
Your body needs calcium to do lots of things. Calcium helps your muscles work so you can throw a softball. It helps send out nerve impulses. If you touch something hot, for instance, your brain quickly gets the message to say, "Ouch!" and move your hand away. It also helps your body heal cuts and scrapes.

Every cell in your body needs calcium. Your bones store calcium for your blood and cells. If your body doesn't get enough calcium, which can be found in some foods and drinks, it takes it from your bones. And that can make your bones weak. From the day you're born, your bones are built and strengthened with calcium. In fact, when you're in your 20s (like, forever from now), your bones will be their strongest ever.

To make sure your bones are still powerful, even after you're 30, 40 or even 50 (ancient!), you need to get enough calcium now and keep getting it.


How Does Vitamin D Fit In?

Calcium can't do its job without vitamin D. This important vitamin helps your bones use the calcium they get from the foods you eat. Not many foods contain vitamin D, so it is added to common foods like milk, orange juice, yogurt, and cereals to help you reach the 200 international units (IU) you need every day. You can also get vitamin D from canned tuna or salmon.

Run, Jump, and Dance to Make Bones Strong
Are you saying, "I get the whole calcium thing, but why is bone-strengthening activity so important?" Here's why: activities like walking and soccer make your bones work against gravity (the force that keeps us from floating out to space). Bones are living tissue. Bone-strengthening activity stimulates new bone tissue to form, making them stronger. Also, bone-strengthening activity makes muscles stronger, and muscles push and tug against bones, making them even stronger.

Swimming, which is good for your heart and other muscles, isn't the #1 choice for building bones. Ever notice how you feel a lot lighter in a pool? Water cuts down on the pull of gravity, so your bones really don't get a good workout.

It Takes Two
Strong bones need both calcium and bone-strengthening activity. It's not enough to just eat right or just do lots of bone-strengthening activity. It takes both to make bones strong. So jump to it, girlfriend!


Ingredients for Strong Bones

Strong bones need calcium, vitamin D, and bone-strengthening activity. It's not enough to just eat right or just do lots of bone-strengthening activity. It takes both to make bones strong. So jump to it, girlfriend!

Click here for a printable version of this page.
Powerful Bones. Powerful Girls. The National Bone Health Campaign.

*Links to non-Federal organizations are provided solely as a service to our users. Links do not constitute an endorsement of any organization by the Office on Women's Health or the Federal Government, and none should be inferred. The Office on Women's Health is not responsible for the content of the individual organization Web pages found at this link.

bone-strengthening activity foods with calcium