Beginner Level: How to Increase Bone Density?

Repected and Experienced Fellow Members,

I m just beginning bodybuilding. I m hving blast of time with this new feel, its like every part of body is alive.

Food got digested very quick, so don't feel heavy. Really Awesum.

Plus my energy level is incresed. Stress level is so down and i m so up.

ADVICE NEEDED:

I have really thin Bones, i want to build bone mass. I want to gain to more done density.

I m 25. Height 5"9. Weight: 136 pounds

Kindly, let me know what kind of training i should adopt?
What kind of food i should take?
Should i take calcium supplements?
What kind of calcium supplements are best
for begginers?

How much bone density can be increased? Any "proven findings"
will be highly appreciative.

Thanxs in Advance

God Bless U all

Best Regards

SuplementosDude
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suplementos alimentares

I answered some of this in your introduction - if you give us what you are eating & what training you are currently doing we can certainly recommend some things to get you started.

Yes, as said in the other thread bone density and bone size are different things. You shouldn't be taking any calcium supplements in an attempt to make your bones not as "thin". I hope you're not a spam bot, that an automated reply recommending a calcium supplement from someone who's just registered isn't coming in a day or two.

Otherwise broccoli is good for calcium. What else.. sesame seeds. I never see hummus recommended for calcium, yet it's got sesame seeds in it.... And I wonder what effect the lemon juice would have on the calcium...

Lifting weights is very good for improving bone density (not bone thickness).

...I think you have the same supplement link in your sig as someone did who registered a month or so ago. Please show us you're not a spam bot.

Still somewhat useful to respond to this sort of thing publicly though.

Yesterday we were talking with my wife's bone-doctor, who is rated as among the 25 best in the U.S. We ask him about the different forms of calcium that are on the market-- in particular we were curious about which might be most easily absorbed and utilized.
The doctor agreed that there are many different commercial calcium formulations out there, each touting its efficacy. Then he leaned close and in a conspiratorial voice said, "But here is the best kept secret in medicine... Tums... easily absorbed, inexpensive, and if you took one or two a day you'd get all of the calcium you need-- but don't over do it, it might contribute to kidney stones."

We reminded the doctor that we're vegetarian, and the conversation continued, mentioning whole grains, beans, almonds, spinach, tofu and orange juice.

I wonder by the way, about the rates of bone fractures and osteoporsis for vegans vs vegetarians vs meateaters.

There is some talk about how certain populations that have a high diary intake also have the highest bone fracture/osteoporsis rates. The Inuit for example. A possible explanation being that eating meat supposedly makes the body acidic and the bones release calcium to combat this. I'm not sure how much truth there is to this. But if it was true, I would suspect that vegetarians would then have lower fracture rates, etc then vegans. But I don't know if this is the case or not.

So much else goes into these things, inuits for example probably don't get enough vitamin D from the sun, thus the higher fracture rates.

There's conflicting data on this. As you said there are so many factors to take into account that it's hard to draw a valid conclusion. At the moment the best you can say is that looking at the data overall there appears to be no diet that seems to cause a better or worse fracture rates.

As a side note a lot of the studies are not so well designed - basically questionnaire type stuff where they trust a person to remember what they ate, how much & how often - also they often focus on one thing - like dairy V non dairy for example, so you could be a dairy eater that eats fresh greens every meal or a non-dairy eater who lives off of fast food & soft drinks (or the reverse), so this again would upset the score.

I suppose rather like if we turned up as the vegan contingent in a bone density scan - they'd have us & the average meat-eater off the street & the study would probably show our bone density is more than the average meat eaters, but that would say nothing as we lift so our bones are probably pretty dense compared to normal (most of us also tend to take care of vitamin D intake, eat a lot of fresh food etc just to make matters even more lopsided!).

I'm counting on the lifting to maintain bone density. The bone doctor I mentioned above says, "Go to it, lifting will probably help! But don't overload since compression-fractures are possible." (The doctor himself was an Olympic Swimming competitor, and is now a hobby long distance runner.)

My wife is presently taking treatments which replace lost bone mass. This treatment is not for everybody, it requires daily injections for a period of months, and is not without risk. She is also on a PT exercise program which should improve bone density too. Later this autumn she'll have another bone scan that we can compare to last year's scan.
She has been vegetarian-vegan for many years. I'm a more recent convert.

Yea, I'd be very careful & exercise with someone who knows what they doing if you've got bone issues. I've known a couple of people repair low bone density (post-menopausal women generally) by working on developing weight bearing exercise (you start with light bodyweight or small DBs & work up) & dietary change alone...but as I said usually supervision is best in those cases..& you should go to a doctor or expert in the field & not try to self treat as a rule.
As a side note your doc is more likely to get a stress fracture doing distance running than you likely to get a compression fracture lifting (unless you let that ego run wild). It's a much more common injury.

Pete wrote:

...As a side note your doc is more likely to get a stress fracture doing distance running than you likely to get a compression fracture lifting (unless you let that ego run wild). It's a much more common injury.

That thought crossed my mind too-- compression fractures, joint injuries, and shin splints are pretty common runners' injuries. Also, I doubt that he is running much this summer since the heat is intense, so when he resumes in the fall he'll need to start gradually.

By the way, I am VERY careful when the doctor and I shake hands, I'm training toward closing the #2 CoC and I could probably break someone else's metacarpals. The LAST thing I would want to do is injure the hand of an orthopedic surgeon

You can often tell a guy with a brutal grip as they are careful handshakers (not limp, but careful) - it's the guys who lack confidence & need to reassure themselves that attempt to squeeze as hard as possible when they shake.