Osteopenia, or low bone density, often precedes osteoporosis, a disease resulting in very porous, fragile bones. Diets that are low in calcium and the vitamin D needed for its absorption are the primary cause of osteopenia. Testing positive for osteopenia alerts you to your greater risk for more serious bone loss so that you can treat it. Drinking milk to preserve your bone mass before mineral density drops, however, is the best way to care for your skeletal health and preserve your mobility as you age.
How You Build Bone
Your body forms most of its primary compact bone during childhood, up until about age 18 in girls and 20 in boys. If you don't drink milk or get adequate calcium and vitamin D from other sources at this time, you might not achieve your full potential bone density or you might develop other bone abnormalities, such as rickets. Moving from adolescence to maturity with low bone density puts you at immediate risk for osteopenia and subsequent osteoporosis, which can arise at any age.
How You Maintain Bone
With the right nutrition, your skeletal system maintains itself over your lifetime, generating new bone cells to replace older ones. This remodeling of bone creates stability in the musculoskeletal system over time. To get the calcium and vitamin D needed for this and other physical processes, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recommends that adults consume 1,000 to 1,200 mg of calcium and 600 to 800 international units of vitamin D per day. You benefit the most nutritionally by getting minerals and vitamins from foods, but oral supplements can help you make up for a shortfall.
How Bone Is Lost
If you don't satisfy these daily nutrient demands, your bone remodeling process must use calcium minerals stored in your bones. This actually diminishes healthy bone to create new cellular tissue. As you age, the rate of bone remodeling increases, accentuating this imbalance. The loss of healthy tissue causes structural weakness, reduced mass and greater fracture risk. Daily consumption of calcium-rich foods can prevent this decline.
Role of Milk Drinking
You can stave off loss and preserve as much of your peak bone mass as possible with the help of fortified dairy products such as milk. One cup of milk provides 30 percent of your required calcium and 25 percent of daily vitamin D. Three cups of milk or fortified yogurt, plus the calcium in other foods such as beans and almonds, can help you fulfill your body's needs and avoid osteopenia and osteoporosis.
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