While most Americans are at risk for osteoporosis, few take the early steps of prevention. Often it takes a debilitating fracture of the hips or spine to ignite concern over osteoporosis.
Both men and women of all ages can follow these steps to prevent this common and painful disease.

If you're like many adults, you don't take in enough calcium throughout the day. You may pass up a glass of milk for a can of soda or bypass broccoli for French fries.
If you are not receiving enough calcium through your diet, you may be able to take calcium supplements. Talk with your doctor before doing so.

Your body needs vitamin D to absorb calcium. Through moderate sun exposure, your body is able to produce this vitamin. When in the sun, always use a sunscreen of at least SPF 15.
Vitamin-enriched milk products also contain vitamin D, but you can get too much of a good thing. Excessive amounts of vitamin D can be harmful. 400 units of vitamin D in a multivitamin is a safe amount.

From calcium and vitamin D to the vitamin K in leafy green vegetables, it certainly helps to be savvy about which nutrients protect your bones. Now, research is shining the spotlight on the deleterious effects to bone of excess amounts of vitamin A.
After following more than 2,000 men over 30 years, scientists in Sweden found that those with higher levels of vitamin A in their blood were more likely to experience a fracture. Men with the highest levels of vitamin A were seven times more likely than those with lower levels.
This is not the first time excess vitamin A has been identifies as potentially harmful to bones. Last year, for instance, researchers at Harvard found that women who consumed the highest level of vitamin A had a significantly higher risk of hip fracture than other women.
Adequate vitamin A is essential -- for vision, cell growth and differentiation, and preventing infections. But in industrialized nations like ours, there's plenty in the diet, which is rich in foods of animal origin, like beef and poultry.
How can you get the right amount of A without going overboard? The Daily Value is 5,000 International Units while the recommended upper limit is 10,000 units (based, in fact, on data showing an increased risk of fracture above that level). Unless you eat liver regularly, it is unlikely that you consume from food any amount that could be called a toxic level. It's generally the vitamin A in multivitamins or other supplements that pushed levels into the dangerous range.
The Tufts University Health and Nutrition newsletter recommends that you take supplements that do not include vitamin A (which may be difficult to find) or that include all or most of it in the form of beta-carotene (the plant form). Unlike the form of vitamin A found in animals (retinol), beta-carotene does not have an adverse effect on bone. (Note: Beta-carotene is important in the prevention of macular degeneration, so don't stop eating yellow vegetables!)

Note: The article at the right, "Stay Sturdy and Strong" was adapted from a handout supplied by Curves for Women.