Go dairy to save bones

Sticks and stones will break my bones, but milk and yoghurt will save me – or so American researchers claim.

According to the researchers at Hebrew SeniorLife Institute of Ageing Research (which is affiliated with Harvard University), three servings of milk or yoghurt a day can make bones stronger.

The US based academics found middle aged people who ate at least three servings a day had higher bone mineral density, resulting in bones that were less likely to break, the Telegraph reported.

However, don’t ‘scream for ice-cream’ just yet. Researchers claimed they found no such positive effect from eating cream or ice-cream.

Researcher Dr Shivana Sahni confirmed while dairy foods provide several important nutrients that are beneficial for bone health, cream and its products such as ice-cream have lower levels of these nutrients and higher levels of fat and sugar.

The team based their findings on a food frequency survey completed by 3,212 participants from the Framingham Offspring Study, named after a town in Massachusetts.

They said choosing low fat milk or yoghurt over cream can increase intake of protein, calcium and vitamin D while limiting intake of saturated fats.

Fractured bones can be serious in an elderly person. The elderly are more prone to falling and falls, resulting in broken bones and leading to a loss of their ability to maintain independence.

A bone condition, known as osteoporosis and commonly seen in the elderly, can lead to fractures. This condition causes bones to become porous and brittle, leaving the bones more fragile until they eventually break.