Guess what? Guys can get bone problems like osteoporosis, too. An estimated 12 million men are at risk for the disease.
Calcium and vitamin D help protect you. So do weight-bearing exercises like lifting weights and hiking. And here's another thing you can do for your bones: Eat some crab salad. Why?
Mineral Essential
When men with osteoporosis were studied, it turned out that many of the guys with brittle bones were low on zinc. Your body needs zinc at many points in the bone-building process to help move things along. It's kind of like the foreman on the construction crew: Not enough input from zinc and the scaffolding may start to break down. You'll feel and see it in your body in the form of lethargy, slow wound healing, brittle bones, and hair loss. (Read this article to find out what you can do for thinning hair.)
Zinc-Rich Foods
So what to do? Grab yourself a crab-salad sandwich (with low-fat mayo, of course). Crab has about 4.6 milligrams of zinc per 3-ounce serving. Here are some other good food sources of zinc:
Baked beans, 1/2 cup -- 1.8 milligrams
Chicken, 3 ounces -- 2.4 milligrams
Turkey, 3 ounces -- 3.5 milligrams
Cashews, 1 ounce -- 1.6 milligrams
Both men and women need zinc for strong bones.
