‘MANY GREEN VEGETABLES ARE PARTICULARLY RICH IN CALCIUM’
INNER STRENGTH
Let’s start with the little-known bonebooster vitamin K2, which features heavily in Dr Kelly’s recipes and is found in freerange eggs, butter and milk, as well as fermented soy products such as miso, tofu and natto (stringy fermented soy beans, the taste of which divides opinion, but they’re the richest dietary source of K2). ‘Fracture maps of the world suggest the traditional Japanese diet is associated with a much lower incidence of osteoporosis than the Western diet,’ explains Dr Kelly. ‘Which could partly be down to naturally high magnesium,’ says Dr Kelly, ‘so it’s hard to get your 300mg RDA.’ She advises upping your intake of sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, spinach, cannellini beans and good quality dark chocolate (as if she had to ask, right?). And then, of course, there’s calcium itself, which builds and maintains your bones. With more and more of us dodging dairy (the number of vegans in Britain has risen by more than 360% over the past decade, according to a recent MORI poll), levels of vitamin K2.’ Indeed, one study published in the journal Nutrition found that the more natto Japanese women consume, the higher their blood levels of K2, and the lower their risk of fracture. Magnesium is another nutrient essential for bone strength. The mineral helps regulate the amount of calcium in your blood, but one in five women aged 19 to 34 in the UK are magnesium-deficient, according to the latest National Diet and Nutrition Survey. ‘Modern farming methods have depleted the soil of you might think it would be tricky to get the recommended 700mg a day. In fact, milk is not the best source of the mineral. ‘Many green vegetables, including kale, spinach, pak choi and broccoli, are particularly rich in calcium,’ points out Dr Kelly. ‘Nuts, seeds and pulses are also good.’ The message is: eat your greens. Then if you’re still low in calcium, it’s probably because your body isn’t absorbing it effectively – and one of the reasons for that is a lack of vitamin D. Indeed, the so-called sunshine vitamin is essential for the absorption of calcium in the intestines – which makes it all the more worrying that over one in five people in the