Dr Dhananjay Gupta, Director- Orthopedics & Joint Replacement at FHVK

Human body is a great example of nature basic tenet of survival i.e. Adaptation to the environment. Hill people have to walk a lot on rough terrain. This gives them great lung vital capacity and hardened bones and joints. City folks have a comparatively luxurius life and hence may not be able to tolerate physical hardships. So if we want to make our bones denser, we must load them more, especially in growing age. Maximum bone mass, called Peak Bone Mass depends on genetic constitution as well as physical conditioning and diet. Sleep is another variable which goes a long way in helping one achieve their peak bone mass. We cant help our genetic makeup so lets see how can we increase our bone density naturally.

1. Start Early,
   One can best mould or strengthen the structure in the formative stage. Hence we should encourage all growing kids in to outdoor sports which entails running and jumping. This loads the spine and legs bones. Hand stands or pulling, pushing strengthens the arm bones. This helps in achieving the peak bone mass.
    
2. Loading of bones in Daily Chores
   Even if we can afford to keep helping hands, we must try to be self sufficient. We are responsible for our well being. It makes sense to walk down to the market to buy milk, poultry and vegetables. This ensures you buy the best stuff, experiment with something different and live in real world. In the process you carry 5 to 10 kg weight on your shoulders and load the bones adequately. Shifting furniture, redoing interiors, gardening like activities keep your bones fitter and denser.
    
3. Exposure to sunlight
   Nothing like a good exposure of skin to sunlight for dense bones. Just ensure that you do your outdoor shopping or sports during early morning and early evening to avoid exposure to UV radiations and air pollution. Large areas of Skin needs to be exposed to get maximum benefit, subjective to weather offcourse. This helps in conversion of active form of Vitamin D which is crucial for dense bones. Sun bathing is certainly not recommended in countries like ours.
    
4. Natural Diet
   Super diets are meant to prepare people for specific activities. For simple mortals like us, locally produced and seasonal food items are adequate. Key is natural diet, maintain its mineral and vitamin content with minimal cooking. Eat lot of vegetables in raw form or lightly sauted. It’s the totality of fibres and vitamins with minerals that build up the system including bones.
    
5. Gym Training
   Its not exactly a natural way but definitely building muscles, naturally tend to make bones denser as load gets passed on to the bones as well.
    
6. Consume Enough Protein
   As you can see, what we eat and do (physical endurance) greatly influence our physical strength. Proteins are the building blocks of body and an integral part of a balanced diet. Ensure that nutrition pyramid is maintained and we eat adequate proteins in our diet for denser bones.
    
7. Calcium Rich Foods
    
8. Avoid Very Low-Calorie Diets.
    
9. Ideal body weight