Alert ladies: BMI and the accidental workout effect

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Spongy bones are breakable bones. So to keep them dense and strong, obviously you need to have calcium on board and the vitamin D necessary to help you body absorb that calcium. Got it. We know that already. 

But what else do you need to consider? 
This new study shows that your weight itself can determine whether your bone mineral density is high or low. Researchers at Brigham Young University assessed 262 women, across 20 cities in Utah and Wyoming, for hip bone density and BMI. They controlled for how much calcium/vitamin D the ladies consumed, their menopause status, age, height, bone drug use, and physical activity. 

Basically, they just wanted to find out whether any of these factors were associated with good bones vs bad bones. 

What did they find? 
Pretty straightforward. Higher BMI = higher bone strength. Lower BMI = lower bone strength. 

Could this be related to any of the other lifestyle factors they measured (listed above)? Maybe they found this effect because some just happened to be eating more calcium/vitamin D, or are in menopause. The answer is … a big nope! None of these factors were related to the bone changes. None at all. 

Calcium/vitamin D consumed, menopause status, age, height, bone drug use, and physical activity were not responsible for this effect. 

What does this mean?Of all the health advice that waffles to and fro, seeming to reverse itself year by year, this one is pretty rock solid. Weight-bearing exercises can increase bone density. And, one of the very cool things about this effect is that it’s just as true for young people as it is for us ancient folk.