What does menopause mean for bone health?
One question we get asked is why do we explicitly recommend Seen’s Calcium Chew Complete to women 40+? After all, we all have skeletons! Don’t we all need to take calcium to keep our bones strong?
Well, yes. Of course, everyone regardless of gender or age needs to be sure they are eating a calcium-rich diet and/or taking extra calcium to keep their bones strong. However, women experience specific life stages that make taking calcium particularly important: primarily pregnancy, lactation, and peri-menopause and post-menopause.
In particular, menopause has a profound impact on bone health. During this stage, women experience a sharp decline in estrogen, a hormone that plays a vital role in maintaining bone density. Estrogen helps to regulate the balance between bone breakdown (resorption) and bone building (formation). When estrogen levels drop, bone resorption accelerates, while bone formation slows, leading to a net loss of bone mass. In fact, women can lose up to 20% of their bone density in the first five to seven years after menopause. This rapid bone loss significantly increases the risk of developing osteopenia and osteoporosis— conditions characterized by weak, brittle bones prone to fractures.
Fortunately, there are strategies women can adopt to reduce their risk of osteoporosis during and after menopause.
Ensuring adequate calcium intake is critical. Women over 50 should aim for 1,200 mg of calcium daily, which can be achieved through eating calcium-rich foods and Seen’s Calcium Chews. We use only dietary calcium - not synthetic - so you get all the goodness of dairy calcium, but without having to drink 2 cups of milk for 500mg of calcium.
Vitamin D is also very important to bone health, as it helps the body absorb calcium effectively. We derive our Vitamin D from mushrooms, ensuring that all the nutrients you get in each chew are directly from food - never synthetic - to help with absorption.
And, of course, exercise is critical. Strength training, in particular, stimulates bone formation and help preserve bone density. For some women, medical interventions like hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or prescription medication may be an option to address severe bone loss, though this should always be discussed with a healthcare provider.
At Seen, we encourage you to be aware of your bone health early since protecting and strengthening your bones is a lifetime commitment. Taking our calcium every day is just one step to strengthen your skeleton and build the healthy foundation you need.
