Calcium and bone density seem like things only “old” people need to worry about, but now I’m thinking that’s just not true.

When I was a small child I broke several bones. I wasn’t a huge milk drinker, but I did enjoy cheese and ice cream. We chalked up my broken bones to being Little Miss Clumsy, and went on with our lives. I lived through my teen and young adult years without breaking anything but a toe here and there. While I was on a keto diet for years and years, I never once thought about how much calcium that diet naturally provides. Once I realized my body no longer was responding well to cow’s milk I eliminated it from my diet entirely. I never thought about how the lack of dairy could affect my bones.

Back in January it was really icy and cold. Our driveway is steep and curvy and our car was sliding backwards into the road. I came down to give my husband a helping hand. I slipped on some ice that I never even saw. When I fell I extended my arms and saw and felt my left wrist completely break.

I shattered part of my ulna and broke my radius in more than three pieces. It was one of the most physically painful things I’ve experienced. It required surgery (ORIF), and it was an incredibly long recovery.

After all of it was done there was a lightbulb moment of “maybe my bones have lost strength and density due to the missing calcium in my body”. Since then, I’ve been taking supplements, and also trying to get more calcium from non-dairy sources. According to healthline good non-dairy sources of calcium include: seeds, tofu, amaranth, fortified foods and drinks, spinach, salmon, almonds, sardines, kale, figs, and white beans. There are others, but here’s a good start for anyone curious about what foods have a good amount of calcium.

If you’ve experienced low bone density or broken bones, let me know about your experiences and if increasing your calcium intake helped.