Of all the possible health concerns that can arise as we age, I think loss of bone density is the most pressing. Bone density, also called bone mineral density (BMD), refers to the amount of minerals in a specific volume of bone.

In other words, it’s indicative of our bone strength – bones with higher mineral content are denser and stronger, while bones with less mineral content are more fragile and likely to break.

Bone density starts to decline when we turn 35, and in the first five years following menopause, women lose an average of 10 percent of bone density.