5 Foods to Avoid if You Have Osteoporosis

Minimizing certain foods can help you hold on to the calcium your bones need to stay strong. Here are five to limit

Lauren Bedosky,

AARP

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Published March 05, 2026

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What you eat and drink matters when you have osteoporosis. Diet accounts for about 25 percent of your risk for bone loss and fractures, according to Amy Joy Lanou, the director of the North Carolina Institute for Public Health and professor in the Department of Public Health Leadership and Practice at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The good news is you don’t need a restrictive diet to support bone health. “It goes back to good nutritional strategies,” Lanou says. “Bright colors, variety and nutrient density — that whole package is good for bones.”

The key is understanding how food affects calcium, the mineral that makes up most of your bones. You need to get enough of it (about 1,300 milligrams per day) and hold on to it.

“You really need to keep calcium in your body,” Lanou explains. “It has to get into bones, and then you have to keep it in bones by not eating an overall dietary pattern that leeches it back out.”

Here are five foods that can compromise your bone health — and how to limit them without sacrificing variety or enjoyment.

1. High-sodium foods

While your body needs sodium to function, too much can build up in the blood and increase your risk of health issues, including bone loss. In one study, postmenopausal women who consumed high amounts of sodium had higher rates of osteoporosis and lost more calcium through their urine than women with lower intakes.

The cellular pump our bodies use to move sodium into the urine also uses calcium. “For every ion of sodium that’s pulled out, a calcium ion goes with it,” explains Connie Weaver,

The recommended limit for sodium is less than 2,300 mg per day, though most adults average over 3,300 mg. Major dietary culprits include:

Pizza
Salty snacks
Soups
Burgers
Egg dishes
Burritos and tacos

A simple way to cut back on sodium is to keep the salt shaker away from your meals at home, though that’s not where most sodium in our diet comes from. “Somewhere around 15 percent of our daily intake is added at the table with the salt shaker,” Weaver says. Rely on black pepper and other herbs and spices for flavor instead. (Read 7 Salt Substitutes and How to Use Them for more ideas.) And limit packaged and restaurant foods, which make up more than 70 percent of our salt intake.

Choosing canned and frozen foods labeled as low-sodium and no-salt-added can also help reduce calcium loss.

2. Red meat

Red meat supplies key bone-supporting nutrients like protein and iron, but research on its overall impact on bone health is mixed. Red meat tends to be high in saturated fat, and studies show that diets high in saturated fat are linked to bone weakness and increased bone loss.

One large 2024 study that followed nearly 84,000 people for 23 years found that each daily serving of meat (predominantly red and processed) raised hip fracture risk by 3 percent. But when researchers reviewed all available studies as of 2021, they found no clear link between red meat and hip fractures. They also noted that much of the research on this topic is of low quality.

While the evidence on red meat and bone health is mixed, the American Heart Association recommends limiting red meat in favor of proteins lower in saturated fat, such as chicken, fish, soy, nuts and seeds. Eating high amounts of saturated fat may increase your risk for other health conditions, including heart disease.

3. Alcohol

The relationship between alcohol and bone health isn’t straightforward. Some studies show that people who consume one to two standard drinks per day actually have higher bone mineral density compared to nondrinkers. But any advantage disappears once you consistently have three or more drinks per day. At this level, alcohol interferes with your body’s ability to process calcium and vitamin D, which can impact bone health.

Heavy drinking may also disrupt hormones that play key roles in maintaining bone — decreasing testosterone (which stimulates bone-forming cells) in men and estrogen (which limits bone breakdown) in women.

In addition, excessive alcohol can indirectly increase fracture risk by throwing off balance and coordination, making you more likely to fall, Lanou says.

The new federal dietary guidelines recommend consuming less alcohol for better health.

Considering the potential harm, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends keeping alcohol consumption as low as possible.

4. Sodas and sugary beverages

High-sugar foods like soda, refined grains and sweetened yogurt may reduce calcium absorption and increase calcium loss through urine, potentially weakening bones. A review of 26 studies found that women who drank more sugary beverages had lower bone mineral density, though the same effect wasn’t seen in men.

Sugary drinks are the leading source of added sugars in the diet. They may be especially harmful when they replace healthier options. “Sodas and energy drinks that are really high in sugar, if you’re drinking them instead of milk, that’s the biggest problem for bones,” Weaver notes.

The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommends avoiding sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, fruit drinks and energy drinks. To cut back, choose flat or sparkling water, low-fat or fat-free milk, and unsweetened calcium- and vitamin D-fortified milk alternatives instead of sodas or energy drinks.

5. Caffeine

There’s another reason to limit soda: caffeine. “There’s evidence that higher levels of caffeine increase the loss of calcium from the body,” Lanou says.

In one study, researchers had a group of people chew caffeine-enriched gum for five minutes at two-hour intervals. By the end of the six-hour experiment, they had consumed 800 mg of caffeine — the equivalent of eight cups of coffee — and seen a 77 percent increase in calcium excretion.

The researchers speculate that caffeine’s diuretic effects may explain this calcium loss. As a diuretic, caffeine causes your kidneys to flush out more water and sodium than usual. And since calcium and sodium are excreted together, more calcium is excreted in the urine.

If you drink coffee or tea, keep your caffeine intake below 400 mg per day, Weaver suggests. That’s roughly four to five 8-ounce cups of coffee, the amount the FDA considers safe for most people. At this level, caffeine is unlikely to harm your bones.

If you’re worried about calcium loss from coffee, research suggests that you can offset it by adding 1 to 2 tablespoons of milk.

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Lauren Bedosky is a contributing writer who covers health and fitness for consumer publications. Her work has appeared in Runner’s World, Men’s Health, Family Circle, Health and Prevention, among other publications.