Taking action and protecting your bones now pays off as you get older, especially for women. Your chance of developing osteoporosis and other musculoskeletal conditions drastically increases as you age. The key to minimizing your chances of developing bone loss in the future is take care of your skeleton now. Luckily, it’s not as difficult as you might think. We’ve got the scoop on how you can strengthen your joints and ensure that your bones stay healthy as you get older.

1. Cue the Calcium - Calcium is important for strong bones and teeth, and it also helps regulate the heartbeat. But not everyone enjoys milk (one of best sources of calcium). Here are some other foods you can add to your diet to supplement the calcium your missing out from milk: Carob flour, dried figs, oysters, instant oatmeal, hummus, raw spinach and almonds.

2. Tea for Strong Bones – One research study suggests that tea helps maintain bone density. Just over 1,000 subjects were questioned about their tea-drinking habits, and the results were compared to bone-density measurements. Those who regularly drank an average of two cups of black, green or oolong tea over the past 10 years showed six-percent-higher bone density than those who rarely drank tea. Read more about this study here.

3. Cola and Healthy Bones Don't Mix - Studies indicate that drinking caffeinated and carbonated beverages may increase your risk of suffering a bone fracture. Unfortunately, Americans continue to drink more and more soda pop, and already, many of these women already have an insufficient daily intake of calcium, researchers say in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Opt for drinking water with lemon instead of soda pop. Read more about this study here.

4. Osteoporosis Protection in a Pinch – Though many people already know that excessive intake of salt can cause elevated blood pressure, new evidence also suggestions that too much sodium can sweep calcium out of the body, causing bones to weaken. To protect your skeleton, cut your sodium intake by a third, or add more calcium to your diet--1,500 milligrams instead of the recommended 1,000 to 1,200. Read the rest of this tip here.

5. All About Vitamin D - Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that isn’t found in very many foods, but it is available as a dietary supplement. It plays a major part in absorbing and metabolizing calcium and phosphorus, which helps make our bones strong and healthy. You can find this vitamin in fish, eggs, fortified milk, and cod liver oil, but many individuals get their daily intake of vitamin D from being in the sun.

6. A Green Thumb - Gardening may do more than keep your yard in shape. It might actually improve your bone strength. One study demonstrated that women who participated in various dirt-digging activities, such as raking leaves, mowing the lawn, or whacking away at weeds, at least once per week, had greater bone density than the women who jogged, swam, bicycled, danced, walked, or did aerobics. Read more here.