 Even just a single extra serving of fruits and vegetables per day is associated with lower bone fracture risk. Why? Well osteoporotic fracture risk is associated with higher levels of inflammation in your blood, for example C-reactive protein, and specifically a more pro-inflammatory diet. Those eating higher on the dietary inflammatory index have about 30% greater risk of osteoporosis and fracture than those eating more anti-inflammatory diets. And a higher intake of fruits and vegetables decreases inflammation. So that's one possible reason. Free radicals may also play a role in eating away at your bones, suggesting that pro-oxidant stress may contribute to osteoporosis. Both the total antioxidant power and capacity of people's blood streams and diets are significantly lower in those with osteoporosis. And how do we squash free radicals and improve antioxidant status with fruits and vegetables? For example, consumption of vitamin C-rich foods is associated with lower risk of hip fracture, osteoporosis, and bone loss. Every additional increase of 50 milligrams of dietary vitamin C a day, which is about the equivalent of one orange, may lower the risk of hip fracture by 5%. The third way fruits and vegetables may help our bones are through acid-based balance. As we grow older, there's a slight drop in the pH of our blood as our blood becomes more acidic with age. This is thought to be due to the waning ability of our kidneys to excrete excess acid. In vitreous studies, suggests a drop in pH may lead to activation of the cells that break down bone and an inhibition of cells that build bone back up. So how about eating alkaline-forming foods? The most acid-forming foods are meat and cheese, especially fish, and the most alkaline or base-forming foods are fruits and vegetables. This may help explain why, if you experimentally remove fruits and vegetables from people's diets, a mark of bone formation significantly drops, and a mark of bone loss shoots up. And vice versa when you add fruits and vegetables back into their daily diets. The greater the estimated ratio between acid-forming foods and alkaline-forming foods, the greater the risk of hip fracture. Supporting the rationality, less acidic diets, but this was based on observational data to prove cause and effect, two-year, double-blind, randomized controlled trials were performed, in which the three added servings of fruits and vegetables or the equivalent of six extra servings failed to have an effect. But randomized people did the equivalent of nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables worth of an alkaline-forming compound, and you do see a significant increase in bone volume and density in the spine, hip, and throughout the whole body. Are there any fruits and vegetables that are particularly good? That's the question. I'll address next.