Osteoporosis

My friend Annie has just celebrated her 50th birthday, and as part of the package she had a 50’s check up at the doc’s. There was quite a concern about her bone density and the subsequent scan revealed an alarmingly low density. Annie is now drinking milk like crazy and looking for any natural source of calcium vit D she can get her hands on, or rather “get her mouth round!”

You know what its like when one of your friends or family have a problem? Its scratch your brain to see what’s in the archives of advice, which is what we did for Annie. What came out the other end of the sausage machine was 3 basic things:

1) Do loads of weight bearing, gravity fighting excersize of some description. That includes walking, jogging, dancing, bouncing, weights – yes all of those things and plenty of it.

2) Don’t smoke as smokers lose bone density faster than those who don’t smoke. Same with drinking – don’t go over one glass a day because of the greater risk.

3) Calcium and Vit D. Both Calcium and Vitamin D are needed for bone building.

The recommended daily amount of calcium for adults is 1,000-1,200mg per day and postmenopausal women need the higher end of this each day.

The recommended daily amount of Vitamin D is between 200 and 600iu per day.

If you are taking a calcium supplement there will usually be some Vit D in there as well.

But lets take a look at the foods where you can find calcium occurring naturally. Cow’s milk is the one everyone knows, and that is a good source if you are fine with dairy milk. But did you realise that natural yogurt has more calcium than milk? And then there is the ice cream – mmm. Otherwise the calcium enriched Soya milks and tofu are good too. But there are other sources of calcium like dried peas and beans, such as lentils, pinto beans and chickpeas. Most fruits, also, contain calcium. Oranges are a good source as well as concentrated fruits such as prunes, dates and figs.
Raw nuts and seeds can be a great source of calcium too. Raw sesame seeds are especially good calcium rich and can be sprinkled on salads. Probably the best non-dairy sources of calcium are salmon and sardines, both canned with bones.

Here are some values:

dark green leafy vegetables:
1/2 cup of spinach gives you 122mg calcium,
Interestingly enough although spinach is packed with calcium it is not absorbed efficiently by our bodies, so dont go for this one as a calcium source.
1 cup Broccoli cooked or fresh gives 90mg,
1/2 cup cooked Kale gives 45mg

and beans and nuts

1/2 cup cooked Soybeans gives 90mg,
1 cup Garbanzo beans gives 80mg
1oz Dry roasted Almonds gives 80mg

and dairy products

1 cup Plain yogurt, fat-free gives 450mg
1/2 cup Ricotta cheese, part skimmed gives 340mg
1 cup Yogurt with fruit (low-fat or fat-free) gives around 315mg
8 oz.Milk (fat-free, low-fat, or whole) gives 300mg
1 oz. Cheddar cheese gives 204mg
1 cup Cottage cheese gives 138mg
1/2 cup Ice cream, soft serve 118mg

and fruit
10 dried figs gives 269mg

other things
6oz. Small taco gives 221mg
2 burritos – Burrito with beans and cheese can give 214mg – eat Mexican
3 oz.Salmon, canned with bones give 180mg

Statistics and more info on this great little web site – National institute of Health – Why calcium?

If after stuffing yourself with all of these you are wanting to take a calcium supplement to be sure then head for one we have selected at GoodnessDirect which are usually the more credible, absorbable among the many available.