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| Calcium is found in foods like milk, leafy green vegetables and soybeans. Vitamin D, which helps your body absorb calcium, is found in a limited number of foods, and is made by your skin while you are in the sun. |
 Your body uses calcium every day for activities such as muscle contraction, blood clotting and nerve function.
When it doesn't get enough, it may take the necessary amount from your bones, weakening them.
Our bodies build up calcium in our bones efficiently until we are about 30 years old.
After that, our bone mass tends to decline.
This problem is compounded even further during menopause when a decrease in estrogen levels accelerates bone loss for women.
That's why it's important to maintain a diet with enough calcium and vitamin D. |
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| Scientific studies have shown that regular exercise and a calcium-rich diet can build and maintain good bone health and may reduce the risk of osteoporosis. It's important to maintain a diet with enough calcium and vitamin D, together with other important bone-healthy nutrients including phosphorus and magnesium. Yet nearly 80% of American women do not consume the amount of calcium recommended to help maintain healthy bones. The Surgeon General also notes that many people, especially elderly individuals, don't get enough vitamin D from sunshine and diet alone. Foods such as fortified milk contain about 100 IU of vitamin D, while Caltrate offers several formulas that contain 400 IU per tablet. |
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Chart: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The 2004 Surgeon General's Report
on Bone Health and Osteoporosis:
What It Means To You. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Surgeon General, 2004
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