Increasing Calcium in diet for Osteoporosis

M0nica

You can also find out how much calcium there is in any food simply by googling 'How much calcium in .....' .

I dislike the ROS tables because they are far too vague. Giving how much calcium in an 'average' portion of cauliflower cheese is useless. How big is an 'average' portion. How much sauce is on the cauliflower, how much cheese does any individual put in their cheese sauce, what cheese do they use.

They talk about a bowl of porridge and give a weight. Is that of the porridge without bowl because bowls vary so much in weight from light plastic to heavy chunky pottery, the bowl alone could weigh more than th weight given for the porridge.

If you make it yourself, you can work out how much milk (or substitute) and/or cheese you've used. It doesn't have to be that exact anyway.

Once you've made it once, you can keep a record of how much calcium your serving size includes. That's what I've been doing for years, when I keep a record of carbs.

Ps. Hear Hear Katie. For most it's the drop in hormones that affect our ok bones. Never too late 😁please see hrt over 70 posts the other day
Taking vit D or others I use spray sublingual. As it doesn't need to go through gut which needs lots of tlc they say it's our second brain
I'm sad but you can't believe many docs. ' don't go on rebounder after menopause'. Says it all 😁

You can also find out how much calcium there is in any food simply by googling 'How much calcium in .....' .

I dislike the ROS tables because they are far too vague. Giving how much calcium in an 'average' portion of cauliflower cheese is useless. How big is an 'average' portion. How much sauce is on the cauliflower, how much cheese does any individual put in their cheese sauce, what cheese do they use.

They talk about a bowl of porridge and give a weight. Is that of the porridge without bowl because bowls vary so much in weight from light plastic to heavy chunky pottery, the bowl alone could weigh more than th weight given for the porridge.

My understanding is you need magnesium to absorb it and send it to correct place not arteries
But please ask Google
Mag comes in oil or spray or tabs etc even Epsom salts for foot soak Iv read many get very low in it
There's more to osteoporosis it seems
Many have osteopenia from 40
My friend is diagnosed osteoporosis she still runs miles and has no symptoms of it. She is very thin indeed

Or this page, which gives a wider range of foods with realistic serving sizes:

theros.org.uk/information-and-support/bone-health/nutrition-for-bones/calcium/calcium-rich-food-chooser/

You can work out how much calcium you're eating a week from this calculator.

webapps.igc.ed.ac.uk/world/research/rheumatological/calcium-calculator/

As I cannot tolerate milk, my solution to increasing my calcium intake has quite simply been to eat more cheese.

Calcium does assist in the development of strong bones and teeth. In the case of osteoporosis you need to preserve the bones density you already have. The MCH complex (if you can get that in UK), produces smaller blood calcium spikes than other types of supplemental calcium. Gluten-free, non-GMO. It has key nutrients. I like that something mentioned adjusting 'diet'... it's important to keep a balance. Too many of us take in sugar and white bread. Even if you eliminate those 2 immediately, there is a noticed improvement in health. So, a little of what you fancy now and then is like a reward. Balance is everything and also in diet. I have been taking a deep sea fish oil in the form of an Omega-Pro capsule every day and, guess what? I never feel fatigued. It serves me well. All the best to you all. P

www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/patients/treatment/nutrition/

If you've not already read it, this is useful. If you do 'just one thing' use at least a 1/2 pint of organic whole milk daily, for the calcium, protein and vitamins, - organic is best as pesticides are retained by fats in foods. It is more expensive than others but it is real proper food.

I attend a bone mineral clinic and prefer to take the advice of my clinicians, rather than self medicate.
However, I do try to have a healthy diet on top of the medication. Comorbidities make exercise difficult, which is a pity, because that also helps good bone health.

I understand figs are an excellent source of calcium and potassium which is good for bone health

I use a lot of oat milk which is fortified with calcium, as is vegan yogurt. Tahini is very rich in calcium too, I have a couple of spoonfuls (spoonful?) every day as well as a Vitamin D tablet.

My bones are apparently excellent for a vegan who is at risk of osteoporosis.

I understand figs are a good source of calcium and potassium which is beneficial for bone health

LPJ1 The amount of calcium in a pint of milk is unchanged whether you drink whole milk or skimmed milk. The amount of calcium in butter is low compared with that in milk or cheese so your comments in your last paragraph Reduced fat products reduce vit D and predispose to osteoporosis are inaccurate.

Certainly Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin but the average human body contains enough fat so that even a low fat diet should not stop your body absorbing enough vitamin D.

There is a lot of misinformation on this thread about nutrition and bones. For anyone wanting to know more I recommend the ROS website about nutrition.
theros.org.uk/information-and-support/bone-health/nutrition-for-bones/?_gl=1*1c33x5z*_up*MQ..&gclid=Cj0KCQjwvL-oBhCxARIsAHkOiu22LIkgEsXJE8ccObanO3CtolKlLJRfw2-HgrHXt5kzVoYiK9N2OXsaApVfEALw_wcB
One of the surprising things is that saturated fats can actually cause harm to your bones.

I have had osteoporosis for nearly forty years. I have on and off alendronic acid tablets and now infusions + Adcal for that amount of time. My body doesn't retain Vit D, so every so often, I am prescribed a top up.
I have had numerous heart scans and my arteries are totally clear. No sign of calcium build up.
My cardiologist says that is down to my healthy diet.
I also have RA and people with RA have a tendency to also have osteoporosis too.

Also had kidney stones last year and don’t want them again!

Been reading this and explains a lot. I’ve been having upset stomachs after taking calcium and magnesium tablets think this might be it.

I used to buy calcium and vit D capsules from Boots. On reaching 60 I asked my doctor if he could prescribe them. Capsules were not available on his list so he gave me tablets, then powders then liquid. It was as though I was eating concrete. After reading comments on this thread I think I need to do some more research.

nanna8

I used to get kidney stones from time to time and they told me to avoid taking calcium tablets. That was in the 1980s so I don’t know if that would still be the case.

I think it depends on the type of stones so it might be worth taking advice or at least looking? My DIL had them (genetically predisposed) and the first specialist she saw said not to bother about her diet, but later at the specialist unit she was told that in her case she should limit her animal protein intake.
I've found a site that looks as though it gives reputable advice:
www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/urologic-diseases/kidney-stones/eating-diet-nutrition#:~:text=Eating%20animal%20protein%20may%20increase%20your%20chances%20of%20developing%20kidney%20stones.&text=Although%20you%20may%20need%20to,sure%20you%20get%20enough%20protein.

Hi you need to take K2 along with D3 . The K2 takes the calcium and puts it in your bones

I was diagnosed after a fall and took Alendronic Acid for close on 5 years. I now take Calcium Citrate and Vitamin D. during lockdown I had a break and took to full cream milk, cream, cheese etc and unfortunately after a visit to the GP I am being told my Cholesterol is very high. Some Statins have had a disastrous effect on my hearing. It is all a balance and difficult in later years to get right. My Osteoporosis is hereditary although I wasn't aware of this until late in the day when my mother talked about family history.
I also took part in a test involving K1 and K2 and have just lately heard the results which seemed to show that they made little or no difference.

Milk from outdoor cows, (and all butter, yogurts etc. from it) are the best for balanced calcium & vit D (they build healthy calves!). Mushrooms left in daylight for a day give vit D as does light (even when cloudy - walk). Supplements have little real evidence of advantage unless you are very low indeed. But the only time when you can use calcium optimally is during childhood and adolescence - which is why babies & children should be fed full fat milk (vit D is fat soluble).

Reduced fat products reduce vit D and predispose to osteoporosis, hence the prevelance now as the generation focused on using semi-skimmed & low fat productes are passing middle age (We don't lay it down so easily then.).

I take the calcium/vit d chewable tablets each day so very interested in this thread as I really didn’t know it has the side affects mentioned. I started taking the alendronic acid tablets but had to stop as it caused pain in my jaw and made my joints worse. As soon as I did stop so did those symptoms. Did anyone else have this problem? I fell over and broke my wrist last January hence dexa scan and prognosis although already having had 2 hip replacements I was aware I had osteoporosis.