Increasing Calcium in diet for Osteoporosis

I've been taking calcium and vitD supplements since I was diagnosed with osteoporosis 25years ago. I had some years on biophosphonates but stopped taking them and was given a "drug holiday" about 13 years ago when a scan showed only osteopenia. My last scan showed good bone density. I exercise regularly, I've done Tai chi for many years and took up Pilates in lock down. I very much doubt if any diet could have provided me with the levels of calcium and Vit D I needed.

I have been reading up on this topic for past 30 yrs back to days when HRT was popular. My understanding is that osteoporosis is a bone condition affecting metabolism of calcium rather than a deficiency. Calcium stores are laid down in youth and over the years that stock is 'turned over', being broken down and reabsorbed naturally. Medications for bone health depend on supplements of Calcium to accompany them. Despite diagnosis of condition 20 yrs ago, I have avoided taking drugs for same but explore other measures.

I have been listening recently to the Zoe Science & Nutrition podcasts (they are free) and are really informative including about dairy and absorption, menopause and gut health and impacts of protein etc - well worth a listen. podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/zoe-science-nutrition/id1611216298 Or search Zoe science on podcasts. They are all world class scientists being interviewed and gives a lot of info - particularly the aging well one.

I understand that few of us are calcium deficient in a dietary sense, it's more about absorption. Most of us are deficient in Vitamin D though. It's always worthwhile getting your eating habits overhauled by a good naturopath, especially as we get older. What one person needs is not what another needs, meds have to be taken into account etc.

Just been diagnosed with osteopenia after a break. Am reluctant to take a supplement as already take 8 tablets a day. Don't exercise enough, never have done unfortunately

Osteoporosis in older women is unlikely to be improved much taking calcium tablets they are not absorbed efficiently. The one treatment that that helps for most is HRT, it’s not a good idea to wait until osteoporosis is a problem because a fall or minor accident can crumble a bone causing pain.

I am lactose intolerant so have avoided dairy for many years.

More recently, I have been scoffing Arla Lactofree products, particularly the cheddar cheese, soft cheese & milks, with no problems or symptoms of intolerance.

www.arlafoods.co.uk/products-overview/arla-lactofree-mature-cheddar-cheese-200g-624/

Readily available in UK supermarkets.

Heidi I bought one for my mother's 90th birthday and she does three 7-min sessions every day with great results including better balance

Crikey! How is your mother's pelvic floor? My female GP advised against it for any post-menopausal women for that reason.

I think it's important to realise that calcification of arteries only occurs where there's been damage, usually caused by thrombi (small or large blood clots) and that restricting your calcium intake is dangerous! Calcium is absolutely necessary for many processes in the body, not just repairing bone. Calcium is poorly absorbed from the gut anyway - you are unlikely to be able to overdose even if you sit and eat a box of school chalks! Take your Calcium & Vitamin. D, have your cheese/milk/youghurt and STOP WORRYING!

Farmor15 - as a vegan, I concur. NASA found that the astronauts lost bone density and put them all on Cellercisers (check out Dave Hall) to strengthen. I bought one in July and am loving my rebounding sessions with light weights (not necessary but I like the resistance!) I bought one for my mother's 90th birthday and she does three 7-min sessions every day with great results including better balance. She even gave up her walker! Green juicing and eating lots of greens is her daily habit as well.

On my osteoporosis diagnosis I was prescribed calcium tablets, unfortunately they made me extremely nauseous and I had to stop taking them. I try to keep my calcium levels up with my diet.

My discussion about osteopenia was part of my cancer review.

Sorry, but I don't really see what a meeting with a doctor would achieve other than reading out to you the leaflets you can read for yourself online.

If you actually had a break, you would be treated and probably given further advice, but you don't have symptoms. If your overall frailty were high, you would probably already be seen by your GP for other reasons. Unfortunately, they are already under enough pressure to see people where they can make a difference.

RRH My osteoporosis was discovered by chance when I had a DEXA scan for a UK Biobank surveey. I had some cracked vertibrae but have no idea when the damage was done, possible in a fall over 12 years ago, otherwise I have never, in my life broken a bone, despite regular falls. I have shrunk in height, but that is about all - and only half an inch more than would be expected anyway.

I just consider that you should be seen just once by the doctor. People can be showing symptoms and problems in actuality that may not show up merely on a Dexa scan. Overall levels of frailty - or not can only be seen and this could be important in designing treatment or giving advice.

I have been given no advice on diet or exercise by any doctor. Just an enquiry about whether I took vitamin D, I do, and a referral to a 'leaflet online. Fine for me who is a trained reearcher and can and will find the information I need, but there will be many out there, especially among the most frail who do not use computers, have no broad nutritional knowledge, and would benefit from referral to a dietician or physiotherapist.

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.

To be honest MOnica, I'm not sure if the hospital could tell you anything you haven't already found out. I assume you've been give the results of your DEXA scan. When I was sent mine, there was a brief explanation about what the figures meant, but I Googled it anyway.

I'm having another scan next year because the post-cancer meds I've been given can cause bone density loss.

I haven't been given anything for the osteopenia, but the GP told me to continue taking Vit D (which I have for years anyway) and not to bother with calcium supplements because I eat loads of dairy, green veg and sardines. I was told to keep on walking, doing step exercises, etc. That was all over the phone. I had the impression that osteoporosis is so common that the NHS just doesn't have the resources to see everybody face-to-face.

As someone who hates cheese I could manage a baby bel!

Osteoporosis is a funny one. You don't have any symptoms, don't feel ill in any way but the problem comes when you break a major bone. Hip and femur fractures can affect your quality of life long term. Not to mention spinal fractures. My grandmother used to be a tall woman and was tiny and stooped by the time she was late 70s.

I do take magnesium for heart health but a warning about vitamin K2, it caused me massive stomach problems when I took it in April and it has taken until now to recover.

That is interesting, *growstuff, yes, I was born in 1943, by which time the nutrition of expectant mothers and children featured high on government plans.
The Ministries of Health and Food instigated a food supplementation policy at the end of 1942 that entitled pregnant women in the UK to extra rations of fruit, dairy produce and to a supply of cod-liver-oil tablets. www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/nutritional-research-in-world-war-2-the-oxford-nutrition-survey-and-its-research-potential-50-years-later/4D06A822615D6FDC0A2B6DC4C8399BC4.

As I was born in late August 1943, my mother would have had the benefit of this for her whole pregancy. Unlike me she loved milk and would have consumed every drop she was given.

Beyond being blindsided by the diagnosis because I was not obviously at risk. I am not particularly bothered by it. I am just finding ways of upping my calcium intake through food, which as I love hard cheese, is not proving difficult. I had a lovely cheese sald for supper today, and snacked on a lite baby bel mid morning. I would have had a second one this afternoon, but I was out.

Since I have had no help or advice from the hospital, I am having to sort out my own salvation. I know many people find the Royal Osteoporosis Society site very good. Unfortunately I find it too actively gentle and caring in tone for my taste. I am/was a professional researcher and prefer my facts hard, referenced and numerical.

Osteocare tablets contain Vitamin D, calcium and magnesium plus other minerals such as zinc.

Magnesium helps to prevent cramp too.

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Calcium also needs magnesium. Magnesium is a "transporter", and carries the calcium to where it is needed. Without magnesium, calcium gets deposited in the arteries. Vitamin D3 is also a "bone builder" and needs Vitamin K2 to increase its effect.

That’s good to know because that’s pretty much what I take. You can’t take K2 if you’re on blood thinners I believe though.I, too, stopped going to the gym because of covid and must start going again.

@RedRidingHood Regular yogurt contains more calcium than Greek, which might be helpful (or not!)?

MOnica Several studies show that intrauterine fetal bone mineralization or early postnatal bone condition influences the risk of osteoporosis in later life. In other words, if your mother lacked Vitamin D or calcium in her diet while she was pregnant, it could have affected you. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you were a wartime baby, so that is very possible.

People reach peak bone mass in their twenties. After that, they lose more bone mass than they gain. People can slow down the loss with diet and exercise, but it's inevitable and your risk might have increased before you were even born. I doubt if you had your peak bone mass tested when you were in your twenties and it's suggested that this is a risk factor for osteoporosis, as are genetic factors.

I have osteopenia, so I did some research on this. Too much calcium can indeed cause problems, such as kidney stones and interference with how your heart and brain work. High calcium levels can also cause joint pain. My GP recommended that I didn't take calcium supplements because my diet should provide me with enough, but that depends on the individual.

Calcium also needs magnesium. Magnesium is a "transporter", and carries the calcium to where it is needed. Without magnesium, calcium gets deposited in the arteries. Vitamin D3 is also a "bone builder" and needs Vitamin K2 to increase its effect.

I'll be looking for Babbibels again following your post Monica, I remember putting them in my children's lunch boxes years ago.

I have just been diagnosed with osteoporosis following a dexa scan that showed that at some time, not sure when, I had fractured some vertibrae. I have a weak ankle and dyspraxia and fall over regulalry but have never broken anything, vertibrae apart.

I do not drink milk or eat yoghourt. It makes me feel sick and queasy and I may be mildly lactose intolerant, but I have always loved hard cheese, every member of the brassica family and have always walked and exercised a lot. I went on the Royal Osteoporosis Society site and completed their questionnaire abut the probability of having osteoporosis and the answer was I didn't have any of the conditions or life style choices that make it probable, heigh ho!

I have been taking a Vitamin D supplement for some years, but despite that and eating plentyof calcium high foods, it doesn't seem to have stopped me developing it.

I am on Alendronic acid and have been told that that and plenty of calcium will lead to my bones becoming stronger, and someone on the other osteoporosis thread said that aftersome years on ti, their bones were back to the average for their age.

My go to calcium supplement has become Lite Babibels. Those little edam, red wax covered baby cheeses. Each one contains just short of 20% of your daily calcium requirement and only 42 calories. I am also eating more oranges, which are also relatively high in calcium. i have replaced an apple a day with a n ornage a day.