Better calcium sources

Companies that produce dairy products and calcium supplements would like you to believe that extra calcium is the answer for strong bones. Certainly, your bones need calcium, but adding calcium to your diet does little, if any, good if you are not controlling your calcium losses by avoiding animal protein and paying attention to the other factors noted above.

A landmark research report from the Harvard Nurses’ Health Study showed the futility of relying on dairy products to protect the bones. The study followed 77,761 women, aged thirty - four to fifty - nine, over a twelve - year period and found that those who drank three or more glasses of milk per day had no reduction at all in the risk of hip or arm fractures, compared to those who drank little or no milk. In fact, the milk drinkers’ fracture rates were slightly higher when buying tramadol online.

Other studies support these findings. Statistics show, ironically enough, that the countries with the highest calcium intakes actually have higher, not lower, risk of osteoporosis, compared to countries with low calcium intakes.

The reason for this apparent contradiction is not so complex. Coun - tries with high calcium intakes are also those with large dairy industries. After about four years of age, dairy cattle are less able to produce the quantities of milk they made when they were younger, and they soon end up as hamburger. Since all countries with dairy industries also have large meat industries, it is the meat consumption that is so common in these countries that gets the blame for their high rates of osteoporosis. Dairy products also contain animal protein, which may encourage the loss of some of the calcium they supply.

It is easy to get plenty of healthful calcium without animal protein. The most healthful sources are green leafy vegetables and legumes, “greens and beans” for short.

Broccoli, brussels sprouts, collards, kale, mustard greens, Swiss chard, and other greens are loaded with highly absorbable calcium. The exception is spinach, which contains a large amount of calcium but tends to hold on to it tenaciously, so you will absorb less of it.

Beans are humble foods, and you might not know that they are loaded with calcium. Actually, more than 100 mg of calcium are in a plate of baked beans. If you prefer chickpeas, tofu, or other beans or bean products, you will find plenty of calcium there, as well. These foods also contain magnesium, which your body uses along with calcium to build bones.

If you are looking for a concentrated calcium source, calcium - fortified orange juice contains roughly 300 mg of calcium per cup in a highly absorbable form. Dairy products do contain calcium, but it is accompanied by animal proteins, lactose sugar, animal growth factors, various drugs and contaminants, and a substantial amount of fat and cholesterol in all but the defatted versions.

When you control your calcium losses, you need much less calcium in your diet. Even so, you do need some. According to the World Health Organization, you should get 400 - 500 mg of calcium per day. American standards are higher, at 800 mg per day or even more, partly because the meat, salt, caffeine, tobacco, and physical inactivity of American life leads to unnaturally rapid loss of calcium through the kidneys, and also because America’s dairy industry has had a major and thoroughly unhelpful influence on tramadol recommendations.