Well I'm glad to say that I don't eat an average American diet, and the majority of my family and friends don't either. Maybe this has something to do with my age and how I was raised, but we weren't allowed to have fast foods, soft drinks and many other things, and there was always a great emphasis on fruits, veggies and low fat.
When I calculate my calcium from diet (700mgs) I don't think it's that bad. I do supplement the difference I need in pill form to make up for what I may be lacking which is 500 mgs of supplements.
I does get annoying to be automatically lumped into what most Americans eat, but I totally understand that's the way of the world 
Thanks for the great article!
Ah, within the tendancy to "lump" people together lies the crux of evidence based medicine. And this reminds me of one of my favorite quotes from Dr. Cassel's book The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine:
Nowhere in the formulations of evidence-based medicine does there seem to be an acknowledged place for the individual differences between patients and their illnesses or variations in the expertise and skills of the individual physicians. A uniform practice of medicine makes for uniform commodity. Depersonalized medicine.
Sadly, that is the way of this world.
Maybe the women of New Zealand get plenty of calcium in their diets, but I am pretty sure that most (not all) Americans, even those who do eat healthily, should be taking some calcium to fill any gaps.
Sorry if you felt depersonalized.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
I had an aunt who lived in NewZealand. She could pick grapefruit off a tree in her backyard and had a year round veggie garden. I live in Northern North Minneosta and am lucky to have 60 day/year growing season. Fresh veggies cost more than steak and they usually aren't very fresh by the time they get up here. We may be seeing a geographic difference in diets here.
Excellent point. With tremendous geographic and cultural differences in diets, we must all be aware of the potential gaps in our particular diet and fill the gaps accordingly.
Personally, I choose to recommend both Calcium and Vitamin D supplements to all of my clients (and I take them both as well) even though we in California have one of the top produce producing regions in the world. Even still, most Californians do not eat enough plants to fill the calcium gap.
Maybe if we all ate more seaweed, we would not need so many calcium pills. Just a thought.
Dr. Christina Lasich, MD