Are you getting enough calcium in your diet?

If you’re a post-menopausal woman, you’re at risk for osteoporosis. Sufficient calcium in your daily diet is one key way to help prevent this potentially life-altering disease. But how much, exactly, do you need?

The National Osteoporosis Foundation recommends that men and women over age 50 get 1200mg of calcium daily, through diet and/or supplements. For some women at higher risk—including breast cancer survivors taking an aromatase inhibitor—the number jumps to 1500mg daily. 

How much calcium are YOU consuming every day?

Well, if you love dairy products, probably quite a bit. All dairy products are high in calcium. Think milk (everything from skim to full fat); cottage cheese; yogurt; sour cream; cheese, and all the dishes where dairy plays a starring role (pudding, frozen yogurt, cheese omelet, smoothies, mac and cheese, ice cream…) 

So, what if you don’t love dairy… or it doesn’t love you? Certain green leafy vegetables (kale, broccoli); and certain fish (salmon, sardines) are very high in calcium.

But let’s face it: broccoli, kale, sardines, and salmon aren’t foods you’re going to eat every day. So let’s look at another alternative to dairy: foods fortified with calcium, the number of which are steadily increasing.

Think fortified orange juice, and breakfast cereal, bread, snacks, and even some bottled waters. You don't even have to become a label-reader; anything fortified with calcium will probably blast it out right on the front of the package. 

Speaking of, most labels give calcium as “%DV,” which means the percentage that food provides of the daily calcium amount the government has determined you need. Which is, conveniently, 1000mg. When you read a label that gives calcium as “20% DV*, that means that there are 200mg of calcium per serving in that food. Simple, huh? Just add a “0” to the percentage, and that’s how many milligrams of calcium you’re getting.

This is the nutritional panel from a box of Cheerios. See the "Calcium, 10%" at the bottom? Add a "0" to 10% to get 100mg of calcium in one serving of Cheerios. By the way, the nutritional panel also tells you how much 1 serving is—for cereal, usually 3/4 or 1 cup.

OK, let’s cut to the chase. Here are 10 easy ways to make sure you’re consuming enough calcium every day to keep your bones strong and healthy.

1) Drink milk. It’s the single easiest, least expensive source of calcium you can get. Skim, full fat, 2%, doesn’t matter; all will give you about 300mg calcium per cup. Plus 25% of your recommended daily dose of vitamin D.

By the way, most soy milks also check in at 300mg calcium per cup, so if you’re lactose-intolerant, soy is a great substitute. And, if you tiried soy milk years ago and thought "YUCK," try it again. It's lost its "grassy" taste, and while not exactly like milk, it's quite tasty.