“Food as Medicine”?. ( Part 2 )

Health is a large word.It embraces not the body only,but the mind and spirit as well.

We all need calcium rich foods in our diets to keep our bones strong.

This is especially true for women under 30:that’s the crucial time they build their calcium stores for later life.

Less understood is which foods we should eat.

Many nutritional guidelines recommend dairy products as a rich calcium source.Unfortunately not everyone is able to tolerate dairy food and there has been doubt that taking calcium in this way offers any significant advantage.

Around the world,many populations have little or no dairy foods and yet have healthy bones and few fractures.There have also been studies - The Nurse study of 77,000 women which found no evidence that women who consumed a lot of dairy products had stronger bones.

If anything those individuals seemed to be more at risk.How our body manage calcium is complicated.For example,while dairy products have lots of calcium they also contain lots of protein,which may leach the calcium back out of the bones.

At present the best advice is to eat a wide range of foods that are calcium rich.

There are many non-dairy foods fortified with calcium like tofu and some orange juices.Eating canned fish with soft bones,green leafy vegetables,almonds,cereals and legumes can all help boost your non dairy calcium intake.