In case you haven't heard, Phen / Fen has been found to cause heart valve problems requiring surgery or in some cases death when undiagnosed. These drugs were withdrawn by the FDA in September 1997 after the Mayo Clinic and a doctor in Fargo ND identified the heart valve problems of people on these drugs. I would highly recommend you ask your doctor about this immediately and whether you should be taking these drugs.

If you get muscle cramps in your legs (calves especially) at night, your blood may be low in calcium. If you are not eating calcium rich foods on your weight loss diet, I would highly recommend you start eating dairy foods (3 - 4 cups of skim milk per day or 3 - 4 ounces of low fat cheese) or taking calcium supplements - 1,000 mg for adult men and menstruating women (19 to 50 years of age) or 1,200 mg for menopausal women (51+ years of age) per day.

All three children need 800 mg of calcium per day. One cup of milk (regardless of fat content) contains approximately 300 mg of calcium. So 2 2/3 cups of milk (or substitute 1 oz of cheese for 1 cup of milk) each day will provide each of your children with sufficient calcium.

Your bones contain mostly calcium and phosphorus which are minerals that give bone its rigidity. Your bones have the breaking strength of cast iron. In other words, as much pressure as it would take to break a cast iron pan, it would take that much force to break a bone. Pretty amazing for a body part!

I read nutrition research and use that information to answer people's questions. No further information at this time other than bones when used as a calcium supplement can be a source of lead and mercury poisoning.

Probably the biggest advocate of dolomite (crushed animal bones that may contain toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium and others.) was Adelle Davis who is now deceased. Unfortunately, her books are still in circulation and influencing people's choices of supplements.

Thanks for the comments.

Even though you are almost 70 years old, I would recommend you drink two cups of milk or calcium rich foods per day. Milk products like milk and cheese are still the best sources of calcium.

If you don't tolerate milk or milk products, I would suggest a calcium and vitamin D supplement. There are many available in your pharmacy. However, some supplements contain vitamin D and some do not. Ask your pharmacist to recommend a good supplement for you. The average recommended daily dose of calcium is 1500 milligrams per day for women not taking estrogen and 800 milligrams per day for women on estrogen. These recommended amounts include both diet and supplement amounts of calcium. This is a subject being hotly discussed among nutrition scientists. I would also suggest you discuss this with your doctor for him/her to consider your other health concerns. (Do not take calcium supplements or overeat milk products if you have a history of kidney or bladder stones.)

Your bones are your calcium savings account and your blood calcium is your calcium checking account. You don't want to take calcium out of your bone savings because it will make your bones less strong for the future.

When the amount of calcium in your blood goes down, unless there is enough calcium coming in from your diet, your body draws on your bone calcium (savings) for more. As a result, your bones become more porous and fragile. This is a major factor in broken hips so common in seniors, especially women.

How much calcium is in your bones, however, is not a simple issue of getting enough calcium and vitamin D during your growth years. Estrogen and exercise both play a role. Since you have already gone through menopause, you are not making estrogen. Estrogen helps keep calcium in your bones. Exercise also helps keep bones hard. Any weight bearing exercise, except swimming, stress your bones and keep them hard. Talk to your doctor about an exercise program for you. Studies in Wisconsin have shown that women in their 80's and 90's can increase bone hardness. It's not too late to increase your bone hardness.

Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium and deposit the calcium in your bones. The best food sources of vitamin D are fortified milk products and fatty ocean fish. You can also absorb vitamin D through your skin that is exposed to sunlight. However, with sun exposure, you risk a greater chance of skin cancer. In the northern half of the United States, you can't depend on sunlight for all your vitamin D needs.

Milk can be whole, 2 percent, 1 percent, skim or buttermilk.

The best-absorbed form of calcium from a pill is a calcium salt like carbonate or phosphate. Calcium gluconate and calcium lactate are absorbed well by pregnant women. Seniors absorb calcium lactate, gluconate and citrate better unless they take their calcium supplement with a full breakfast. Take the supplement with each meal instead of all at once. I would suggest that you ask your pharmacist to recommend a calcium supplement with vitamin D added. The recommended daily dose is 1500 milligrams of elemental calcium per day for women not taking estrogen and 800 milligrams per day for women on estrogen. Read the bottle label. Some will list the amount of calcium carbonate compound rather than the amount of elemental calcium. (Milk and milk products are still the best source of calcium since they also contain riboflavin (B2), phosphorus, potassium, vitamin A and protein.)

Do not take bone meal or dolomite calcium as a supplement. Bone meal calcium comes from slaughterhouse animals' bones. Both may be contaminated with toxic metals such as arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium and others. Animals as well as people store heavy metal toxins in their bones. Any heavy metals you have ever been exposed to, are stored in your bones. Grinding them up doesn't rid the bones of heavy metals. Leaded paint and leaded gas have added greatly to our lead exposure also.

True and False. Check the Nutrition Facts label on the antacid. Some antacids do contain calcium carbonate (contains 40% calcium), but the amounts vary between brand names. You will need at least seven antacid tablets per day to fulfill your calcium requirement. According to my pharmacist, one brand of antacid contains 160 milligrams of calcium.

Calcium supplementation currently recommended is 1,500 milligrams per day for women not taking estrogen and 800 milligrams per day for women on estrogen. No matter what the fat content of milk is, there is close to 300 milligrams of calcium in one cup of fluid milk. Calcium carbonate is currently the best and least expensive form of calcium supplement available. A roll of antacids is slightly more expensive per day than the same amount of calcium carbonate supplements.

I have some concerns about using antacids as calcium supplements. The absorption of some other vitamins and minerals is decreased in the presence of antacids. The absorption of riboflavin, vitamin C and iron is decreased by antacids. According to the same pharmacist, antacids used as a calcium supplement does not seen to negatively effect absorption of other vitamins as much as liquid antacids. He stated that calcium supplements should be taken three times per day, much in the same way we advise milk drinking. Therefore, if you took two or three antacids per day, the negative effect should not effect absorption, but you wouldn't get enough vitamin D. Vitamin D is necessary for absorption of calcium and the storage of calcium in bone. Antacids do not contain vitamin D.

If you have heart, kidney or liver disease, high blood pressure, are on a low salt diet or suffer from water retention, consult your physician BEFORE taking any antacids. Antacids containing magnesium (liquid antacids) may cause diarrhea and aluminum containing antacids (liquid antacids) may cause constipation.

Dr. Heaney at Creighton University has done considerable work on calcium absorption and antacids. Dr. Heaney concludes that the differences among most calcium supplements are irrelevant if antacids are taken with a meal. Many antacids are absorbed as well as or better then food sources (like milk) if taken with a meal.

Your bones have the breaking strength of cast iron, but are flexible. The human skeleton is the slowest system to mature and your bone hardness peaks at age 35. Even so, you can do a lot with your diet to keep your bones hard after age 35 if you consume 800 milligrams of calcium per day and participate in a daily exercise program.

You can meet the Recommended Dietary Allowances of 800 milligrams (persons 25 to 51 years of age) of calcium from other good food sources like cheese, cream soups, custard, pudding and ice cream. Milk and milk products are by far the best sources of calcium. Other good food sources of calcium are canned fish with edible bones. Canned salmon, sardines and mackerel are good sources of calcium. Try mashing your potatoes with milk and using milk in other cooking.

Otherwise, I would advise you to consider a calcium supplement. You will need 1,500 milligrams of calcium per day for women not taking estrogen and 800 milligrams per day for women on estrogen. Ask your pharmacist for his/her product recommendation.

Osteoporosis is characterized by a loss of calcium from bone, especially the spine. A simple test for osteoporosis in adults is to measure your arm span and compare that measurement to your height. Stretch your arms straight out from your shoulder and have someone else measure your arm span in inches from your right middle finger tip to your left middle finger tip, going across your back. This measurement should equal your height in stocking feet. Any difference between these two measurements may reflect the amount of height loss due to osteoporosis.

Another test for osteoporosis can be done by a x-ray. However, by the time osteoporosis shows up on a x-ray, 40% of bone may have been lost. Also, x-rays are not used as a screening tool since your radiation exposure accumulates over your lifetime and the smaller your radiation exposure, the better.

Previously, osteoporosis has not appeared in women until later life (after 55). We used to think that it was from a life long habit of not drinking milk. Researchers now believe osteoporosis involves multiple factors including calcium, vitamin D, estrogen and exercise. We may be seeing more osteoporosis at a younger age because of the starvation imposed by anorexia.

To ensure an adequate intake of calcium (RDA is 800 milligrams for females (25 to 51+ years), you should drink two to three cups of milk per day. Other foods that are equal to one cup of milk are:

• 1 oz grated or shredded Parmesan, Romano cheese
  
• 1 1/2 ounces of hard cheese (Brick, Cheddar, Colby, Edam, Gouda, Gruyere, Monterey Jack, Mozzarella, Muenster, Provolone, Roquefort, Swiss, Tilsit, American);
  
• 3 1/2 ounces of shrimp;
  
• 3/4 cup macaroni and cheese or Total cereal;
  
• 1 cup of yogurt, baked custard, pudding or kefir;
  
• 1 1/8 cup of tofu;
  
• 1 1/2 cup of oysters or soybeans;
  
• 1 3/4 cup of cream soup or ice cream;
  
• 2 cups of cottage cheese or baked beans.
  
  

Foods such as canned salmon or sardines, dark green leafy vegetables (spinach, Swiss chard, collards, bok choy, kale or beet, dandelion, mustard, turnip greens) and broccoli are good sources of calcium also. Any food that would have a milk product as an ingredient like pizza or tacos would also be a good source. So for the calcium content, milk, hard cheese, pudding and custards are your best choice.

The other alternative is a calcium supplement. Ask your pharmacist to recommend one. You will need 1000 to 1500 milligrams of calcium per day to substitute for milk.

Cooking does not alter the calcium in milk. Calcium from milk in baked custard stays in the same form as calcium in fluid milk. Minerals are usually pretty stable to most cooking methods.

The absorption of calcium can be decreased by oxylates in green leafy vegetables, by phytates in bran or by alkaline substances like antacids. A high protein diet or large intake of carbonated beverages, both high in phosphorus, increase calcium excretion because you do not have any hormones in your body to regulate phosphorus. Your kidneys regulate how much phosphorus is in your blood. When phosphorus gets too high, your kidneys excrete the extra. Unfortunately, phosphorus and calcium are closely associated and calcium gets excreted along with the phosphorus.