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Recommendation: Calcium
Rationale: 1000 mg/day or 1500 mg/day for postmenopausal women not taking hormone replacement therapy.
Notes: Deficiency increases bone loss and risk of osteoporosis; supplementation slows the rate by at least 30-50 percent and offers significant protection against hip fractures; increase dosage with age.
Avoid oyster shell or bone meal forms of calcium because they may contain substantial amounts of lead; refined calcium carbonate has the lowest lead content, but calcium chelates are better absorbed, as is calcium citrate.
Recommendation: Magnesium
Rationale: 600 mg/day
Notes: Women with osteoporosis have lower bone magnesium content than people without osteoporosis.
If you are prone to constipation, increasing your dosage of magnesium somewhat may help.
Recommendation: Boron
Rationale: 3-5 mg/day
Notes: Vital for effective absorption and assimilation of calcium.
Present in many foods, but amounts vary depending on soil content.
Recommendation: Vitamin D
Rationale: 400 IU/day
Notes: Studies combining vitamin D with calcium supplementation show increased bone density results.
Spending 10-15 minutes in direct sunlight twice a week should be adequate for a 40-year-old; after 65, add one half to one hour, two or three times a week.
Recommendation: Ipriflavone
Rationale: a synthetic isoflavone similar in structure to soy isoflavones. 200 mg 3x/day
Notes: In several short-term studies, ipriflavone, taken in conjunction with calcium, produced a notable increase in bone mineral density. Mechanism of action appears to enhance calcium metabolism.
A recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed ipriflavone did not reduce fracture rates or prevent bone loss and in fact lowered the number of white blood cells in several cases. With this new evidence, researchers believe ipriflavone should be used with caution and under the advice of a health care practitioner.