Osteoporosis: Calcium and a healthy diet

Mum has been diagnosed with osteoporosis after a fractured hip. How can I ensure she gets enough calcium and vitamin D? Should she be on supplements?

As we age, our requirements for calcium and vitamin D increase. People aged 65 years and over need three to four serves of dairy foods a day to meet their calcium requirements. A serve is a glass of milk or 40g of cheese or a tub of yoghurt. If your Mum prefers soy products to milk products, just remember that soy contains very little calcium.

To ensure she gets enough calcium, choose soy products with added calcium (indicated on the packaging). Sardines or salmon are another good source of calcium because we eat the calcium rich fish bones. Some vegetables and nuts also contain calcium but need to be eaten in very large amounts to obtain adequate levels.

For example, you would need to eat 1 kg of broccoli to get the same amount of calcium (300 mg) that a glass of milk provides! Calcium is also poorly absorbed from vegetables and nuts but well absorbed from dairy and fish sources.

Vitamin D is also essential to maintain bone strength and prevent osteoporosis for without vitamin D, our bodies would absorb very little calcium. Foods rich in vitamin D include margarine and eggs, and fish such as salmon, tuna and sardines, however, most of us only manage to get about 3 mgs from our diet.

Luckily, the body also produces its own vitamin D in the skin but needs ultraviolet light to do so. To get the recommended 15 mgs required, we need a few hours of direct sunlight (i.e. without sunscreen) on our skin each week and the safest time to be out in the sun without sunscreen is before 11 am and after 3 pm.

Article by
AgedCarer contributor
Danielle Weber
Nutrition consultant