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  Osteoporosis
  • Bone Basics
  • Risk Factors
  • Prevention
  • Calcium Food Sources
 Risk Factors
The women with the highest risk factor for osteoporosis are usually white or asian and are small and thin. Other risk factors include:

  • a family history of osteoporosis
  • having an early or surgically induced (both ovaries removed) menopause before the age of 45
  • being a post menopausal women
  • being physically inactive
  • smoking cigarettes or having an excessive alcohol intake
  • a diet habit that is low in calcium sources (dairy products and some vegetables like broccolli)
  • those individuals who must take high doses of cortisone-like drugs (therapies used in asthma, arthritis, or cancer) or taking high doses of thyroid medication

If you fall into any of the above risk catagories and you are in your forties, discuss your risks with your physician. Your physician may want a test called a bone-density measurement. This "baseline" measurement is useful later when it is compared to tests performed later in life to determine the density loss in the bone.

 Calcium Food Sources

Dairy Sources:

Skim milk		1 cup	302 mg

Low fat cottage cheese	1 cup	155 mg

Plain fat yogart	8 oz.	415 mg

Non-Dairy Sources

Almonds			1 oz.	 66 mg

Bread, whole wheat	1 slice	 25 mg

Broccoli, raw		1 spear	 72 mg

Broccoli, cooked	1/2 cup	 68 mg

Carrot, raw		1 med.	 27 mg

Collards, cooked	1/2 cup	168 mg

Dates, chopped		1/4 cup	 26 mg

Dried beans, cooked	1/2 cup	 26 mg

(lima, navy, kidney)

Orange			1 med.	 60 mg

Raisins			1/4 cup	 22 mg

Peanut butter		2 tbsp.	 18 mg

Salmon, pink		3 oz.	167 mg

(canned with bones)

Sardines		3 oz.	372 mg

(Atlantic with bones)

Spinach, cooked		1/2 cup	 84 mg

Tortilla, corn		1 med.	 80 mg

Turnip greens, cooked	1/2 cup	134 mg
Last Modified: 7/27/97,
Copyright © 1994, 1995 University of Texas - Houston Medical School, DPALM MEDIC
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