Daily calcium intake calculator
Recommended calcium intake for women over 50 is 1,200 mg a day in the United States. Bone loss is fastest in the first years after the final period, and calcium supports bone within requirements without preventing osteoporosis by itself. Food sources are generally preferred to supplements: high-dose calcium supplementation has been questioned on cardiovascular grounds while dietary calcium has not.
Women can lose up to 20% of their bone density in the five to seven years after the final period, because estrogen normally restrains the cells that break bone down. Calcium and vitamin D are necessary for bone but not sufficient — they support it, they do not by themselves prevent osteoporosis, and taking more than needed confers no additional benefit.
Enter roughly how many servings you have on a typical day. The calculator uses standard approximate values, so the result is an estimate rather than a measurement.
Based on a published formula
Recommended dietary allowance, calcium — 1,200 mg per day for women over 50 (US recommendation). Estimates below use standard serving values and are indicative.
Read more on this
Osteoporosis after menopause: the silent decade
Diet in menopause: what the evidence supports and what it does not
Strength training in menopause: why it moved to first place
Sources
- NIH Office of Dietary Supplements — Calcium
- NIH Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases National Resource Center
- The Menopause Society — patient education