If you are an active person, consuming calcium may rev up your engine for breaking down fat. The mice lost 42 percent of their body fat and a fifth of their body weight in six weeks. The mice that consumed calcium from low-fat dairy sources lost more weight than those who were fed supplements. Besides dairy products, calcium is also found in calcium-fortified foods such as orange juice and cereals. So far, all of the calcium studies with weight loss have been sponsored by a dairy trade organization, and more research is needed to confirm the link.
All runners are at risk for injury, but women distance runners have some special concerns.
Menstrual dysfunction occurs more often in women who distance train. Female endurance runners with this condition also miss more training time recovering from injuries than those with normal cycles. The results show that 25 percent of the runners had menstrual dysfunction, which is higher than the general population. Many of the runners experienced common running injuries. Female runners with menstrual dysfunction were also sidelined longer recovering from injury.