DHEA has been shown to stimulate osteoblast activity to help prevent bone loss. The recommended dose for most women is about 25 to 50 mg a day. Women over the age of 35 or 40 should consider taking melatonin in the range of 500 mcg to 3 mg every night to help prevent osteoporosis and reduce the carcinogenic risks associated with estrogen replacement therapy. A number of women take calcium tablets, but calcium is a strong binding agent that is often difficult to break down in the digestive tract. Calcium capsules, on the other hand, burst open in the stomach within 5 minutes for quick absorption into the bloodstream.
Calcium supplementation is only one part of an osteoporosis prevention and treatment program.
For bone mineral maintenance and replacement, the Life Extension Foundation recommends that women take between 1000 and 2000 mg of elemental calcium along with 600 to 1000 mg of elemental magnesium every day. The addition of between 400 and 1000 IU of vitamin D3 is mandatory to ensure optimal calcium absorption. The inability to absorb calcium is a major reason that calcium therapy fails to prevent or slow the progression of osteoporosis. Vitamin D3 taken with calcium will normally promote absorption and assimilation of calcium into the bone matrix. Visit the LEF Forum .