According to a panel convened by the National Institutes of Health, women who are still menstruating, or who are postmenopausal but taking hormone replacement therapy, should consume 1,000 mg of calcium each day. Postmenopausal women who are not being treated with estrogen should get 1,500 mg daily. Because most women take in through their diet only half or a third as much calcium as they need, some practitioners recommend calcium supplements to make up the difference. Calcium supplements are available in many forms, but chelated forms, such as calcium citrate and calcium gluconate, appear to be better absorbed and often better tolerated. A veal bone supplement that provides calcium and trace minerals is sometimes prescribed as well.
Calcium supplements can inhibit the absorption of salicylates, tetracycline and other medications.
Check with your practitioner before beginning a supplementation program. To help keep estrogen levels from dropping precipitously after menopause, and thus help prevent osteoporosis, some alternative practitioners advise postmenopausal women to consume more foods containing plant estrogens, especially tofu, soybean milk and other soy products. Add nonfat dry milk to everyday foods and beverages, including soups, stews and casseroles. Each teaspoon of dry milk adds about 20 mg of calcium to your diet. Add a little vinegar to the water you use to make soup stock from bones.