The University of California's Wellness Letter indicates that broccoli has as much calcium, ounce for ounce, as milk. As mentioned in Mann's Nutrition Report, calcium is an essential mineral in building and maintaining bone mass, as well as controlling muscle functions. It is critical to eat enough calcium rich foods during childhood and young adulthood to build up adequate bone mass. At the age of thirty to forty the bone mass density begins to decline, even if you have built adequate bone mass in your younger years. This is even more critical for women because a lack of calcium in the diet, combined with the body's inability to absorb calcium efficiently, contributes to the onset of osteoporosis.
Osteoporosis is a drastic loss of bone mass and density that increasingly makes bone more fragile.
During and after menopause, woman's estrogen production impairs the bones' ability to retain calcium. Many other lifestyle factors affect this bone mass reduction including exercise, heredity, and drugs. Broccoli helps fight obesity by being a low-fat, low calorie, highly nutritious vegetable option to any healthy meal plan. Eating lots of broccoli fills you up with the bulk of high-fiber, and without adding extra calories. In the United States obesity is a growing concern for both adults and especially children, which is why a healthy well-rounded diet with an exercise program is so critical to follow.