However, muscle contraction, in and by itself, will help maintain or stimulate bone formation. I find it difficult for a patient to do an exercise activity that they do not enjoy, and will not participate in as a long term endeavor. One is taking a diet high in calcium. So calcium rich foods, dairy products, certain vegetables such as broccoli, small fish are very high in calcium. So one can schedule one's diet to have more than enough adequate calcium.
Some patients find it easier, however, merely to take a calcium salt.
There are many calcium preparations on the market. The recommended intake of calcium, which includes diet and supplements per day in people over the age of approximately sixty is twelve hundred milligrams. The average calcium intake in diet in women in our country is approximately five hundred to six hundred milligrams. Therefore, if one supplements that with five hundred milligrams of any number of preparations one can find in the drug store, that would be adequate. People will take supplements simply for ease, and not having to think about eating any particular foods.