Best food for it: milk and other dairy products (such as yogurt, cheese and cottage cheese), broccoli dark green leafy vegetables, soy product and food fortified with calcium, including fortified orange juice and soy milk
Do you need a supplement? : if you don't get enough of the mineral from your diet, calcium supplements can help you meet your needs. (Take only up to 500 milligrams of calcium at a time since the body can't absorb more than that at once.) Populations who may need more calcium include pregnant and nursing women, and perimenopausal and menopausal woman. If you do take calcium, be sure to take a vitamin D supplement along with it. "Recently, an analysis of several studies suggested that taking calcium supplements without vitamin D is associated with an increased risk of heart attacks," say Tammy lakatos and lyssie lakatos, (aka the nutrition twins), both registered dietitians and authors of The Secret To Skinny.
The bottom line : Aim to get three serving of diary or equally calcium-fortified food each day, and include leafy green vegetables in your diet. "Keep in mind that it's best to go for low-fat and fat-free dairy options to avoid the saturated fat that raises cholesterol," say tammy lakatos. If you aren't able to stomach enough calcium-rich foods daily, consider a calcium supplement in combination with vitamin D.