Bone appetit

Is the occasional vanilla latte the only dairy you’re getting in your diet? For shame.

This when you know full well that getting your RDA of calcium (1000 mg daily for women 19-50 years old) is more important than catching the latest episode of The Bachelor? Yes, even more important than Jake’s latest rose ceremony and that’s because after we hit our peak bone mass around our late teens to early 20s, in our 30s and 40s, we lose about one to two percent of bone mass annually. Yikes.

That said, I can relate to how finding sources of calcium that fit into your diet can sometimes be difficult. Nibbling on brie and digging into a pint of ice cream will up your calcium intake, but it’ll also pack on the pounds. Milk is a good dietary source, obviously, but not a solution if, like me, you’ve never been much of a milk drinker. (Besides, if milk goes hand in hand with cookies for you, well, you’re back to packing on the weight).

Which is what makes choosing the new Yoplait Asana a no-brainer. It contains twice the amount of calcium compared to a regular yogurt (which works out to 20 percent of the RDA). Asana is also a good source of vitamin D — high blood levels of which, in a study published this week, was found to be linked to a significant decrease in colon cancer risk. Plus, it contains more than one billion probiotic bacteria so it’s also a healthy boost for your intestinal tract. All in a yummy 90-calories-per-serving package. More calcium, fewer calories — that’s a concept I can get behind.

Curious about how well you’ve been treating your body to calcium? Check how you’re doing by clicking here.

Leave a Comment January 28, 2010