According to a study done by Rutgers University, premenopausal women need 1000 milligrams or more of calcium daily when dieting to prevent osteoporosis.* That is 2-3 servings of dairy products such a milk or yogurt.

I am guilty of not getting enough calcium even with I am not dieting. I am mildly lactose intolerant (mildly because I can still have ice cream!), so I rarely have milk in my diet and milk related foods such as cheese and cereal (doesn’t taste good without milk).

I have a container of multivitamin pills that I rarely take. There is something about that BIG chalky tablet that just makes it very easy for me to ignore, even though I put it on this shelf near our dining table. Some vitamins are best taken with food because they are not water soluble. I thought having it in the same room as where I normally have my meals will prompt me to pop one in my mouth on regularly. That Centrum bottle has been sitting there for a year even though there are only 30 tablets in it.

Lately I discover Viactiv chocolate calcium chews. It has Vitamin D and K to help with the calcium absorption in your body. The directions said that you can take one chew up to three times daily, preferably with meals. I take three of them after dinner as my desert rather than reach for ice cream. It tastes good. Not as good as a Hershey’s bar, but enough for me to want to take my supplement. I brought a container from Costco with 120 chews in it a month ago. I only have a quarter left. I found that Viactiv also makes a multivitamin chocolate chew as well. I am going to try that next after I finish this container.

My husband and I had a conversation on multivitamins last week. Since I am on this quest to improve my health, I want to improve his as well. He does not like the whole chew idea. He prefers to takes his multivitamin in a gummy form (ie. gummy bears). I know there is a gummy multivitamin for kids, but I am not sure about the dosage for an adult in order to get the correct milligrams. So if anyone knows where I can find a gummy multivitamin for adults, please let me know.

*American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, April 2007