We all know calcium is good for our bones, but why? Humans have four parathyroid glands that are dedicated to the distribution of calcium to the body. Calcium is stored in our bones and is released into the bloodstream at the directions of these glands. The calcium deposits in our bones are what make them so dense. The problem comes in when one or more gland is overactive. Calcium is constantly released into the bloodstream and your bones lose more than they should.

Our bones continue to get stronger till about 35 years of age, when their absorption and retention of calcium starts to lessen. At this point in our lives we lose about 1% of our bone mass each year. This is especially apparent for women. Women statistically live longer than men, have smaller bones than men, and unfortunately start to lose a lot of bone mass after menopause. When a woman is pregnant or breast feeding, her calcium deposits are depleted even faster because they are transferred to the fetus or the breast milk.

Osteoporosis is the massive loss of calcium from our bones. The lower bone in the picture is a normal bone fragment, while the one on the top is from someone with osteoporosis. As you can see the top fragment has many more holes, hence it is less dense. The less dense your bones are the more likely they are to break. A person in their 40's or a pregnant woman needs about 1,500 mg of calcium per day. Unfortunately, a cup of milk only has about 300 mg, so calcium supplements are necessary to make up the difference.

Vitamin Depot Online.com offers Bone Restore, which provides 1,200 elemental milligrams from three different forms of calcium per daily dose, and nutrients needed to support healthy bones.