When you're in your twenties, everything feels great. You've acquired up to 90 percent of peak bone mass and bone density. You have a car, a killer apartment, you're in love and you have a smile models would kill for. By the time you get to be your mother's age, the apartment has been traded in for an equity line of credit, the love of your life forgets your anniversary and you'd smile if your bones didn't feel so darn lousy some of the time. You wish you were your teenage daughter.
Actually, unless your daughter takes a calcium supplement and avoids hanging out for hours at the computer, you don't want to be her. The reason: She, like you, may not be getting enough calcium (or vitamin D). The NIH estimates that less than ten percent of girls aged 10-17 get the calcium they need. So before you go into a lament of "Oh, I wish I were your age," order calcium carbonate or a zinc and calcium supplement--for both you and your daughter. The zinc will endear you to your little girl, because zinc is linked to fighting acne, which you're happy you don't have any more after menopause, right? See, there are some benefits to growing older--after all, your daughter is still fretting over boys and your hubby just cooked your favorite dinner as a belated anniversary gift. He's lucky that your newly strengthened bones won't have to kick him all the way back to that first apartment.
