Turning 40 means having a whole new slew of health issues to watch. Of them, getting my recommended amount of calcium is probably the most difficult: I don’t like milk and, although I love cheese I’ve had to cut back on it due to the fat content. (Low-fat cheese, in my book, is not cheese at all.) I’m not a fan of ice cream or yogurt, either, and while I do enjoy a glass of buttermilk now and again, I’m not about to drink three glasses of it daily. Oh, and there’s definite a limit to how much broccoli I’m willing to eat in a 24-hour span.

We all know that calcium is good for teeth and bones. Women know that it’s essential to preventing osteoporosis, and although the Dairy Council is supposed to stop advertising that calcium helps one lose weight, the notion’s already been planted in every dieting woman’s mind.

So what’s a milk-hating girl to do? One option is to pop pills. Coral calcium pills, to be precise. But with manufacturers offering so many different “proprietary blends,” it’s difficult to find the best supplement at the best price. So many companies opt for cheap sources, so what looks like a good deal might actually be a bad one in the long run, failing to deliver the amount of calcium they claim.

A non-profit group, The Coral Calcium Watchdog, tracks such things, along with research concerning the sometimes over-exaggerated claims concerning this supplement. In addition to monitoring the 9 leading manufacturers of coral calcium, they compare price per bottle and gram, and note how the coral calcium itself is harvested.

Harvesting directly affects the mineralization of the coral calcium as well as the environment. “Live harvesting,” a practice used in Brazil for instance, involves retrieving coral immediately after it washes up on shore. “Above sea level” harvesting takes place in Okinawa and involves digging up coral washed onto the shores and preserved under the sand. Both result in high mineralization and are environmentally friendly and without posing the danger to the reef of “below sea level” harvesting methods.

Now, while there have been many dubious claims made about coral calcium — some call it the “Fountain of Youth” — the research does not support them. Coral calcium is, however, a very effective source of calcium for those interested in supplementing their intake or who, like me, just don’t get it elsewhere in their diet.

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