Calcium is a major component of bones and teeth, and is needed to keep them strong and prevent bone fractures in later life due to osteoporosis. It is important to ensure that you are getting enough calcium in your diet. Although most calcium comes from dairy produce, if you want to lose weight, eat low fat options — not no-fat, as this is harmful to the body.

The recommended calcium intake for an adult is 700 mg, but if you are breastfeeding, you will need 1,250 mg. To get more calcium, include some of the following in your diet:

1 glass (250ml) calcium-fortified orange juice 305mg

100ml fortified Soya milk with 50mg Muesli 170mg

Cheese salad sandwich on white bread 430mg

350g portion Lasagne 250mg

85g portion broccoli 35mg

200g low fat fruit yoghurt 300mg

1 orange 75mg

Skimmed milk in 4 cups of tea 140mg

30g almonds 60mg

Other rich sources of calcium are canned sardines, pilchards, and salmon, particularly when you eat the little bones. You could also take a calcium supplement of 500 mg.

Recipe of the Week

Oriental Mushroom & Tofu

Serves 6

Ingredients

230g. Portabella mushrooms

230g. Shitake mushrooms

230g. Button mushrooms

1 lg. onion sliced in rings

4 cloves garlic

1 tsp. olive oil

1 1/2 tsp. dried dill weed

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

230g. soft tofu (drained)

1 cup sour cream (low fat)

2 tbsp. all purpose flour

2 tbsp. grated orange peel

6 cups linguini

3/4 cup skim milk

1/2 yellow pepper (sliced)

Method

Heat oil in a wok or large sauté pan over medium high heat. Cook onion, garlic, and mushrooms (reserving a few mushroom slices) in oil for 10 minutes, stirring often, until tender. Stir in dill weed, salt & pepper. As mushrooms are cooking, place tofu, sour cream, milk, and flour in blender. Cover and blend on medium until smooth. Stir tofu mixture over mushroom mixture and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thickened. Place this entire mixture over hot cooked linguini, sprinkle orange peel. Sauté yellow pepper and reserved mushroom slices in a bit of oil until tender. Dot the top with these slices. For added colour place a few orange slices on platter just before serving.

Ask Alva

I put on weight after I had my first baby. Since then, I have joined the gym, gone on diets but have failed to reduce my weight. Finding time for exercise is difficult, but I try to do stationary cycling for 30 minutes. My diet is as follows:Breakfast: Cornflakes with milk or plain rusks or brown bread toasted and scrambled egg with very little olive oil. Or else a cup of tea and 5 almonds.Lunch: Salad with Italian salad dressing or a brown bread sandwich with cold meats and fruit. Dinner: Salad first and 1 chapati with fish curry and vegetable. Fried fish twice a week and meat on Fridays. So in spite of doing all of the above I have failed to come back to my original weight that is 45 kgs. Ramona

Thanks for writing and congratulations on making an effort to control your weight. 45 kilos would be a very good weight for you, but I should aim for 50 kilos for a start. Whilst stationery cycling is good for you and will burn around 180 calories per 30 minutes, understand that your body does not go into fat burning mode until you have exercised for 20 minutes. So if you only cycle for 30 minutes, you can see that you are actually only burning calories for 10 minutes...

Looking at your diet, I can see that it is too high in fat. If you e-mail me at [email protected] I will send you a copy of my healthy eating guide, which will explain to you how to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Take on board just one fact — almonds provide 165 calories per ounce — so that accounts for your 5 almonds at breakfast! Balance that against your cycling calorie burning, and you can see that you are not in a good situation. If you eat more food than your body expends in energy, you will put on weight. So, it is time to take stock of your eating habits and change them. Alva