Milk Beats Broccoli

While veggie diets are good for the heart, such regimens may not provide what's needed for those bones. A Purdue University study says strict vegetarian diets that exclude dairy products -- called vegan diets -- do not give ThirdAgers enough calcium to ward off osteoporosis down the road.

The study says even if you avoid salt, protein, caffeine and other substances that increase calcium loss you still won't get enough calcium in a vegan diet. Connie Weaver, head of Purdue's Department of Foods and Nutrition, says while there are many non-dairy foods that contain calcium -- and those eating a vegan diet may substitute those for dairy products -- the amount of calcium in vegetables is very low when compared to the real thing.

Weaver says many vegetables also contain substances that block your body's ability to absorb calcium. She says broccoli is well-absorbed and contains a goodly amount of calcium for a vegetable -- but you'd have to eat 4.5 servings to get the same amount of calcium available in a cup of milk.

Doing the math, it means if you give up dairy products you would need to eat up to 20 servings a day of broccoli to get enough calcium. And if you like kale, you'd have to eat at least 10 servings a day.