It’s important for all of us, particularly for women, to supplement calcium in our diets (most people need 1,000 to 1,200 mg per day). In her book New Menopausal Years (Ash Tree, 2002) herbalist Susun Weed offers several tips for getting enough of the mineral without using supplements. For example, a tea made from one of the following herbs (1 ounce of any one of the dried herbs steeped for 4 hours in 1 quart of water) provides 250 to 300 mg of calcium per cup. Calcium-rich herbs include:
• Nettle (Urtica dioica)
• Chickweed (Stellaria media)
• Red clover (Trifolium pratense)
• Raspberry leaf (Rubus idaeus)
• Oatstraw (Avena sativa)
Source: Weed, Susun. New Menopausal Years. Woodstock, New York: Ash Tree, 2002.
