All About YOU: Bad to the Bone

When it comes to your health, too much of a good thing can often be bad. Enter high-protein diets.

While loading up on protein helps shed pounds, it also speeds up bone loss. Large amounts of protein -- a pound of chicken, fish, beef, or pork or 2.5 pounds of nuts per day -- prompt your body to excrete bone-building calcium rather than absorb it.

In addition to extremely high protein, another bone-buster: caffeinated drinks. The caffeine in coffee or soda can make you excrete the calcium you eat or drink, before your body has a chance to use it. Is your diet putting you at risk for osteoporosis? Take this assessment and find out.

Can't cut back on the java or diet coke? Take a calcium supplement (either a pill or a chewable) and load up on calcium-rich foods (you can look up good sources here). Add 20 milligrams of calcium a day for each 12-ounce carbonated soft drink, 4-ounce cup of coffee, or 4 ounces of protein you consume. Make sure to take it with vitamin D (it helps keep calcium in the bones). But don't take it at the same time you take your fiber or iron supplements, which can block absorption.

Here's a tip on safer ways to follow protein-focused diets.

YOU: The Owner's Manual. Roizen, M. F., Oz, M. C., New York: HarperCollins, 2005.