Dem Bones...

European researchers studied 237 early-post-menopausal women (average age of 53). For one year, the women consumed a soy product diet (providing 110 mg of isoflavones) or a control diet without soy products. The results showed that, contrary to popular belief, the soy isoflavones did not improve the women's bone mineral density.

Instead of soy, try good old-fashioned weight-bearing exercise to improve the strength of your bones.

At the very least, every woman should have a daily walking program. In addition, women should perform at least two total-body resistance-training workouts per week.

Not only will this improve your bone mineral density, you will also get stronger. And strength and muscle mass can help reduce your risk of falling as you age.