More or loss

Unfortunately, bone building just doesn't rank that high on most people's priority lists. Weight loss, on the other hand, generally gets top billing. The good news is you may be able to kill both birds with one nutrient-packed stone.

A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that two of the major bone-protecting nutrients, calcium and vitamin D, can actually lower your chances of gaining weight. The researchers looked at more than 36,000 postmenopausal women who were divided into two groups -- one taking 1,000 milligrams of calcium and 400 IU of vitamin D per day and one taking a placebo.

At the end of the study, they found that the women in the supplement group weighed an average of about half a pound less than the women in the placebo group. They concluded that the women taking calcium and vitamin D had cut their chances of gaining weight by 11 percent.

Not exactly an extreme makeover. And, no, the nutrients didn't actually cause weight loss: they simply helped prevent weight gain. But imagine what adding a healthy diet and regular exercise might do to improve your odds of staying thin and osteoporosis-free.

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