Summary : A 1990 clinical study by Heaney and collegues in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed that consuming the amount of caffeine in two to three cups of coffee per day did not significantly affect external calcium balance in premenopausal women - if they also consumed at least 600 milligrams of calcium, or about two glasses of milk, per day. More recent research examined the lifetime intake of caffeinated coffee in 980 postmenopausal women enrolled in the Rancho Bernardo Heart and Chronic Disease Study. As reported in JAMA, there was an association between caffeine intake and reduced bone mineral density in women who did not consume milk. Study participants who consumed a least one glass of milk a day, however, showed no relationship between caffeine intake and decreased bone density. In summary, nutrition plays an essential role in preventing and treating the major health problems. The message to all women, said Susan Calvert Finn, past president of ADA, is that diseases "are more preventable than most women may believe, and existing research shows that nutrition and lifestyle can play a major role in their prevention."