1. Keep Your Bones Strong
Calcium is the mineral found in the greatest amount in your body. Most calcium is stored in the bones and teeth, and the rest--about 1 percent--throughout the rest of the body. Calcium keeps your bones strong and it helps your muscles and nerves to contract.
2. A Question of Balance
Calcium works in partnership with magnesium. A healthy person's body has a 2 to 1 ratio of calcium to magnesium. That's because calcium helps our muscles and nerves to contract and magnesium causes our muscles to expand. This includes the muscles of the heart. Therefore, a person who has too much calcium in relationship to magnesium will experience muscle pain and strain and muscle spasms and twitching--particularly at night.
3. The Calcium Helpmates
Our body absorbs about 40% of the calcium it ingests. We need cofactors to digest it. Some of these cofactors include vitamins A, C, D and hydrochloric acid. Hydrochloric acid is present in our stomachs, but many people make less of it as they get older. Calcium also needs fat to be absorbed. If your body doesn't get the calcium it needs through diet or supplements, it will take calcium from the bones. Over time, this can result in osteomalacia, a softening of the bones, or osteoporosis, a condition characterized by fragile, porous bones that break easily. When calcium and vitamin D levels are too low for a long period, children can develop Rickets, a softening of the bones that leads to deformities in children.
4. Don't Overdo it!
The standard American diet is high in calcium and low in magnesium. One of the reasons is that so many fortified foods contain calcium. Our kidneys can get rid of the excess calcium in our bodies, but if they become tired and overworked, they will not be able to keep up. This can lead to constipation and the development of kidney stones. Don't take in over 2,000 mg per day of calcium.
5. Go to the Best Sources
The best dietary sources of calcium are dairy products. However, heating milk or other dairy binds the calcium so the body can't absorb it. Members of the Brassica family, kale, broccoli turnips, cabbage and collards, are good sources. So are sea vegetables, sardines and canned salmon that contain the bones. Too much protein in the diet inhibits the absorption of calcium and so does excess phosphorus, found in high levels in soft drinks. Too much fiber or zinc also hurts absorption. If you need a calcium supplement because you are not getting enough in your diet, try calcium citrate. Calcium lactate and glycinate are also good. Avoid calcium oxide, calcium sulfate and dolomite because they don't absorb well.
Member Comments