Your bones and teeth contain 99 percent of the calcium in your body. When the remaining 1 percent of calcium present in your blood and soft tissues is below your physiological needs, your body will demineralize calcium from your bones as a way of fulfilling calcium needs throughout your body. As women age, estrogen can play a crucial role in maintaining adequate calcium levels in your bones.
Calcium Absorption
Once women reach menopause, they experience a 70 percent drop in estrogen production. This can greatly affect calcium levels in the blood because estrogen plays a role in how well your bones absorb and retain calcium. A woman's calcium needs also increase from 1,000 mg daily to 1,200 mg daily when she reaches age 50. If you do not obtain enough calcium in your diet, your bones can rapidly dispatch calcium, leading to osteoporosis. The Harvard School of Public Health reports that around half of all women over the age of 50 will suffer a hip, wrist or vertebrae fracture in their lifetime.
Estrogen Replacement Therapy
At one time, estrogen replacement therapy was the most common treatment for calcium deficiency in women. For postmenopausal women, this type of treatment was able to prevent bone loss and possibly even increase bone mineral density. Unfortunately, hormone therapies can have significant side effects, such as stroke and an increased risk for breast cancer. Speak to your doctor about your medical history and the potential risks you may experience with hormone replacement therapy. If you are at a low risk for side effects, hormone replacement can be a way to improve your calcium retention.
Phytoestrogen
Phytoestrogens are chemicals found in plant materials that act similarly to hormonal estrogen in humans. Phytoestrogens bond with the estrogen cell receptor sites in your body when your natural estrogen levels are low. The University of Maryland Medical Center reports that early trials into phytoestrogens show they may be beneficial for increasing bone mineral density and calcium retention, but there are also contradictory trials that show no benefit to phytoestrogens for osteoporosis.
Dietary Choices
Making intelligent dietary choices as you get older can help offset some of the calcium loss related to menopause and declining estrogen levels. Vitamin D is essential to calcium absorption in your diet, and you should try to obtain enough of it from foods like milk while also eating calcium-rich foods such as dairy products, spinach, rhubarb and white beans. Soy foods such as tofu are enriched with calcium and contain more phytoestrogens than any other food source.
Men's Needs
Osteoporosis and calcium depletion due to declining estrogen levels affects more women than men. This is because the primary reproductive hormone in men is testosterone instead of estrogen. Testosterone degrades much more slowly in the human body, meaning calcium loss is less in men. However, it is still beneficial for men to eat a diet with calcium- and phytoestrogen-rich foods as a preventive measure against calcium loss with aging.
References
- Linus Pauling Institute; Calcium; Jane Higdon, Ph.D.; April 2003
- University of Maryland Medical Center; Soy; Steven D. Ehrlich, N.M.D.; December 2009
- University of Arizona; Calcium Supplement Guidelines; Linda Houtkooper and Vanessa A. Farrell; 2004
- Colorado State University; Women's Health Issues; J. Anderson, et al.; December 2010
- Harvard University: Calcium and Milk -- What's Best for Your Bones and Health?
Member Comments