Lets discuss calcium, and the importance of calcium in our bodies. Believe it or not, calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body, accounting for up to 1.5% of our body weight. For the first 6 months of life, it is recommended that infants drink only breast milk, so obviously, it has to be important for something. Calcium in milk helps for infants to develop a healthy skeletal structure, and minimize bone loss later in life. 99% of our bodies calcium is in our bones and teeth, where is has two main jobs. The first job is to keep our bones in a strong, rigid frame, and serve as attachment points for muscles, which makes it possible for us to move around in our daily lives. The second job is to act as a storage tank in our bones, in order to offer an available source of calcium for the body to use should the bodies fluids drop in blood calcium levels. So this mineral is pretty simple from a dietary point of view. If you drink the right amount of milk throughout your life, you will continue to have strong bones and a plentiful storage tank of calcium for your body to rely on in case you are stranded on an island with no milk. In the case that you do get stranded on a dairy-less island, your body will start to rely on those calcium stores until they are completely depleted. This is when such problems such as osteoporosis will occur.
So if you drink enough milk nothing can stop you from being big and strong, right?
Wrong! There an many factors that both enhance calcium absorption as well as inhibit its absorption. Factors that enhance absorption are stomach acid, vitamin D, lactose, and growth hormones. Factors that inhibit absorption are a lack of stomach acid, vitamin D deficiency, high fiber diet, phytates, and oxalates.
So what are some good sources of calcium you ask?
The best sources of calcium are milk, plain yogurt, cheddar cheese, broccoli, tofu, sardines with bones, and bok choy. Other great sources include flour tortillas, oranges, cottage cheese, and almonds. On average, adults absorb about 25% of the calcium they ingest. Acid in the stomach helps to keep the calcium soluble, while vitamin D helps to make the calcium-binding protein needed for absorption. This is why milk, and other calcium rich foods are the best for vitamin D fortification. As you can see, vitamin D is also very important in our diet, so you can feel confident that we will have a page and future news articles that will discuss this vitamin.
In the case that some people cannot or do not drink milk, there are other wonderful options. The obvious is to eat the alternative food sources of calcium, but they may not also contain vitamin D. If someone is lactose intolerant, Lactaid and other lactose free options are available for consumption. For the person who just doesn't like milk, suck it up! If you can't, powdered, fat free milk can be added to casseroles, soups, and any other dishes that would taste good with it. This is a great was to get the calcium, protein, and other important vitamins in your diet, without going near that milk.
I bet I know what you are thinking, what happens if my diet is deficient in this important nutrient? If it is, then you will have yourself a case of calcium deficiency. Children, adolescents, and young adults need to have a sufficient intake of calcium during their growing years so that their bones can reach an optimal mass and density. This optimal state is usually obtained by the late 20's. Why do we want big strong bones? Well, dense bones will best protect you from age-related bone loss and fractures as you age. As you start to get older, you begin to lose bone, usually between 30 and 40 years of age. If your bone losses reach the point of fracture in low intensity, every day activities, then you have a condition which is known as osteoporosis. This disease is more common in older women, and affects more than 25 million people. Another important fact to add is that this condition is a silent one. It will give you no signs or symptoms that your calcium stores are running low. So what should you learn from this article? Drink your milk! Eat your cheese! And take care of your bones while you're young and you still can. If you are interested in a calcium supplement, I would recommend :
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