Are You Getting Enough Calcium Everyday?
Part One

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If I say the word ‘calcium’ to you, what’s the first thing that comes to your mind? Your bones? Most people think of osteoporosis or weak and brittle bones as a woman’s disease but did you know that men get osteoporosis as well? Osteoporosis occurs in one of every three women and one in five men around the world.

Why is calcium so important to your body?
-Builds strong bones and teeth
-Important in muscle contraction such as your heart
-Plays a role in hormone secretion
-Helps lower blood pressure
-Helps lower LDL (lousy) cholesterol by about 10% and possibly boost HDL
-(healthy cholesterol)
-Helps prevent colon cancer

Calcium also has important teammates, particularly when it comes to healthy bones including Vitamin D, Vitamin K and magnesium. This is one of the reasons that I always talk about ‘food first’ over supplements. Food gives you the synergistic effect of the vitamins and minerals working together as a team for the benefit of the whole…your body…where a supplement tends to be just a couple of nutrients. For example, the magnesium found in nuts, avocado, and beans affects how your body’s hormones are released and regulated, specifically the hormones that regulate calcium. For calcium to do what it’s supposed to do, it needs its teammate magnesium. It’s the same with Vitamin D and Vitamin K.

Yet, most of us don’t get near enough calcium in our diet on a day to day basis. Guess where your body gets calcium from each day if you don’t supply it through food or supplements? The big body bank called your bones. Calcium is pulled from your bones to meet your body’s needs for the heart, muscles, and other body processes at the expense of your bone health.

How much do calcium do you really need? I all depends on your age and health but the range is typically 1000-1500 milligrams (mg) per day. Ok, we don’t think in milligrams so what does this mean to you and me in pieces of cheese and glasses of milk? Most people need about three to four servings per day of foods that are good calcium sources. By the way, your body likes calcium spread throughout the day. When you consume calcium sources that provide 300-500 milligrams at a time your body will utilize it better.

Where do you find calcium in food?
Dairy sources:
Milk, yogurt, cheese…most of you probably know these good sources already I’m a dairy fan because of the nutrient package including calcium, potassium, magnesium and vitamin D. One serving typically provides close to 300 milligrams of calcium.
Examples of non dairy sources:
Canned salmon or sardines, Baked beans and black-eyed peas, Kale or turnip greens
Fortified foods:
Cereal, bread, tofu, soy milk, (be sure and shake the containers of soy milk and orange juice as calcium can sink to the bottom)

Look around you. Calcium-fortified foods are every where such as calcium fortified juice, bread and cereals. Fortified means ‘added to’ so it did not originally occur in the product. For example, orange juice was not a good source of calcium until calcium was added to the juice or fortified.