Calcium: the WHY and the HOW

bodbuds
Jan 22, 2015
3 min read

Dear Body Buds,

Did you know soda plays a vital role in the absorption process of calcium in your body? Soda contains phosphoric acid, which poses a unique challenge to healthy bones. Consuming large quantities of phosphorus interferes with calcium metabolism and the building of bone mass.

Soda is literally increasing your changes of bone fractures and osteoporosis. This should be one more reason to kick that habit of drinking soda!

Function of Calcium

Your body contains more calcium than any other mineral. It is needed to build and maintain strong bones and teeth. While Calcium is most often related to bone health, it makes up 99% of your teeth and bones; the other 1% plays an equally crucial role in soft tissues and the bloodstream. It is vital for muscle contraction, nerve impulse transmission, blood clotting, and cell metabolism.

Your body will use the calcium it needs on a daily basis even if your diet is extremely deficient in calcium. So where does it get the calcium it needs when the body is deficient?

Your bones serve as a reservoir for calcium that is needed throughout your body. Unfortunately, if you are not giving your body the calcium it needs, it will remove calcium from the bone to maintain a steady calcium blood level to sustain an adequate supply to other tissues.

Over time, this causes your bones to grow weaker and may lead to osteoporosis.

Calcium Absorption

Vitamin D plays a key role in bone health by increasing the amount of calcium that is being absorbed by the intestine. Try to choose calcium supplements that also contain vitamin D.

Help your kids build strong bones

Soda is very popular among the youth and young adults. This is the period in life when our bones are building and reaching their optimal strength. It is important to educate our children on how to live a bone healthy lifestyle by adequate calcium and vitamin D intake along with exercise. Weight-bearing exercise, walking and weight lifting play an essential role in strengthening and rebuilding our bones.

Sources of Calcium

For most people, the first sources of calcium that comes to mind is dairy. Dairy consists of more than half of the calcium in American’s diet. However, milk is not a part of the recommended Power Foods Lifestyle. Why is that?

Kristy Jo teaches us to look at the sugar content in foods--did you realize how much sugar is in one cup of milk? There is an average of 10-15 grams of sugar PER CUP, which is going to impact blood sugar levels and the environment of fat burn and energy the PFL creates. While one cup of milk meets 30% of the daily calcium recommendation by the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Let's take a look beyond the dairy aisle. There are more sources of calcium than dairy! Here are some examples of great sources of calcium--reaching your daily needs for calcium is easy when following the Power Foods Lifestyle!

Kale, broccoli, Chinese cabbage and other green leafy vegetables
Sardines, salmon, and other soft-bone fish
Tofu
Whole grains, breads and pastas

Dietary Recommendations

The human body is not able to make its own calcium; it must be absorbed through food or a supplement. The total amount of calcium needed every day from food or calcium supplements is listed below.

Age (years) Recommended Dietary Allowance (mg per day)

14-18 1,300

19-50 1,000

Females over 50 1,200

Males over 50 1,000

Over 70 1,200

Should I be taking a Calcium Supplement?

We should always aim to reach our vitamin and mineral intake from food first then use a supplement to make up for the short fall. Challenge yourself to track your daily food intake for a few days using an app like MyFitnessPal to determine where your calcium intake falls. Most women should be taking a calcium supplement. Studies have shown that women are more deficient in calcium than men; this is most likely due to our hormone levels.

Make an effort to get your vegetables added to each meal you eat, and this will greatly improve your Calcium intake!

You can do it! Take care of that body!

Love your bud,