Calcium Supplement & Calcium Deficiency
Your body requires calcium to keep your bones strong and healthy. When you eat foods with calcium, the calcium is absorb and deposited into your bones and is withdrawn as needed.
If your intake of calcium are contantly low and your body notices that not enough calcium is circulating in your blood, your body will withdraw the needed calcium from your bones. Constant calcium deficiency, eventually, will lead to osteoporosis (a thinning bone disease) later in life.
Calcium Rich Food - Food High in Calcium
The best sources of calcium come from dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese. Dairy products are considered to be the best sources of calcium because they have high content of calcium in a form that can be well absorbed by your body.
Non dairy foods also contain calcium. But, in addition to calcium, they also contain naturally occurring substances such as phytates, fibre, and oxalates. These naturally occurring substances interfere with your body’s ability to absorb the calcium in the foods.
Some of non dairy foods that are high in calcium are leafy green vegetables such as broccoli, romain lettuce, collards, bok choy, kale, and spinach. Salmon, sardines, shimp, and raw oyster are also high in calcium.
Calcium Citrate and Calcium Carbonate
If your intake of calcium are consistenly low, you should consider using a calcium supplement to make up the difference you are receiving from foods and what you're daily intake should be.
Calcium supplements are available in many forms. Those that are in the form of calcium citrate or calcium carbonate are well absorbed by your body. Most multivitamin and mineral supplements contain calcium in the form of calcium phosphate. Compare to calcium citrate and calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate is not as well absorbed by your body.
How Much Calcium Do You Need?
Your need for calcium changes throughout every phase of your life. Below is a guide to help you determine how much calcium you need daily.
- Infants: 600 mg
- Children up to 10 years old: 800 mg
- Teenagers: 1200 mg
- Adults up to 35 years old: 1200 mg
- Adults from 35 - 50 years old: 1000 mg
- Post-menopausal women: 1500 mg
Taking Calcium Supplement
Many calcium supplement suggest for you to take 3 tablets totalling 1000 mg. But you're also getting calcium from the food you eat (there are also food that are fortified with calcium). Instead of taking 3 tablets, you can reduce the dosage to 2 tablets. I only use vitamins to help me meet daily requirement for nutrients and not as the main source of nutrients.
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