Calcium is essential for strong bones in a lifetime. Healthy food is the best way to get calcium, make sure the quantity of calcium, its advantages-disadvantages, type of supplement.
Calcium is the most mineral-rich in the body. Human needs calcium to build and maintain strong bones and 99% of the calcium in the body is in bones and teeth.
It is maintained healthy communication among the brain and other parts of the body. It is playing role in muscle and cardiovascular function. Calcium gets from food naturally too.
People need vitamin D, it helps to absorb calcium. Vitamin D comes from fish oil, fortified dairy products, and exposure to sunlight. Calcium is the main role-playing in the body, this benefits;
1. Bone Health
Above 99% of the calcium in the body is located in the bones and teeth. Calcium is important in developing, growing, and maintaining bones. When children are growing up, calcium contributes to their bone development.
After they stop growing, calcium keeps continuing to help maintain and protect bones and also slow down density bone loss. This is part of the aging process naturally.
Women who have been in menopause can lose bone density higher than young people. They have a high risk of getting osteoporosis. The doctor gives the recommendation to drink a supplement of calcium.
Menopause begins when the cycle of menstruation is finished. In the USA, it is an average of 52 years. During menopause, women undergo physical symptoms like hot flashes, sweats at the night, dry vaginal, and lack of sex drive.
It causes anxiety, mood changes, and reduced sex drive. Maintaining healthful food and exercise regularly can help people whose menopause symptoms feel better and increase their health in long term.
Osteoporosis is a condition that causes weak and porous bones. In this condition, people with osteoporosis make bone porous and weak, increasing the risk of fractures at the hips, backbone, and some peripheral joints like wrists.
Breaking bones in the spinal vertebrae can lead to changes in posture, stoop and curvature of the spine also decrease height. People with osteoporosis can treatment with a preventive lifestyle, supplements, and certain medications.
The lifestyle way can do by avoiding smoking, consuming calcium and vitamin D, exercising regularly such as yoga, walking, do not drink alcohol. Find more benefits of calcium for bone health are benefits of calcium, the benefits of calcium carbonate for the body, the benefits of calcium for children, the health benefits of calcium lactate, health benefits of Bulgarian buttermilk.
2. Contraction of Muscle
Calcium assist arrange muscle contraction. When a nerve stimulates a muscle, the body release calcium. Calcium is help protein in muscles to carry out the work of contraction. When the body pumps calcium out of muscle, it will relax then.
The process of muscular contraction occurs over this step which is depolarisation and calcium ions release, actin and myosin cross-bridge formation, sliding and mechanism of actin and myosin filaments, and muscle contraction.
The mechanism action of muscle contraction are potential action in motoric neurons that triggers the release of Ca2+ ions from the sarcoplasmic reticulum, ion calcium binding troponin and led to tropomyosin moving and showing place for myosin binding head, the actin filaments, and myosin head form cross-bridge broken by ATP.
ATP hydrolysis led to myosin head rotary and change orientation, Myosin head binding with actin filament before back to its original (releasing ADP + Pi), repositioning head myosin moving to actin filament to the center of the sarcomere, and last is sliding of actin during myosin because shorter sarcomere led to muscle contraction.
3. Cardiovascular System
Calcium plays the main role in clotting blood involving chemicals and calcium. Calcium’s role in muscle function includes maintaining heart muscles.
Calcium relaxes smooth muscles surrounding blood vessels. Studies show between the consumption of high calcium and low blood pressure. Vitamin D is essential for bone health and absorb calcium.
Blood pressure is moving blood through the system circulatory. It is important because oxygen and nutrition can’t be pushed around the circulatory system to give nourishment system and organs without blood pressure.
Blood pressure is essential because white blood cells and antibodies for immunity and hormone as insulin. Fresh blood is sent able to toxic waste products of metabolism including carbon dioxide exhaled through the liver and kidney.
Blood itself carries other properties including temperature. It is a defense against a broken system, clotting platelets prevent blood loss after injury.
Studies show that consuming calcium can occur a low risk to develop conditions involving high blood pressure during pregnancy, and low blood pressure in young people, and mothers consume enough calcium in pregnancy to increase low cholesterol from colorectal adenomas, which is typically one of the non-cancerous tumors.
In addition to getting calcium other from its food, also gets by reducing the amount of calcium with loss of nutrition depletes the body’s calcium stored.
| Age | Male (mg/day) | Female (mg/day) |
| Newborn to 6 months | 200 | 200 |
| 7 to 12 months | 260 | 260 |
| 1 to 3 years | 700 | 700 |
| 4 – 8 years | 1000 | 1000 |
| 9 – 18 years | 1300 | 1300 |
| 19 to 50 years | 1000 | 1000 |
| 51 to 70 years | 1000 | 1200 |
| 70+ years | 1200 | 1200 |
The best to obtain calcium from food. Australia Healthy Bones recommends a dose of the supplement in the range of 500 – 600 mg every day.
The most common type of calcium supplement is calcium carbonate contains 40% calcium, calcium lactate contains 13% calcium, calcium gluconate contains 9% calcium, and calcium citrate contains 21% calcium.
| Food | Milligram (mg) per serve |
| Plain yogurt, low fat, 8 ounces | 415 |
| Skimmers mozzarella, 1.5 ounces | 333 |
| Cheddar cheese, 1.5 ounces | 306 |
| Cottage cheese (1% milk fat), 8 ounces of cheese | 138 |
| Cream, regular 1 tablespoon | 14 |
| Milk, non fat, 8 ounces | 299 |
| Milk, reduced fat (2% milk fat), 8 ounces | 293 |
| Milk, whole (3.25% milk fat), 8 ounces | 276 |
| Soymilk, calcium-fortified, 8 ounces | 299 |
| Cereal, rich calcium, 1 cup | 100 – 1000 |
| Canned sardines in oil with bones 3 ounces | 325 |
| Canned pink salmon, with bone, 3 ounces | 181 |
| Tofu, harsh, with calcium sulfate ½ cup | 253 |
| Tofu, delicate, with calcium sulfate ½ cup | 138 |
| Turnip greens, fresh boiled ½ cup | 99 |
| Kale, fresh, cooked 1 cup | 74 |
| Chinese cabbage, bok choy, raw, shredded, 1 cup | 24 |
| Kale, raw, chopped, 1 cup | 21 |
When we don’t get enough calcium, our bodies will get weak bones and even osteoporosis. Calcium deficiency can be contributing to mood problems such as irritability, anxiety, depression, and sleeping difficulty. Here is the tips for building strong bones;
- Lower salt intake
Eating too much salt can cause loss of calcium and broken bones. Reduce packaging and convenience food, fast food, and processed meat which have high salt. Changing salt with herbs and spices to add a taste to food.
- Limit caffeine consumed
Drink more than 2 cups per day to lose calcium. The amount of loss it can give significantly to elderly with low calcium. It can hold effects until a certain by drinking coffee with milk.
- Watch alcohol consumption
Drinking alcohol can inhibit absorb calcium and disrupts the balancing of calcium in the body. Trying to keep away drink alcohol consumption more than 7 times In a week.
- Beware of soft drink
To balance phosphate in soft drinks, the body will take calcium to form its bones and then excrete it. Take an option of water or orange juice fortified calcium instead.
- Exercise
In maintaining and building strong bones, exercise is essential, especially in weight-bearing activities such as walking, dancing, jogging, weightlifting, stair climbing, racquet sports, and hiking.
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