Since I talked about magnesium last week I thought I would talk about the most abundant mineral in the human body this week: calcium. Calcium is predominately found in bones and teeth, although trace amounts are also found in blood. We need calcium in our daily diet to help maintain our bones because they are constantly being reworked by processes in the human body, so calcium is essential to ensure that the bones are rebuilt strongly to prevent fractures.
Calcium also performs other functions in the body. The National Institutes of Health has this to say:
Calcium is needed for muscle contraction, blood vessel contraction and expansion, the secretion of hormones and enzymes, and sending messages through the nervous system.
The good news is that there are lots of tasty foods rich in calcium. In addition to an extensive list found at the article by the National Institutes of Health, some of the best sources are:
- Yogurt
- Sesame seeds
- Cheese
- Many greens including spinach, turnip and mustard greens
If you don’t like any of those and are considering taking calcium supplements you need to make sure that you take the correct amount based on your age. Vitamin D is also needed to help with calcium absorption. For more information check out this article at Medicine Net. The Mayo Clinic also has some excellent advice on different types of calcium supplements and which to avoid.
July 22, 2008 at 11:34 am
Calcium is arguably the most abundant mineral in the body and the most important. Most people think of bone health when regarding calcium, but it is needed to support numerous other functions like muscle contraction, and blood vessel contraction and expansion. A calcium rich diet and some exercise is a good start, but it is just not likely to get an adequate amount of calcium from your diet, so in most cases a calcium supplement is needed to give our body the calcium it needs.
July 23, 2008 at 4:50 pm
Calcium is the most important mineral to be getting as it supports so many functions. So in some cases a calcium supplement is needed, but make sure the supplement also has magnesium, vitamin d, vitamin k2 and boron. These are all important to help better improve your bone health.