Dr. Rashmi Sharma
Calcium is a mineral that is the chief supportive element in bones and teeth. Calcium salts make up about 70% of bone by weight and nearly 99 % of the calcium in the human body is found in the bones and teeth. The remaining 1 % circulates in the bloodstream. Calcium helps to contract muscles and to regulate the contractions of the heart. It plays an important role in the transmission of nerve impulses and in the clotting of blood. Calcium is involved in the stimulation of contractions of the uterus during childbirth and in the production of milk. It also regulates the secretion of various hormones and helps in the functioning of various enzymes. A high dietary calcium intake combined with vitamin D can increase bone density and perhaps reduce fractures in older women and men. It is recommended that persons 19 to 50 years of age consume 1,000 mg per day and that persons older than 50 years consume 1,200 mg per day. Foods such as spinach, rhubarb and wheat bran can decrease calcium absorption. Calcium can interfere with absorption of iron, zinc, bisphosphonates and antibiotics. Vitamin D helps in its absorption. Vitamin D supplementation is especially important in elderly persons because skin synthesis and absorption of vitamin D may be impaired.
A low level of calcium in the blood is called hypocalcemia. Calcium deficiency represents in the form of spasms of the hands and feet, muscle cramps, abdominal cramps, and overly active reflexes. Chronic calcium deficiency contributes to poor mineralization of bones, soft bones (osteomalacia) and osteoporosis. In children, calcium deficiency causes rickets and impaired growth. Various health benefits believed to be related with calcium are reduction in muscle soreness and leg cramps , reduction in symptoms of muscular sclerosis, Diabetes and asthma, increase in mobility and bone density, improvement in digestive function and help with Irritable Bowel Syndrome, beneficial in osteoporosis and osteoarthritis, improve sleep and Mental clarity, blood pressure control, help curb cravings and give a feeling of well being, relieve stress and anxiety, increase sexual desire and stamina, reduce severity of migraine head ache, reduce symptoms of chromes disease, etc. However, the recent controversy related to link between calcium supplements – at any dose – and heart attack and stroke raised queries in thousands minds who are taking calcium supplements for years together. Researchers at the University of Auckland in New Zealand evaluated 1,471 healthy post-menopausal women, average age 74, for a period of five years. Participants received either 1 g of elemental calcium daily as the citrate (Citracal; Mission Pharmacal, San Antonio, TX) or identical placebo. It has been seen that heart attacks were more common in the women taking the calcium supplements. According to the analysis, published in BMJ, for every 1,000 women who took calcium supplements for osteoporosis, there were six extra heart attacks or strokes and three fewer fractures over five years. More alarming, when the data was combined with results from eight other studies, there was a 25 to 30 percent greater risk of heart attack and a 15 to 20 percent higher risk of stroke with calcium supplement use. The researchers say calcium supplements, which are often recommended to the elderly and women after the menopause to protect against bone thinning, should be “taken with caution”. These findings also appear to go against previous studies that have shown a higher calcium intake is linked to a lower risk of a number of conditions that predispose to heart disease and stoke, namely high blood pressure, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. Researchers believe that dietary calcium is helpful because it is taken in small amounts that are absorbed throughout the day, whereas supplements tend to be taken all in one go, causing blood calcium levels to spike above normal, and it is this that causes harm. It is now becoming clear that taking this micronutrient in one or two daily [doses] is not natural, in that it does not reproduce the same metabolic effects as calcium in food.
Calcium should be taken as an important component of a balanced diet, and not as a low cost panacea to the universal problem of postmenopausal bone loss. Milk and dairy products such as yogurt, cheeses, and buttermilk contain a form of calcium that your body can absorb easily. Green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, collards, kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, and Chinese cabbage are good sources of calcium. Other sources of calcium are salmon and sardines, almonds, Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds, tahini, and dried beans , Blackstrap molasses etc. About 8-ounce glass of milk contain 300 mg , 2 ounces of Swiss cheese contain 530 mg , 6 ounces of yogurt contain 300 mg , 2 ounces of sardines with bones contain 240 mg, 6 ounces of cooked turnip greens contain 220 mg and 3 ounces of almonds contain 210 mg of calcium.
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