Calcium: The World's Healthiest Foods

Calcium is an essential nutrient for the human body. It plays an important role in bone structure, manages

acid/ base balance in the blood and controls muscle and nerve function. So it’s necessary to intake calcium

in an adequate amount. This means calcium rich foods plays an important role in human health.

While calcium deficiency can result in bone loss, consuming calcium more than sufficient amount can

cause many health issues, such as stones in blood vessels and kidneys, etc. So it’s really important to

consume calcium as recommended by your doctor.

Role in Health Support: 1) Supports Bone health – Calcium plays an important in formation and integrity of skeleton.

Calcium is essential for the bone health while other nutrients support body to absorb calcium for

strong and health bones. The other nutrients include vitamin K, vitamin D, and magnesium.

2) Controls Acid/ Base Balance in Blood – Calcium is really important to regulate acid/ base pH level

in the body. When pH level in the body starts getting down to 7.35 from 7.4, calcium starts

degrading from the bones to maintain the acid/ base level. The pH of blood is important to sustain

life so as calcium necessary too.

3) Muscle and Nerve Function – Body needs calcium from proper functioning of muscles and nerves.

It helps in transmitting signals to and from the brain through the nerves. Abnormal calcium

concentration of calcium in the blood can affect the ability of nerves.

Calcium Food Sources: American’s get 72% of calcium from dairy foods, 7% from vegetables, 4% from legumes and 3% from

meat/fish. According to national Institutes of Health (NIH), the recommended intake of calcium for an

adult in a day is 1000 mg. 99% of calcium is stored in bones and teeth The NIH recommend to consume

more dairy products to get sufficient amount of calcium before switching to calcium supplements.

Calcium Deficiency Disease: Calcium deficiency disease known as hypocalcemia occurs due to deficiency of calcium in the body. The

disease increases the risk of osteoporosis. Complications from calcium deficiency also includes brittles

bones, an abnormal heartbeat and eye damage, etc. The severe symptoms of hypocalcemia are

numbness, depression, muscle spasms, and memory loss, etc.

Calcium with other nutrients: Human body needs vitamin D along with calcium. Vitamin D is required by the body to absorb calcium

from the blood. If you don’t5 consume enough of vitamin D then you may lose bone, have lower bone

density. An adult requires 400-800 IU of vitamin D in a day.

Public Health Recommendations of calcium

According to RDA, the calcium intake for age and gender specific is as follows:

Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA) for age and gender specific calcium intake

0-6 months 200mg

6-12 months 260mg

1-3 years 700mg

4-8 years 1,000mg

9-13 years 1,300mg

14-18 years 1,300mg

19-30 years 1,000mg

31-50 years 1,000mg

51-70 years, female 1,200mg

51-70 years, male 1,000mg

70+ years 1,200mg

Pregnant or lactating women, 14-18 years 1,300mg

Pregnant or lactating women, 19-50 years 1,300mg

Calcium Supplements: The people who are not getting enough of calcium from their diet and other sources can consume calcium

supplements. Make sure to consult with your doctor before adding any calcium & vitamin D supplements

to your diet.