Nutrition
They say that true strength comes with a solid foundation. Our foundation lies in our frame of bones. In order for you to be truly strong, you need to strengthen your foundation or else you will crumble. A vital key in building up our foundation lies in CALCIUM. This mineral is vital to your bone strength and to many other body processes. With the majority of people lacking an adequate supply of calcium, we are a people with weak foundations and our bodies are paying the price.
Recent studies show that over 75% of North Americans do not meet the current daily recommended intake of calcium. Calcium is required by our bodies in fairly large amounts. Around 99% of our calcium is located in our bones and teeth, which leaves the remaining 1% circulating in our blood
carrying out vital functions. Okay, let’s just stop right here and analyze for a second. Calcium is important to our foundation, which is our bones. Most of the calcium we have is in our bones, and as a society we are not feeding our bones with enough calcium to keep them strong.
Just like our skin sheds and replaces with new skin, our bones breakdown and repair. Since there are other vital processes that are aided through the calcium carried around within our blood, our bones are feeding those processes by supplying calcium to our blood. Now here is the problem that the majority of people are facing. When we do not have an adequate supply of calcium coming into our bodies, our bones are breaking down and NOT being replenished enough to repair properly. Therefore, our bones are diminishing in strength due to malnourishment. This unfortunate state will lead to leg cramps, muscle cramps, hemorrhage and of course osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is simply low bone mass which means that you have weak bones that can break easily.
As we have seen so far, Calcium is vital to our bone strength, but it is also plays other roles throughout our body that you should be aware of.
a) Regulating muscle contraction
b) and the regulation of the heartbeat
c) and the regulation of nerve function
d) The release of neurotransmitters that can support sleep
e) Lowers blood pressure
f) Decreases risk of colon cancer
g) Helps blood clot normally
h) Acts like cement keeping our cells together
i) Controls fluid to allow enzyme reaction to take place
j) Helps maintain the balance of protein in the body
k) Helps control cholesterol
l) Helps in the process of secretion
How much calcium do we need on a daily basis?
> Up to age 18 - aprox. 1300 mg a day
> Age 18 - 50 - aprox. 1000 mg a day
> Age 50+ - aprox. 1200 mg a day
So what should we do?
We have to start by evaluating our daily intake of calcium compared to the information above. Then we have to learn to implement adequate sources of calcium into our daily diet. If you know that you are still not getting enough, then you will want to buy a supplement of calcium from your local health food store.
Here are some sources that you can take into account:
Yogurt, plain, low-fat, 8oz 415mg
Calcium fortified soy or rice milk 80-500mg
Milk, non fat, 8oz 302mg
Cheddar cheese 206mg
Cottage cheese, 1%milkfat, 1 cup 138mg
Turnip greens, 4cups, boiled 396 mg
Kale, cooked, 4 cups 376mg
Tofu, firm, made with calcium sulfate, ½ cup 204mg
White beans, ¾ cup 120mg
Instant oats, 1pkt 165mg
Navy beans, ¾ cup 94mg
Chickpeas, ¾ cup 58mg
Almonds, roasted, ¼ cup 93mg
Almond butter, 2 tbsp 88mg
Sesame seeds, ¼ cup 50mg
Cabbage/bok choy, ½ cup 190mg
Broccoli, ½ cup 33mg
Okra. ½ cup 65mg
Orange, ½ cup 52mg
We can also take a (BMD) bone mineral density test. This will measure how much calcium you have in your bones. The good thing is that this test can detect osteoporosis at an early stage.
As you can see calcium is a vital building block for our health and overall fitness. Don’t wait until you see symptoms of calcium deficiency occur, act now and build your foundation of strength!
Here With You!
Vanda Hadarean
Health and Fitness Personality
Ms.Fitness World
Olympic Medalist
Recent studies show that over 75% of North Americans do not meet the current daily recommended intake of calcium. Calcium is required by our bodies in fairly large amounts. Around 99% of our calcium is located in our bones and teeth, which leaves the remaining 1% circulating in our blood
carrying out vital functions. Okay, let’s just stop right here and analyze for a second. Calcium is important to our foundation, which is our bones. Most of the calcium we have is in our bones, and as a society we are not feeding our bones with enough calcium to keep them strong. Just like our skin sheds and replaces with new skin, our bones breakdown and repair. Since there are other vital processes that are aided through the calcium carried around within our blood, our bones are feeding those processes by supplying calcium to our blood. Now here is the problem that the majority of people are facing. When we do not have an adequate supply of calcium coming into our bodies, our bones are breaking down and NOT being replenished enough to repair properly. Therefore, our bones are diminishing in strength due to malnourishment. This unfortunate state will lead to leg cramps, muscle cramps, hemorrhage and of course osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is simply low bone mass which means that you have weak bones that can break easily.
As we have seen so far, Calcium is vital to our bone strength, but it is also plays other roles throughout our body that you should be aware of.
a) Regulating muscle contraction
b) and the regulation of the heartbeat
c) and the regulation of nerve function
d) The release of neurotransmitters that can support sleep
e) Lowers blood pressure
f) Decreases risk of colon cancer
g) Helps blood clot normally
h) Acts like cement keeping our cells together
i) Controls fluid to allow enzyme reaction to take place
j) Helps maintain the balance of protein in the body
k) Helps control cholesterol
l) Helps in the process of secretion
How much calcium do we need on a daily basis?
> Up to age 18 - aprox. 1300 mg a day
> Age 18 - 50 - aprox. 1000 mg a day
> Age 50+ - aprox. 1200 mg a day
So what should we do?
We have to start by evaluating our daily intake of calcium compared to the information above. Then we have to learn to implement adequate sources of calcium into our daily diet. If you know that you are still not getting enough, then you will want to buy a supplement of calcium from your local health food store.
Here are some sources that you can take into account:
Yogurt, plain, low-fat, 8oz 415mg
Calcium fortified soy or rice milk 80-500mg
Milk, non fat, 8oz 302mg
Cheddar cheese 206mg
Cottage cheese, 1%milkfat, 1 cup 138mg
Turnip greens, 4cups, boiled 396 mg
Kale, cooked, 4 cups 376mg
Tofu, firm, made with calcium sulfate, ½ cup 204mg
White beans, ¾ cup 120mg
Instant oats, 1pkt 165mg
Navy beans, ¾ cup 94mg
Chickpeas, ¾ cup 58mg
Almonds, roasted, ¼ cup 93mg
Almond butter, 2 tbsp 88mg
Sesame seeds, ¼ cup 50mg
Cabbage/bok choy, ½ cup 190mg
Broccoli, ½ cup 33mg
Okra. ½ cup 65mg
Orange, ½ cup 52mg
We can also take a (BMD) bone mineral density test. This will measure how much calcium you have in your bones. The good thing is that this test can detect osteoporosis at an early stage.
As you can see calcium is a vital building block for our health and overall fitness. Don’t wait until you see symptoms of calcium deficiency occur, act now and build your foundation of strength!
Here With You!
Vanda Hadarean
Health and Fitness Personality
Ms.Fitness World
Olympic Medalist
1 Comments
Posted on 17 Feb 2009 by Vanda
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