Calcium
According to the Mayo Clinic, your body doesn’t produce calcium, so you to consume it. You need vitamin D to absorb calcium.
The best way to get calcium is by eating a healthy diet. Calcium is in many foods, including acai berries, African mango, baobab, dairy products, dark green vegetables, sardines and canned salmon, fortified foods and drinks, soy products, fruit juices, cereal, barley grass, wheatgrass and bee pollen. (1)
Proven health benefits
- Promotes bone health
- Maintains healthy teeth
- Reduces blood pressure
- Supports energy-yielding metabolism
- Helps to prevent osteoporosis
- Promotes healthy digestive enzymes
Based on reports it may help
- Osteoporosis
- The general health of the bones and teeth
- Muscle fatigue in sport
- High blood pressure
- High cholesterol
Benefits
1) Promotes bone health
Calcium deficiency can negatively affect your bones and their structure. Making sure that you consume enough calcium can help prevent conditions like osteoporosis. Taking a calcium supplement may help heal fractures and broken bones.
2) Maintains healthy teeth
It is also needed to keep healthy teeth. Calcium deficiency can cause poor dental health, especially in growing children.
3) Reduces blood pressure
According to animal research, calcium supplements may lower blood pressure. It follows that making sure you get enough calcium can help prevent heart disease. (2)
4) Supports energy-yielding metabolism
Calcium supports our energy-yielding metabolism, which is useful for people who want to improve their exercise performance.
5) Helps to prevent osteoporosis
The mineral helps maintain a healthy bone structure. Eating enough calcium and increasing your bone density by doing exercise and lifting weights can increase your bone mass and help prevent bone problems like osteoporosis. If you are exercising to try and improve your bone mass, you may need more calcium than usual.
6) Promotes healthy digestive enzymes
The right amount of calcium is needed to support the function of digestive enzymes. Digestive enzymes are necessary for the digestion of fats, proteins and carbohydrates, which can help to prevent cholesterol and blood pressure problems.
Calcium works well with
- Magnesium to help maintain healthy bones and muscles
- L-Lysine to support the absorption and utilisation of calcium, stopping it from being lost in the urine
- Probiotics to help absorb calcium
- Zinc and manganese for the maintenance of healthy bones
- Vitamin D for bone health and to promote absorption and utilisation of calcium
- Vitamin K to help maintain healthy bones and produce proteins responsible for bone structure
- Boron to increase bone strength
Some things to consider
If you suffer from hyperparathyroidism, chronic kidney disease, or kidney stones, speak to your doctor before taking calcium supplements.
According to the UK National Health Service, you should be able to get all the calcium you need by eating a healthy diet. Taking 1,500mg or less of calcium every day is unlikely to cause any harm. You must not take more than the recommended dose. (3)
Resources:
- https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/calcium-supplements/art-20047097?pg=1
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8588118
- https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/calcium/
