The A to Z of Calcium

Calcium has the answers to all those womanly woes

When we think of calcium, we often think of women drinking milk. Through all our growing years, we keep hearing that litany of lactose, exhorting us to get more calcium to build up our bones and teeth.

 Calcium, The ‘Ailment Fighter’:

Today’s woman is a juggler, managing career, relationships, family, household responsibilities. Calcium ensures that she does a good job. Long term low intake of calcium is a major risk factor in osteoporosis. An increased intake of calcium will benefit your heart, your blood cholesterol levels, PMS, and of course, your bones and teeth. It also helps keep kidney stones at bay. But contrary to popular belief, we, especially women, do not get enough of this miraculous mineral.

Orthopedic surgeon, Dr. M. K. Bhandari of Bombay Hospital says, “Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body and an average adult’s weight is made up of more than two percent calcium. Most of this- close to 99 per cent- is used by the skeleton And teeth, while the rest is stored in body tissues or circulates in the blood.”

Women in general need calcium mostly for bone development. “The building up and wearing away of bone is a life long process,” says Dr. Bhandari. In women, the breakdown of bone tissue is checked by oestrogen. Post menopause, however, when oestrogen levels fall, the bone wears away faster than it can build up. It is vital to build up a bank balance of calcium by the time you are 30, since bone density peaks around this time and can only decline afterwards.

‘Heart’ening Facts:

 Though the main function of calcium is to build bones and teeth, there are a lot of other functions too of calcium which are vital to heart health, as well as nerves, muscles and skin.

Hypertension: Epidemiologic studies have shown a link between low dietary intake of calcium and high blood pressure or hypertension. Healthy young adults given supplements of 1,000 mg calcium per day for 22 weeks showed a significant decrease in diastolic blood pressure.

Calcium also prevents hypertension and disorders related to it during pregnancy, which is a major cause of premature, underweight births.

Blood cholesterol: Latest studies suggest that calcium can help in lowering blood cholesterol.

Effect on kidney stones: It is a myth that renal calculi or kidney stones are a result of high calcium intake. New researchers establish that an increase in calcium intake prevents kidney stones.

Dr. Bhandari says,“the release of calcium from the bones of those on a long term low calcium diet or those physically unfit for a long time, sometimes leads to calcium deposits in soft tissues and the formation of kidney stones. Adequate intake of calcium will prevent the release of calcium from the bones, thus preventing stone formation.”

Relief from pre-menstrual aches: Every woman goes through physical and mental discomfort each month, prior to or during menstruation. The cramps and severe back aches can be considerably reduced by an increase in calcium intake. A high calcium diet also reduces depression and irritability typical during PMS.

Osteoporosis: This is a disease which afflicts millions of women after the age of 50 and a smaller percentage of men too. Osteoporosis is one of the major causes of disability in the elderly. It occurs when the loss of calcium from bone is more than the rate of bone formation. It leads to fragility of the bone. As a result, the risk of fractures increases. Adults with high intake of calcium during the early years or before puberty are less likely to develop osteoporosis.

“One should remember that there is no cure for osteoporosis, but there are treatments and prevention measures. Research has shown that boosting calcium intake can in fact halt bone loss, especially when taken with vitamin D, which enhances calcium absorption,” says Dr. Bhandari.

 Are you getting enough Calcium?

Eating too much of calcium does not mean that it is being absorbed in the body. There are a lot of absorption obstructors in the body. High intake of alcohol, caffeine and cold drinks reduces the calcium intake in the body. Emotional stress is another obstructor. In cereals (wheat, rice, oatmeal etc) and legumes, calcium is not available. Some cereals also have decalcifying effect on the body. Heavy intake of animal proteins, processed food, crash diets that tend to cut out dairy products, and too much of high fibre food is a suspect. Spinach, beet, greens, cocoa etc contain oxalic acid, which renders calcium unavailable to the body.  Intake of antibiotics, such as tetracycline and decreased physical activity are the other obstructors of calcium.

“Vitamin D is very important for calcium absorption in the body,” says orthopedic surgeon Dr. Sudakshina Shah. It increases the success of calcium absorbtion to as much as 30 percent to 80 percent. Dr. Sudakshina further explains, “Men absorb calcium more efficiently than women. Vitamin D and parathyroid hormone are the most important mechanisms that control the absorption of calcium.”

 Favourable Factors:

The following factors increase the absorption of calcium in the body:

• Sugars, especially lactose (milk sugar).
• Adequate intake of vitamin D.
• An acid medium.
• The presence of vitamin C.
• Parathyroid hormone in the body enhances mobilization of the bone stores of calcium.
• Exercise such as running, walking and increased physical activity is helpful in calcium absorption.

Sources of calcium

• Milk is the best source of calcium. Two to three cups full day ensures that we meet the daily requirement.
• Milk products, i.e. cheese, curds and cottage cheese are also good sources.
• Broccoli, mustard greens, collards, Chinese cabbage, spinach, coriander leaves, fenugreek leaves, drum stick, curry leaves are good sources. So are soya beans, orange, sweet potato, egg, cabbage, carrots, dry coconut and almond.
• ‘Paan’ (betel leaf) with ‘chuna’ (slaked lime) is an excellent source. 
• Meat, cereals and legumes are poor sources. 

 It’s A Fact!

The cause of almost 90 per cent of all fractures is osteoporosis. The rate of fractures of femur (thigh bone) increases by double for every ten years after the age of 50. So, start early! Continuous low intake of during the growing years results in wearing away of the bones because the peak bone structure has not yet been achieved. 30 to 40 per cent of women above the age of 50 suffer fractures. Osteoporosis in women is almost four times more frequent than in men. Small, thin women are more susceptible to fractures than women with larger body frame. Crash dieting, in which dairy products are slashed out, increases your risk of osteoporosis. After the age of 30-35, the annual bone loss rate is 0.5 per cent in both men and women. This increases to at least one per cent annually, for a decade or more after menopause. Osteoporosis development is also influenced by alterations in hormones, particularly estrogen and heredity, race, smoking and physical activity. Excessive amounts of salt, caffeine, alcohol and excessive animal protein have a negative effect on the calcium balance.

 “Negligible amounts of calcium are deposited in the skeleton of the foetus before the fifth month of intra-uterine life. Nearly 70 per cent of the skeletal calcium of the newborn is deposited in the last two months of pre-natal life. If the calcium intake of the pregnant women is low then the foetus will draw calcium from the mother’s bone store.” says gynecologist Dr. Shubra Krishnan. In a mother, up to 20 gm of calcium is lost during pregnancy, and over 80 gm is secreted in milk during lactation period.

Deficiency of vitamin D along with low intake of calcium lead to osteomalacia- ‘bone softening’. It generally occurs in women who have had many pregnancies, and who are not often exposed to sunshine. So, its time to get sunny!