Why Fuss About Calcium

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in our bodies and plays a vital role in our good health. Our body needs Calcium for several purposes, such as:

• Building and maintaining bones and teeth
• Blood clotting (when you get hurt, your blood turns into a hard scab to prevent more blood leaking out)
• Transmitting nerve impulses.
• Regulating heartbeat

As mentioned, huge part of the body is made up of Calcium: adults have as much as 1200 grams, or 1-2% of the body weight! Almost all this Calcium is stored in our bones and teeth. In fact, bone material is constantly being lost and rebuilt. When you are young, your body adds new bone material faster than you lose it, so this is the time when your bones become bigger and heavier. This lasts until you are 30, when bone loss becomes faster than bone formation.

You need Calcium to build strong bones, especially when you are in your tweens and teens. At this age you need more Calcium, even more than adults, to build healthy, strong bones.

Women who have just passed menopause lose bone mass the fastest and are at the greatest risk for Osteoporosis. Many adults, but especially post-menopausal women, lose bone mass very quickly and may fracture their bones very easily.

Osteoporosis is most likely to develop if you do not build enough bone mass when you are young. It is very important to have enough Calcium and Vitamin D when you are still growing.

Not having enough Calcium can also increase your risk of hypertension, muscle cramps, colon cancer and pre-eclampsia (a complication in pregnancy).

The chart on the right will give you an idea of how much Calcium you need every day at different life stages. (Source: Dietary Reference Intakes (DRIs): Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine, National Academies.)

One glass of milk (250 ml) contains approximately 300 mg of Calcium.