Health News • The Calcium Craze

Copyright © 2008 Judith F. McGhee MD. All rights reserved.

Most Americans worry that they just might not be getting enough calcium in their diets. Certainly advertisers on TV and the newspaper have encouraged this belief as they tout calcium enriched soft drinks, orange juice, antacid tablets, and even waffles. But is it worth the extra care to supplement your diet to prevent osteoporosis, which is that awful disease which makes old women older with hunchbacks and brittle bones.

Osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) is a disease of the bone whereby the microscopic lattice structure (similar to honeycomb) of the bone becomes thinner as calcium is slowly lost over the years. Women are more affected than men because women’s calcium level is partially controlled by the female hormone estrogen. Also women’s baseline of bone mass is con-siderably lower than that of men. Men also have estrogen but in a low steady flow. Men’s estrogen levels do not change as dramatically as do women with the monthly menstrual cycle, pregnancy, lactation or the onset of menopause.

Add to this the fact that women are generally weight conscious, thus eliminating calcium rich foods to lose weight, it is not surprising that women are more likely than men to be calcium deficient. They often eliminate milk, red meats, fish and eggs. As a result their daily calcium intake drops to less than 1000 mg as the daily requirement to maintain normal bone density.

A daily calcium intake of 1000-1500mg is required particularly when there is active bone growth such as early childhood, puberty and pregnancy. Infant formulas are structured to give adequate calcium to growing babies. Breastfeeding mothers cannot give a good calcium supply to their babies through their breast milk and are at risk for themselves if they do not take in extra calcium. Hence, breastfeeding mothers are encouraged to continue prenatal vitamins and drink extra plenty of milk themselves. Exclusively breastfed infants are given extra vitamin D (specifically 200 IU) daily so as to prevent rickets.

By the way, your best dietary source for calcium is dairy products. Skim milk has just as much Vitamin D and calcium as whole milk but a lot less fat. If you are allergic to milk, you can compensate by eating calcium rich foods. But this may be difficult as well as fattening. Sardines and salmon are a good source but eat the bones, because that’s where the calcium is. Beans are also good but also fattening. Here’s where vitamin tablet with calcium has its place. Make sure that this calcium supplement also has vitamin D as vitamin D is needed to help the absorption of calcium. But before embarking on a profound increase in calcium intake, consult your doctor.

Some diets actually hinder calcium absorption. Calcium carbonate or calcium citrate should be taken half an hour before meals or two hours after a meal for maximal absorption. A glass or two of milk at bedtime may be more beneficial than tryptophan in inducing sleep. It’s a good idea to take supplemental calcium well before age 30 as your bones lose their capacity to store calcium after that age.

You may ask how much is too much calcium. More than 1500 mg calcium daily may be harmful as this overload may cause kidney stones. Certain families with histories of kidney stones or parathyroid disease should consult their physician before heavy dietary supplementation begins. Hormone replacement therapy (i.e. estrogen) is no long recommended for post menopausal women because of the increased risk of breast cancer associated with prolonged high doses or estrogen.

Exercise is also essential in the absorption of calcium into the bones. No exercise (or the lack of muscular force against the pull of gravity) results in massive bone lose. A glaring example of this problem is with space astronauts, who have long periods of weightlessness while on their missions and return to earth with huge amounts of bone lose. Their space suits are now designed to counter this problem but nevertheless when they return to earth, these astronauts must embark on a program designed to replace their bone mass.

With the combination of proper supplemental calcium and vitamin D and exercise, it seems that some bones may be able to rebuild the depleted bone with their new found calcium. But such a program cannot undo the microfractures within the depleted bones. Hence it is extremely important to build up adequate supplies of calcium within one’s body during the first twenty years of life. This is why we hear that building strong healthy bones also prevents the ravages of osteoporesis in later life..

Milk, whole		1 cup		291mg		_________
Yogurt		1 cup		343mg		_________
Yogurt - (Flavor dependent)		1 cup		415mg		_________
American Cheese		1 oz		174mg		_________
Peanuts		1/2 cup		54mg		_________
IceCream		1 cup		176mg		_________
Swiss Cheese		1 oz		272mg		_________
Cottage Cheese		1 cup		130mg		_________
Broccoli		1 stalk		158mg		_________
Spinach		1 cup		167mg		_________
Egg without shell		1		28mg		_________
Apple or Banana		1 med		10mg		_________
Daily Calcium Total						_________mg