Calcium and Aging

Copyright 2006 PillFreeVitamins.com
As you age your calcium needs change. You start needing more of the types of foods rich with calcium to stay strong. Recently, researchers created a new Food Pyramid for people over a certain age. It informs us that eating at least three servings of calcium-rich foods to meet the daily requirements of calcium and Vitamin D is needed for people over a certain age.
After a certain age, more calcium is needed to prevent the bone disorder called osteoporosis. This disease affects more than 28 million Americans, and 80% of that are women.
Calcium is important in keeping your bones healthy. As you age, you lose important minerals in your bones. Bones start to get thinner and break more easily. Keep your bones strong by eating calcium-rich foods, such as milk, cheese, broccoli, dried beans and peas. Orange juice is also a good source of calcium.
Vitamin D helps absorb calcium in the body. It is found in fluids and dried milk and cereal. Your body makes its own Vitamin D when your skin is exposed to sunlight.
Take a walk or sit in the sun every day for a few minutes, several times a week. This is important in the winter when there is less sunlight. By doing this you are making sure you have enough Vitamin D to absorb calcium.
Exercise is also needed for good bone health. Take a walk or ride a bike, yoga, anything that gets you moving and out of the house. Do heavy jobs around the house that you are able to do, what ever you do, just do something that keeps you up and about for as long as you are able.
By doing all of this you are able to keep your bones muscles and blood safe and calcium healthy, and are also keeping your vitamin D levels high enough to work with your calcium absorption.
Calcium
Calcium is important to having a healthy body. Your body needs it every day not just to keep your bones and teeth strong over time, but to keep your muscles and nerves working as well. It even helps your blood clot.
Most people think they are getting enough calcium everyday, but, they are not, they are actually lacking calcium. Low calcium is usually caused by not enough calcium in foods. When blood calcium levels drop too low, your body takes calcium from your bones.
It is returned to the bones from calcium supplied from the food you eat. The average person loses 400 to 500mg of calcium per day. If the food you eat is low in calcium, there may not be good amounts of calcium available in the blood to be returned to the bones to keep your bones and body strong.
Taking calcium regularly everyday is important in preventing and treating low calcium. So how much daily calcium do you need? How much do you get? Everyone has different amounts of needed calcium, but what you eat sometimes doesn’t fit the amount you need.
The foods you eat and the exercise you do all has to do with calcium. If you’re eating food with low calcium then you are taking away from your natural calcium resource and not giving it back. Calcium is in a lot of foods, and finding the types of foods isn’t hard.
There are vitamins you can take to keep your calcium levels up, but without food to help, you are only getting a small amount of the needed calcium. Calcium is used all over your body; it is used to contract your muscles, which is important because without calcium your heart would stop beating.
It is used in your bones and teeth, your blood, and the stuff that is found between cells. If your calcium was taken out you would die. Keeping a good calcium level is important. How ever, having too high of calcium is also a risk.
If you have too much calcium you could end up with severe problems. Women who are pregnant have to be careful of taking too much calcium because it could cause birth defects such as extra fingers or toes on the infant.