Calcium is well known for supporting bone health, but it also plays many other vital roles within the body. Calcium helps young children build peak bone mass early on while helping prevent osteoporosis later in life.
Calcium can be found in dairy products, green vegetables and some juices or fortified foods. Supplements should be taken alongside meals to aid their absorption.
1. Strengthens Bones
From childhood through teen years, calcium plays a key role in building strong bones. Following that stage, calcium continues to support and strengthen bones as we age naturally, slowing bone loss in its tracks.
Calcium accounts for nearly all of our body’s calcium stores; most is stored in bones and teeth while the rest can be found in blood, extracellular fluid, muscle cells and extracellular matrix. Calcium plays an integral role in muscle contraction, blood vessel dilatation/constriction regulation, nerve impulse transmission as well as secretion of certain hormones.
Calcium can be obtained in many forms from sources including low-fat dairy products, beans, dark leafy greens and nuts. Your body also benefits from sun exposure as well as fortified foods like cereals and orange juice that contain calcium supplements.
2. Prevents Osteoporosis
Calcium conjures images of bones; indeed, most of our body’s calcium is located there. But calcium also plays an essential role in many other areas.
Calcium helps prevent osteoporosis, a condition characterized by fragile and weak bones that break easily. To maintain strong and healthy bones it’s essential to get enough calcium from diet as well as fortified foods, like orange juice or breakfast cereal with added calcium fortification. Exercise also plays an integral part in keeping bones strong.
3. Keeps Teeth Healthy
Calcium may be best known for its bone-building abilities, but it also plays an essential part in protecting dental health. Calcium strengthens tooth enamel while helping prevent decay as well as acid erosion.
Get your daily calcium needs met by eating low-fat milk, yogurt and cheese; leafy greens; canned sardines or salmon with bones, and calcium-fortified juices can all provide valuable sources of this mineral. Make sure to limit sodium consumption as too much can increase calcium loss through kidneys; in addition, sugary drinks or calories may impair its absorption.
4. Reduces Risk of Heart Disease
Recent health headlines created quite a buzz regarding whether calcium supplements increase the risk of heart disease. A meta-analysis of trial level data revealed an increase in heart attacks among people taking calcium supplements.
As part of a healthy diet and to ensure adequate calcium intake through foods rather than supplements, dairy products (low-fat milk, yogurt and cottage cheese), dark leafy vegetables like bok choy and collard greens as well as fish with bones (e.g. sardines and canned salmon) are great sources.
5. Helps to Combat Colon Cancer
Studies indicate that those who consume more calcium-rich foods (milk, leafy vegetables, oat bran, certain fish and tofu) tend to have lower rates of colon cancer. Low dose supplements of calcium and vitamin D may also reduce their risk.
Calcium is most easily absorbed when taken with some sodium (salt). For maximum absorption, food sources of calcium should be prioritized over supplements; use low dose supplements that have been verified by USP to ensure quality and purity.
6. Helps to Combat Premenstrual Syndrome
Calcium is the mainstay mineral found in both bones and teeth. It provides structure and hardness while fulfilling many other vital body functions – contracting blood vessels and expanding them, sending signals between nerve cells in the body, aiding nerve transmission of messages across it all, aiding release of hormones from glands etc.
Studies suggest that calcium may help alleviate PMS symptoms by altering serotonin levels. A 2018 double-blind and randomized clinical trial concluded that supplementation of calcium significantly decreased core PMS symptoms such as anxiety, negative mood, water retention and food cravings among women experiencing PMS.
7. Helps to Combat Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
Calcium is often associated with bones and teeth, but it has multiple other important functions including blood clotting, muscle contraction and nerve transmission. You’ll find it naturally present in some foods or available as dietary supplements.
Your body uses calcium supplements to carefully regulate levels of calcium in your blood. If you don’t consume enough, your body may “steal” calcium from bones in order to maintain blood levels – leading to osteoporosis. Risk increases postmenopause when estrogen levels decrease, but calcium supplements may help counter this effect.
8. Helps to Combat Type 2 Diabetes
Calcium not only aids bone health, but it is also vital to maintaining heart wellness – regulating blood pressure and supporting cell functions.
Diets that contain calcium and vitamin D may help combat type 2 diabetes by lowering both systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels.
Calcium supplements may help lower the risk of preeclampsia, a pregnancy complication marked by hypertension and proteinuria or thrombocytopenia. When selecting high-quality calcium supplements such as calcium citrate or ascorbate for this purpose, as these forms are more readily absorbed by your digestive tract than soluble salts like calcium carbonate or ascorbate.
9. Helps to Combat Hypertension
Calcium plays a critical role in cardiovascular functions, including blood vessel contraction and dilation, muscle function and secretion of important hormones. Your body acquires its calcium needs through food or supplements; if too little is taken up by your system, your bones may take over in this regard.
Low calcium consumption has been linked to hypertension, an arterial condition in which blood pressure levels rise above their target limits. Studies show that increasing calcium consumption through diet or supplementation helps decrease blood pressure for those at risk for the condition [52].
10. Helps to Combat Metabolic Syndrome
Metabolic syndrome has garnered much attention as one of the more widespread health concerns in our society, while some nutritional components, including vitamins and minerals, have shown promise as treatment against metabolic disorders.
Calcium is essential for supporting bones, muscles and nerves in our bodies. Ensuring we get enough calcium can reduce the risk of metabolic syndrome; to get this essential nutrient effectively we should consume food sources like milk, fish with bones, leafy veggies like green beans and garlic as well as tofu with added calcium as well as fortified foods that contain this mineral.
