The Truth About Calcium!

If you think the main function of calcium in the body is to maintain healthy bones, you are not alone. Many believe we must supplement our diet with calcium in order to prevent osteoporosis and treat osteopenia (reduced bone density.) This unfortunately is a half-truth. The purpose of calcium in the body is for nerve signaling. If there is not enough calcium available for this purpose, the body will leech it from the bones. People who have low bone density usually do not show low blood levels of calcium because the calcium is taken out of the bones into the blood. In fact, one could argue that osteoporosis itself is a childhood disease that can be prevented long before symptoms of adulthood.

So why the need for calcium supplementation?

It is during childhood that our skeletal structures mature from soft cartilage to hard bone. Our bones reach maturity by age 25 so this leads to two challenges. What if our childhood habits did not promote optimum bone mineralization in the first place? Having a diet rich in carbonated beverages and minimal calcium rich foods may have lowered our baseline for healthy bone density from the start! Add to that a sedentary seated lifestyle that does not encourage upright, weight bearing activities that improve posture and bone mineralization and we’ve got a shaky foundation to start off our adult life.

Unfortunately a diet rich in dairy (milk, cheese, etc) does not ensure calcium being re-deposited into the bones. First, did you know that an abundance of available calcium doesn't guarentee it will be reabsorbed into the bones? It's upright weight bearing activities that help strenghten your bones. Second, there is no calcium in cow’s milk. Our dairy is “fortified” with calcium. Better sources of calcium are found naturally in dark green leafy vegetables. For calcium to be absorbed in the body we need an acidic environment (pH 2-2.5) which is found in our stomach. Thus leads the question of how well calcium is absorbed in the body when put into foods like milk and cheese.

If calcium is needed for healthy bones and milk is fortified with calcium, logically milk is needed for healthy bones right? See how this argument may not make the best sense? I think a better question is not whether you need calcium supplements, it’s whether you can name at least 5 dark green leafy vegetables you’ve eaten this past week?