Calcium

Calcium is not just about bones. True; 99 per cent of the calcium in our body is stored in our bones, but it’s the other 1 per cent that is so important. Many people don’t realize that it is essential for regulating blood pressure, nerve transmission, muscle contraction, blood clotting, ensuring a balanced body pH, and essential to thousands of enzyme and hormone reactions. Yet calcium is the single most inadequately consumed mineral among Canadians of all ages. More than 80 per cent of Canadians over the age of 50, both male and female, reported inadequate intakes of calcium from food according to a Health Canada report. It’s hard to get all the calcium we need from our diets. Dairy products are the go-to sources of calcium, but you would need to drink half a litre of milk each day to meet your body’s needs. For vegetarians or vegans, it would take over 3 litres of soy beverage or almost 20 cups of chopped broccoli to meet Health Canada’s recommended intake of 800 mg/day for most adults. Calcium supplementation in older adults has been shown to reduce bone loss and fracture risk, which are crucial risk factors for osteoporosis. For a more in-depth discussion of Calcium, please click here.