Why is calcium so important?

 You need your bones to grow and you want them to be strong in order to support the height you will gain with Super-Growth, for years and years to come. Calcium is what will make it happen.

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body and is found mostly in your bones, where it gives them strength. The body does not produce calcium, which means that you must get it from your daily diet. That’s why a diet rich in calcium is so important, particularly when bones are growing and developing. Even after full bone development, you still need an adequate calcium intake throughout your life to keep your bones strong and healthy.

Apart from giving strength to your bones, calcium is necessary for many body functions. Practically every cell in your body, including those in your heart, nerves and muscles, relies on calcium.

In order for your body to function properly, the level of calcium in the blood must stay relatively constant. For this to happen, you need to consume enough calcium throughout the day. Otherwise, your blood will “steal” calcium from your bones to maintain the level it requires. Think of your bones as a “bank”. If your diet is low in calcium, your blood “withdraws” the calcium it needs from your bones. When your diet is rich in calcium, you make “deposits” in your calcium “bank”. Over time, if your withdraws exceed your deposits, your bones can begin to weaken and become more susceptible to breaking.

Smoking, alcohol, and caffeine have a negative impact on bone health, especially if your calcium intake is low.

Provided you consume enough calcium, your bones will continue to grow denser until around the age of 30. After that, calcium remains a priority, because you need to maintain your bone mass to minimize gradual loss associated with aging. As you get older, you tend to shrink (especially women). This tendency can be prevented through sufficient calcium intake.

Your bones need regular physical activity to maintain their strength. Exercise helps your body store calcium in the bones, so that the calcium you get from your diet is used more efficiently.

Daily calcium requirements:

Age (Years)	Calcium (Mg)
1-3 4-8 9-18 19-50 50+	550 800 1,300 1,000 1,200

Calcium Content in All Food Products

X = Source of calcium

XX = Good source of calcium

XXX = Excellent source of calcium

Calcium Content of Milk Products

Food	Serving	Calcium (Mg)	Rating
Brie cheese Buttermilk Camembert cheese Cheese, firm such as Cottage cheese, creamed, 1%. 2% Feta cheese Ice cream Ice milk Milk, whole, 2% 1%, skim milk, chocolate Milk, fortified Milk, powder, dry Mozzarella cheese Mozzarella cheese partly skimmed Parmesan cheese, grated Processed cheese slices: 2 thin slices, 2 thick slices Processed cheese spread Ricotta cheese Ricotta cheese, partly skimmed Swiss cheese Yogurt drink, yogurt frozen Yogurt, fruit – flavor, yogurt plain Yogurt, fortified fruit – flavor Yogurt, fortified plain	50g 250ml (1 cup) 50g 50g 125ml (½ cup) 50g 175ml (¾ cup) 125ml (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup) 250ml (1 cup) 250ml (1 cup) 90ml (6 Tbsp.) 50g 50g 45ml (3 Tbsp.) 42g, 62g 45ml (3 Tbsp.) 60ml (¼ cup) 60ml (¼ cup) 50g 175g, 125ml (1/2 cup) 175ml (¾ cup) both 175ml (¾ cup) 175ml (¾ cup)	92 301 193 350 87 254 140 109 315 300 420 318 269 366 262 256, 384 252 103 136 480 186, 147 259, 292 344 388	X XXX XX XXX X XX X X XXX XXX XXX XXX XX XXX XX XX, XXX XX X X XXX X, X XX, XXX XXX XXX

Calcium Content of Some Combination Foods Made with Milk Products

Food	Serving	Calcium (Mg)	Rating
Baked custard Cheese pizza Chicken a la King Custard pie Lasagna Macaroni and cheese (homemade) Milkshake Pancakes made with milk Pudding, vanilla, chocolate Quiche Lorraine Rice pudding Soups made with milk such as cream of broccoli, chicken, mushroom, tomato	125ml (½ cup) ¼ of a large 250ml (1 cup) 1/6 of a pie 250ml (1 cup) 250ml (1 cup) 10 oz. 3 medium 125ml (½ cup) 1/6 of a pie 125ml (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup)	157 296 135 146 286 383 332 179 140 336 137 189	X XXX X X XXX XXX XXX XX X XXX X XX

Calcium Content of Other Common Foods

Milk – 250ml = 315mg calcium

Firm Cheese – 50g = 350mg calcium

Yogurt – 175ml = 275mg calcium

See how milk products compare to these foods:

Food	Serving	Calcium (Mg)	Rating
Almonds Baked Beans Beet greens, cooked Brazil nuts Bread, whole wheat or white Broccoli, cooked Cauliflower, cooked Chickpeas, cooked Chili con carne Dates Figs, dried Kale, cooked Lentils, cooked Nuts, mixed Orange Prunes, dried, uncooked Raisins Red kidney beans, cooked Rhubarb, cooked Rice, white or brown, cooked Rice drink (fortified) Salmon, pink, canned, canned w/ bones Sardines, canned with bones Sesame seeds Shrimps, cooked, canned Soybeans, cooked Soy drink Soy drink (fortified) Spinach, cooked White beans, cooked	125ml (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup) 125ml (½ cup) 125ml (½ cup) 1 slice 125ml (½ cup) 125ml (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup) 250ml (1 cup) 60ml (¼ cup) 4 medium 125ml (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup) 125ml (½ cup) 1 medium 60ml (¼ cup) 60ml (¼ cup) 250ml (1 cup) 125ml (½ cup) 125ml (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup) ½ – 213 g can ½ – 213 g can 125ml (½ cup) 70g (12 large) 125 (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup) 250ml (1 cup) 125 (½ cup) 250ml (1 cup)	200 163 87 130 25 38 18 84 66 12 61 103 40 48 52 18 21 52 184 12 300 225 210 104 41 93 28 300 129 170	XX XX X X X X X X X X XX XXX XX XX X X XXX X XX

How to Calculate a Serving

Eating milk products is your best guarantee of getting the calcium you need every day, along with other important nutrients. How many milk products you should eat depends on where you are in your life cycle.

Children aged 4 – 9 years = 2 – 3 servings/day

Youth aged 10 – 16 years = 3 – 4 servings/day

Adults aged 17 and older = 2 – 4 servings/day

What is a Serving?

One serving of milk products contains at least 275 mg of calcium. Not all milk products contain the same amount of calcium. That is why a normal helping of some milk products might give you only ¼, 1/3 or ½ serving as shown below:

1 serving = 250 ml (1 cup) milk

50 g (1” x 1” x 3”) firm cheese

2 slices processed cheese

175 g (¾ cup) yogurt

45 ml (3 Tbsp.) Parmesan cheese

½ serving = 175 ml (¾ cup) ice cream.

125 ml (½ cup) frozen yogurt or ice milk

1/3 serving = 60 ml (¼ cup) ricotta cheese

¼ serving = 125 ml (½ cup) Cottage cheese

There are a lot or good things to say about calcium, but calcium is not so powerful without its “partner” – vitamin D, which enables calcium to build strong bones. Foods rich in vitamin D are fatty fish; milk fortified with vitamin D, and fortified breakfast cereals. Vitamin D can be also manufactured by our bodies from sunlight. The amount of sun exposure needed to produce vitamin D varies with an individual’s skin color and age.

Typically, from 10 minutes to 1½ hours is needed for the body to produce enough vitamin D to reach the fill potential of this “teamwork”. This is one of the reasons why some young people increase their height incredibly during summer time. I want to warn you, however, it can be very dangerous to expose yourself to the sun for long periods of time, because you may get sunburn, heat stroke or worse.

So keep in mind – a game of volleyball on the beach may help your bones to grow! 

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