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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