Calcium

This next series of blogs will be focused on minerals! Each blog is used to provide Forever Fitness members with reliable and credible nutrition information right at your fingertips. In our society, social media has been seen to have a vast influence on what we teach ourselves. When reading up on nutrition topics you should be proactive on ensuring the sources are reliable. Nutrition information is found on many reliable government or college universities, or the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics websites. Other reliable resources stem from people who have obtained an educated background in nutrition or have obtain credentials certifying their knowledge. Now that we discussed reliable recourses, lets dive into some nutrition education!

What are minerals?

Minerals act like vitamins as they help our bodies carry out metabolic procsses, contribute to growth, and help maintain an optimal health status. Minerals are known as micronutrients because they are essential to our diet. There are two further categories that will help us break down minerals in understanding the quantities our bodies are consuming. The two subcategories of minerals, macrominerals and trace minerals. Macrominerals are the minerals that are consumed in large amounts in our diet (calcium, sodium, chloride, potassium, phosphorus, magnesium, and sulfur). While trace minerals are consumed in very small amounts (Iron, zinc, Iodine, Selenium, Copper, Manganese, Fluoride, Chromium, and Molybdenum).

Functions of Calcium

The major function of calcium is that it supports our bone health. This mineral is responsible for building strong bones throughout our lifetime. Calcium is needed to help our heart, muscles, and nerves function properly. Our bodies rely on calcium so much that it is the most abundant mineral found in our body. Our body will use its own bones to store calcium so there is a readily available supply of calcium for our blood, muscle, and intracellular fluids.

Recommended Intake of Calcium

The intake of calcium varies based on age, gender, pregnancy, and lactation. The National Institutes of Health have developed a chart (listed below) that informs readers about calcium requirements. The upper limit of calcium is 2,500 mg a day for adults 10 to 50 years old. People who are above the age of 50 should be consuming an upper limit of 2,000mg a day. Health problems can occur such as growth and development potential, loss of bone mass, and risk of osteoporosis.

Food Sources of Vitamin K

Calcium can be found abundantly in many food sources which include, yogurt, milk, cheese, fortified orange juice, mozzarella, cheddar cheese, tofu, salmon, cottage cheese, soymilk, breakfast cereals, chia seeds, kale, broccoli, and more. Supplements are also available for calcium; however, food sources should always be utilized first!

For any further questions about calcium and it's impact it has on your health be sure to reach out to your Forever Fitness staff or local registered dietitian!

Resources:

National Institutes of Health. Calcium. Updated March 29, 2022. Retrieved on April 12, 2021. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Calcium-HealthProfessional/