Calcium: For the Strong Bones
Many of us know that calcium is required for strong and healthy bones, but how many of us know that calcium is necessary for muscle contractions, transmitting messages to your brain and blood clotting!
99% of the calcium we take goes to our bones and just 1% goes to the blood. Hence, the deficiency of calcium cannot be identified until we see reduced bone density or osteoporosis. This disease affects both men and women above 40 years of age. It weakens the bone that even climbing stairs might put you at an increased risk for fracture. Apart from that, low amounts of calcium in blood delays blood clotting and it might take longer time than normal to stop bleeding from a wound or cut. Ringer in 1882 found the importance of calcium in muscle contractions. A century later, investigations have revealed that deficiency in calcium affects our response to stimuli like smell, touch and sound and also slows down our muscle movements.
All we need to do is to look towards the dairy for the solution. Milk and milk products like cheese, yogurt and butter have abundant amounts of calcium. If you are lactose intolerant, then don’t worry. You can get enough amounts of calcium from green leafy vegetables, nuts like almond, sunflower seeds, sea food like salmons and sardines and from calcium supplements.
Calcium requirement is not differentiated by gender. Men and women need almost equal amounts of calcium in their body. However, it’s a different case during infant stage of pregnancy. Here is the recommendation of Calcium daily intake published by the National Academy of Sciences, India.
| Age | Male | Female |
| 0-6 months | 210 milligrams | 210 milligrams |
| 7 months - 1 year | 270 milligrams | 270 milligrams |
| 1-3 years | 500 milligrams | 500 milligrams |
| 4-8 years | 800 milligrams | 800 milligrams |
| 9-18 years | 1300 milligrams | 1300 milligrams |
| 19-50 years | 1000 milligrams | 1000 milligrams |
| 51 and above | 1200 milligrams | 1200 milligrams |
| Pregnant and Lactating 1000-1300 milligrams |
The normal range of calcium in the blood is 9-10.5 mg/dL or 2.2-2.6 mmol/L.
Hypercalcemia results when the body does not absorb the calcium or when the intake is higher than needed. The symptoms of hypercalcemia are muscle pain, frequent thirst, poor appetite, frequent urination, depression, memory loss, loss of height and bone pain. Hypercalcemia can be treated by drinking lots of water and including extra salt in the diet, which causes the excess calcium to wash out in urine.
