Calcium Supplements: Essential Component of a Healthy Diet
April 10, 2008 by Lucy
Calcium is an extremely important component of a healthy diet and will prove to be essential throughout your life. With the most important times of your life, such as childhood, pregnancy and breast feeding, getting the right amount of calcium is essential. For children, calcium helps with the growth of teeth and bones, and prevents blood clots. With adults, calcium helps to prevent osteoporosis. Although it is a mineral that is essential for life, the majority of people worldwide don’t get adequate calcium on a daily basis. Studies strongly suggest that calcium also plays a prominent role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Dietary sources of calcium are also important, such as milk that is a wonderful source of calcium, but pasteurisation makes calcium and other minerals harder to absorb, low-fat or fat-free milk, dairy products, and some leafy greens. Calcium plays an important part in body functions and development.
Are you considering taking, or are currently taking calcium supplements, you should take them in connection with a meal - either before or after your meal, with a large glass of water preferably. Most experts recommend that supplements be taken with food and that no more than 600 mg should be taken at a time because the percentage of calcium absorbed decreases as the amount of calcium in the supplement increases.
If you are using chewable calcium supplements, then you should make sure that you chew the pills thoroughly before you swallow. If you have trouble chewing them, let them dissolve in a glass of water or juice then slowly drink once it is dissolved. Keep in mind, you shouldn’t take other medications immediately following calcium supplements, as they can easily interfere with that medication.
Although calcium supplements are ideal for promoting bone and teeth growth and health, you should always make sure that you can take them before you make the purchase. Those who suffer from lung disease, kidney stones, stomach problems, or diarrhoea should always consult with a doctor first to make sure that calcium supplements won’t make things worse. If you are pregnant, you should let your doctor know that you are interested in taking calcium supplements.
Normally, anyone can take calcium supplements, although using them in high doses may cause different and adverse reactions. If you take calcium supplements in large doses, you may experience constipation, vomiting, nausea, a loss of appetite, a dry mouth, and a loss of appetite. If you start to have any of the above problems, you should immediately contact your doctor.
When you contact your doctor, you should let him know if you are taking any other medications, and any history of illness or diseases your family may have or have had. Although anyone can take calcium supplements, there are rare cases in which they may cause side effects, although this is rare.
Calcium is a fat burner and high calcium diets seem to favour burning rather than storing fat. Calcium carbonate is the best nutritional source of calcium since it provides up to 40% of elementary calcium readily absorbed by the blood. You may be familiar with coral calcium, which is gaining popularity in the nutritional world at the moment.
If you’ve been having problems with your bones or just want to keep your bones healthy, calcium supplements are essential. You can find them online, or through local nutrition stores or a chemist. Calcium supplements are inexpensive, yet they will give you the peace of mind in knowing that you are helping to keep your bones strong and healthy by taking this supplement. Include them in your daily diet - but first check with your doctor to make sure that they are suitable for you.
Great post,
A quality supplement also helps you to keep control of your body weight and improve physical fitness, so an herbal nutritional supplement could help you to keep fit. As well as a depleted intake of vitamins and nutrients there are many more toxins in the atmosphere that can directly damage our vitamin levels so even those who eat a perfectly healthy diet may find benefit from taking a nutritional multivitamin supplement.