Calcium

[Guest guest]

Calcium Calcium is the most abundant mineral found in your body. Approximately 99 percent of the calcium in your body is found in your bones and teeth while the remaining 1 percent is found in your blood and remaining tissues.What Does Calcium Do in Your Body? Helps to form strong teeth and bones Allows muscle tissue to grow and contract properly during physical activities Helps regulate blood pH, which is essential to your body's ability to properly transport oxygen and carbon dioxide Allows for proper blood coagulation Allows for proper functioning of your heart and nerves Due to its importance to

a number of critical metabolic activities, the amount of calcium that is available to your blood and tissues must be carefully regulated at all times. Your bones and teeth serve as reservoirs of calcium that your blood taps into for its ongoing need for calcium. Ultimately, the amount of calcium that your blood saps from your bones and teeth is determined by the amount of calcium that your blood receives from your diet. Clearly, the health of your bones is closely linked to how many calcium-rich foods you eat and how well you digest and assimilate them. Here are some healthy, whole food sources of calcium: Whole Food Sources Serving Calcium (mg) Sardines 3 ounces 372 Chinese cabbage, cooked 1/2 cup 239 Spinach, cooked 1/2 cup 230 Rhubarb, cooked 1/2 cup 174 Wild salmon, canned with bones 3 ounces 167 Kale, cooked 1 cup 122 White beans, cooked 1/2 cup 113 Bok choy, cooked 1/2 cup 79 Broccoli, cooked 1 cup 70 Pinto beans, cooked 1/2 cup 45 Red beans, cooked 1/2 cup 41Four additional healthy food sources of calcium are: Broths made with organic bones Organic, unpasteurized dairy from properly raised goats, cows, or sheep Super green food

products that contain a variety of organic green vegetables Sesame leaves and sesame seeds Eating plenty of healthy, calcium-rich foods does not guarantee that you will have healthy bones and teeth. Please be aware of the following factors that can influence your calcium and overall health status: Your body needs an adequate amount of vitamin D to properly absorb calcium through your intestinal wall. Vitamin D deficiency is one of the most common nutritional deficiencies in the western world today. Taking iron and zinc supplements can inhibit calcium absorption. If you eat lots of whole grains without soaking, fermenting, or sprouting them, the phytic acid found in the bran of whole grains can bind onto calcium and prevent its absorption into your blood stream. Soaking whole grains overnight before preparing them to eat can neutralize phytic acid and prevent problems with calcium absorption. Stress is capable of leeching calcium out of your bones. Eating too many acid-forming foods like flesh meats, dairy products, flour products, salt, sugar, and caffeine can pull calcium out of your bones. Because of the many variables that can affect how well you absorb calcium into your blood and maintain the strength of your bones and teeth, it is practically impossible to provide an accurate recommended daily allowance of dietary

calcium for different age groups. There are, however, a few concrete steps that you can take to promote healthy calcium and bone status: Strive to eat some of the calcium-rich foods listed above on a regular basis. Don't forget to apply principles of how to eat for optimal digestion and assimilation of nutrients. Do some weight-bearing exercise every day. I don't know of a single better weight-bearing exercise than walking outdoors. Ensure that you have a healthy amount of vitamin D in your system by getting some exposure to sunlight and eating foods rich in vitamin D on a regular basis. Choose to eat iron-rich and zinc-rich foods before resorting to synthetic

supplement forms of iron and zinc. Soak whole grains overnight before preparing them to eat. Find ways to effectively manage emotional stressors in your life. Be on the lookout for a new article on this topic that I will post in the near future. Don't use large amounts of flesh meats, flour products, salt, and caffeine. Sugar is best avoided completely. Suzi What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered. health/ http://suziesgoats.wholefoodfarmacy.com/ http://360./suziesgoats

Don't be flakey. Get for Mobile and always stay connected to friends.

[Guest guest]

Thanks very much, Lottie!

[ ] Calcium

Well Rhonda, you challenged me, so here it is, from Web MD

" WebMD Health News

April 17, 2000 -- Got milk? New research suggests you should if you want to

lose weight. The study shows that calcium -- three or four daily servings of

low-fat dairy products -- can help adjust your body's fat-burning machinery. The

key is low-fat dairy sources, says lead author Hang Shi, a postdoctoral student

in the Nutrition Institute at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

" High-fat dietary calcium can establish obesity, but it's surprising that

low-fat calcium may help reduce body fat, " Shi tells WebMD. " The effect is very

significant, much more than we imagined it would be. " His paper on the effects

of a high-calcium diet in increasing body fat loss was presented at the

Experimental Biology 2000 meeting in San Diego. " The magnitude of the findings

was shocking, " says Zemel, PhD, director of the Nutrition Institute, who

is Shi's co-author and doctoral supervisor.

In their past studies, Zemel and colleagues have shown that calcium stored in

fat cells plays a crucial role in regulating how fat is stored and broken down

by the body. It's thought that the more calcium there is in a fat cell, the more

fat it will burn. The researchers used mice bred to be obese in their current

study. The mice were fed a special high-fat, high-sugar diet for six weeks. All

had a 27% increase in body fat. Some were then switched to a calorie-restricted

diet. Of those, one group was given calcium supplements (calcium carbonate

similar to Tums) and others were fed " medium " and " high " amounts of low-fat dry

milk. Body fat storage was markedly reduced by all three high-calcium diets, say

the authors. "

More here if you are interested:

http://irweb.swmed.edu/chn/naa/tipsheets/ca_wtloss.htm

http://www.weightlossresources.co.uk/weight_loss/weight_loss_tips/milk_calcium.h\

tm

And to think I stopped drinking milk because of flatulence. If I could just

get rid of this gut.

Here's something on calcium and your heartbeat, too.

http://www.healthandage.com/html/res/aging_of_you/content/7.htm#3

This one is from our neighbor, Canada:

http://ww2.heartandstroke.ca/Page.asp?PageID=806 & RecordID=2751 & Src=volunteer & Fro\

m=Category & CategoryID=15

There's lots more out there in cyberland, but this is a good start.

Blessings,

Lottie