Wednesday, March 14, 2007 4:28 AM
Calcium and its importance
-Calcium is found more commonly in the skeletal system, while it also can be found in your blood and the cell membranes. Calcium found in other ares help the body to carry out vital reactions.
- The skeletal calcium is in constant movement with the blood and other bodily fluids. It has been found out that in seven years, the whole skeleton breaks down and builds up again with new minerals and other bone materialsand without an adequate supply of calcium when growing, the bones deform and can lead to osteoporosis, a deficiency disease where the bones become brittle.
If YOU have backaches, or are having back muscle spasms, thigh bones aching, or if you are having any difficulty in twisting and bending, i advice you to consult a doctor to check if you have osteoporosis.
How does one get osteoporosis?
When the body lacks calcium, it obtains it from the bones and uses up the calcium meant for the bones, resulting in the bones becoming porous and as a result, brittle.
There are other dangers that one might face after having found out that he has osteoporosis:
If you have checked and acknowledged that you suffer from osteoporosis and have seeked medical attention, the doctor might conduct an operation which involves the inserting of heavy metals to fill up the spaces not filled by calcium. This can lead to cancer.
Vitamin D stimulates the production of calcium binding proteins in the digestive tract and if you don't have enough protein to begin with, it can't make the protein transporters needed to absorb calcium.
Your body also can't absorb calcium without balanced amounts of magnesium and phosphorus. Magnesium changes calcium to its soluble form so the body can absorb it. Too much phosphorus in the diet takes calcium from the bones and brings it into the rest of the body, making the bones soft. Calcium and magnesium are carried throughout your body by the blood component, albumin.
How can you lose calcium?
-Alcohol is a diuretic and draws out a lot of calcium and magnesium from your body with the increased amount of urine.
-By drinking a lot of water causes your body to lose more than the usual amounts of calcium and magnesium.
-Calcium and magnesium can also be lost through exercising and lots of perspiration.
-Calcium helps the adrenal glands produce stress coping hormones. If you are stressed, then your body will be using some calcium it would normally direct to the bones, in the extra production of hormones.
