The Importance of Calcium
Why Calcium is important?
Calcium is an important element that helps our nerve system and muscles function normally. When our body lacks calcium, we may experience muscle cramp, back or shoulder pain, tooth loss, broken nails, and fractured bones, etc. National Institute of Health conducted a study, 200,000 women at age 50-104 were surveyed, and 47% of them have a certain degree of low bone mass problem. 22,000 women had bone fracture.
In natural process, our body keeps a calcium balance. If calcium level is low in blood, our body will release calcium from bone. If we have high level of calcium in the blood, the calcium will be deposited into the bone. Strong bones can only be built by sufficient concentrations of calcium.
My mother is 88 years old. Her cardiovascular system is excellent and her mental ability is amazingly good. Her annual physical examination result is always great. As her doctor said, compared to the elderly at her age, she should earn a full score (100%). However, my mother has server osteoporosis. The pain is unbearable. She cannot climb stairs; she cannot lie down nor get up from the bed. At some point, the thoughts of getting assist suicide came to her mind. The prescription medicine Forsamax, plus calcium and Vitamin D supplement were not working well on her. So she has to relay on strong pain killer to survive. My mother in-law is 18 years younger than my mother who also has server osteoporosis. The medicine Forsamax, plus calcium, Vitamin D and Glucosatrin supplements have given her benefit. I have learned an important lesson from my two mothers: We have to take care of ourselves when we are still young. Don’t wait until our body condition becomes irreversible even by the best medicine.
Who needs Calcium?
There is a widespread concern that Americans are not meeting the recommended intake for calcium. According to the Continuing Survey of Food Intakes of Individuals (CSFII 1994-96), the following percentage of Americans are not meeting their recommended intake for calcium: 44% boys and 58% girls at age 6-11; 64% boys and 87% girls at age 12-19; 55% men and 78% of women at age 20+ (Source: Office of Dietary Supplements • NIH Clinical Center • National Institutes of Health)
For fast growing age children (9-13), their long bones are expanding very fast. The recommended calcium daily dose is 1,300mg.
For the baby boomer population, malnutrition at young age was common. Many of them are now 45-60 year old. Some of them may have already faced low bone mineral density problem (Formation change of skeleton bones, bone fracturing, etc.) or already experienced osteoporosis.
For middle age or elderly women (45 and older), the efficiency of nutrient uptake can be significantly lower due to the hormone change. To maintain a functional level of Calcium in the blood, more calcium could be released from the bone. My doctor told me that women loss calcium 5% every year from age 45-60 and 1% every year after age 60. This is one of the reasons many older women have osteoporosis. Especially for Asian women, when dairy products were not consumed enough at the young age. Also among Asian population, many cannot consume dairy products due to lactose intolerance. Study found Asian women are at high risk of osteoporosis.
In the pass years, many clinical studies have shown that calcium supplement can reduce bone loss, especially to women. I listed two studies below.
1. Calcium supplementation reduces vertebral bone loss in premenopausal women.
2. Effect of Calcium Supplementation on Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Women http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/abstract/328/7/460
Is Calcium needed if one is taking osteoporosis prescription?
Some prescription medicine, such as EVISTA and Forsamax, can reduce osteoporosis and keeps calcium from leaving the bone. This is important step to control the progression of osteoporosis. However, these medicines can block the nature calcium banking system in human body. Supplying calcium to maintain a normal function of nerve and muscles become necessary.
Is Calcium needed when blood calcium level is normal?
Many osteoporosis patients’ blood test has shown a normal level of calcium (including my mother and mother in-law). They may have Vitamin D deficiency or other calcium absorption problems that cause the calcium in the blood cannot be used to build the bones.
The Calcium source and dose:
Consume the calcium from the food is the most common method and that should be sufficient to a general public. Eat high calcium containing food such as milk, tofu, and orange juice with calcium addition that is always encouraged. However to a high risk osteoporosis population, calcium absorption deficiency patients and some special need groups (children, pregnant women, elderly, etc.), the supplement of Calcium is usually recommended by doctors. Plus, to consume a certain daily dose of calcium, taking supplement is the easiest and most efficient method. My doctor’s recommendation about daily calcium dose for a mid age woman is 1500mg.
The importance of Vitamin D
Vitamin D is necessary for calcium absorption. Vitamin D deficiency is common in children and adults. It has been estimated that 1 billion people world-wide are vitamin D deficient or insufficient. Vitamin D deficiency may cause children growth retardation, skeletal deformities. In adults, Vitamin D deficiency may increase the risk of hip fractures; it may precipitate or exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis, muscle weakness, fractures, common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases and cardiovascular diseases. A daily dose of Vitamin D is 2000 IU. This is recommended by Mayo Clinic. http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/vitamin-d/NS_patient-vitamind
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/77290.php
The importance of calcium and Vitamin D have being recognized by consumers who aware of health. Taking calcium and Vitamin D supplement is more and more common. Prescript Calcium and Vitamin D to patients and special need groups become many doctors’ practice.
A brand of Calcium for recommendation:
When my mom was diagnosed with server osteoporosis many years ago, I started pay more attention to calcium intake and did some research on calcium supplement. We have tried many different brands of calcium on the market.
Calcium Plus is highly recommended by people whom have benefited from it. It was introduced by a friend when my mother in-law was suffering severe knee pain. Together with other supplement and medicine (i.e. Glucosatrin, Forsamax), her knee problem is well controlled. She did not pursue a prescheduled knee surgery.
Based on my mother, mother in-law and some friends’ feedback, the Calcium Plus is the most effective product to stop their muscle cramps. Calcium Plus is also effective for healthy nails. My son’s piano teacher did not have the need to cut finger nails often. In about 10 years, her nails grew very slowly. Since she started taking this Calcium Plus, in about two weeks, her finger nail grew noticeably longer.
Seeing the good result of Calcium Plus, I did a comparison with three brands of Calcium that my family has taken for years. I tried to find out why Calcium Plus could make the difference.
The first difference I found that was Calcium Plus contains five chemical forms of calcium (Calcium carbonate, Calcium sulfate, Calcium phosphate, Calcium Lactate and Calcium Citrate). Most brands only contain one form of calcium. Biological absorption in human body is a complicated process. Not necessarily “more is better”. Calcium Plus comes in five different forms. That may be able to overcome with over dose on any certain form of calcium. It may help avoid inefficiency of absorption and potential side effects (kidney stone, constipation etc.)
Bellow is the 5 forms of calcium in oral supplement and their facts:
- Calcium carbonate: This is the most commonly used form by calcium supplement producer. It is low cost. Some people might develop gastrointestinal constipation or gas. Consume high dose of calcium carbonate may add the risk of kidney stone formation.
- Calcium sulfate: It is economical. Commonly used by the food (Tofu) and beverage.
- Calcium phosphate: More expensive than calcium carbonate. It is easier to be absorbed and is less likely to cause constipation and gas.
- Calcium citrate: More expensive than Calcium carbonate and Calcium phosphate. Easy to be absorbed. It has a lower risk of kidney stones formation.
- Calcium lactate: It is the most expensive calcium product. It is easy to be absorbed. It has very low risk of constipation and kidney stones formation.
All 5 forms of Calcium listed above are FDA approved sources for supplemental calcium.
(Source: http://www.healthcastle.com/calciumpill.shtml)
The second difference is the type of Vitamin D. Many brand of calcium supplements come with Vitamin D. However Vitamin D cannot directly aid calcium absorption, Vitamin D3 is the active ingredient helping calcium absorption. Vitamin D has to see Sun light to convert to Vitamin D3 formulation. People live in high latitude (north of
The third difference is the addition of essential minerals in Calcium Plus. Focus on consuming more calcium that may result in lack of potassium and magnesium. Calcium Plus contains these elements as well to maintain mineral balance in our body. Potassium assists in muscle contraction and in maintaining fluid and electrolyte balance in body cells. Magnesium aids in the absorption and use of calcium. Magnesium also involves in muscle contraction. Magnesium also can help avoiding constipation. Boron in the formula is an important element that supports the function of vitamin D3.
Another unique future about Calcium Plus is its isotonic formulation. When an isotonic substance enters the body, it keeps the same osmotic pressure on both side of cell membrane. This helps the calcium get into cells without disturbance. This is why the absorption of calcium in isotonic fluids is highly efficient. A tablet usually takes 45 minutes to pass through stomach, and the efficiency of absorption is about 20-40%. Calcium Plus only takes about 5 min to pass through an empty stomach, and the efficiency of absorption is 95%. This isotonic formulation is sweet, pleasant and easy to drink. It is best for children, elderly, pregnant women and patients with swallow difficulty.
This product is exclusively provided by Market America. It only can be ordered on line, and cannot be found in drug stores. Click link below for more information about Calcium Plus
http://www.marketamerica.com/infimart/topproducts-13020/isotonix-calcium-plus.htm
SantaLucia
Certified NutraMetrix Consultant
infimart@gmail.com
I cannot say, Calcium Plus is the best on the market, but I am confident to say: Calcium Plus is the best amoung the calcium product on the market we have tried. We tried at least 5-6 different brand name.
Thank for sharing your thoughts.