Calcium is the most abundant mineral in the body. It is necessary for the teeth and bones to be strong, where most of the calcium is found. The recommended amounts of calcium per day for men is 1000mg/ day and for women is 1200mg/ day. Body tissues, nerve cells, blood and other body fluids contain calcium and need calcium to work properly.
What are the functions?
Calcium supports skeletal structure and function. An optimum level of calcium in the body can prevent osteoporosis.
• It helps in building strong bones and teeth.
• It is essential for clotting blood.
• It is involved in sending and receiving nerve signals.
• It helps in contracting and relaxing muscles.
• It helps body with releasing hormones into blood stream.
• It helps in keeping the heart beat normal.
• It contributes to normal brain functioning.
• It stabilizes blood pressure.
• It helps in normal functioning of insulin in the blood stream.
• It assists in fertilization of egg by helping sperm enter it.
What happens when you have Calcium deficiency?
There are two types of calcium deficiencies, dietary calcium deficiency and hypocalcaemia.
Dietary calcium deficiency can be seen in people who are not getting enough calcium from their diet. Gradually, over time, the calcium from the bones gets depleted as it will be absorbed into blood stream to maintain the optimal calcium serum levels. This can lead to osteoporosis.
The symptoms for dietary calcium deficiency can be
• Neck pain or back pain.
• Tenderness in the bone and pain.
• There can be frequent fractures or bone breakage as the bones will be weakened due to lack of calcium in the body.
• Stooped or humped posture.
Hypocalcaemia is the lack of calcium in blood and is usually caused due to certain medications or some conditions like hypoparathyroidism.
The deficiency symptoms for Hypocalcaemia are -
• Muscle cramps in thighs, arms, while walking or moving around.
• Numbness
• Poor appetite
• Large bruised areas as there will be problems with proper blood clotting.
• Bleeding under the skin that looks like tiny red dots.
When both types of deficiencies are present, it can lead to hypertension, abnormal heart beat, chest pain, seizures, difficulty breathing, unusual changes with consciousness; and also can be life threatening at times. So, it becomes necessary to maintain optimum levels of calcium in the body and to get enough calcium from diet for a healthy lifestyle.
From where do you get enough amounts of calcium?
Some of the foods which are rich in calcium:
• Cheese – Different types of cheese are used for different foods. It is eaten with sandwiches, with fruits, and as toppings for foods like dosas, on bhajis, inside a stuffed paratha, can be sprinkled on pizzas, vegetable salads, etc. Make sure you don’t consume more than a slice of cheese a day to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
• Yogurt – It can be eaten with various foods like poha or upma, can be added to blend along with smoothies, it can be had as a dessert with mixed fresh fruits and dried nuts, can be had just as flavoured yogurts, makes for a great accompaniment with parathas, can be used a s a dip with crunchy salads or snacks, it is also used as one of the ingredients for preparing batters like oats dosa, ragi dosa, used for marination of meat, etc.
• Milk – Makes a healthy and natural drink; and is commonly added in hot and cold beverages like tea/ coffee/ milkshakes of various kinds. It can also be added to certain sabzi/ curries.
• Sardines – They are good sources of calcium. Try and opt for grilled recipes to stick to a healthy diet.
• Broccoli – It can be added to a salad and can be stuffed in a paratha with cauliflower to add more nutrition or can be added to any dish with other vegetables to prepare a side dish alongside chapatti/roti.
• Okra (Ladies finger) – It is a commonly used vegetable for preparing dry sabzi or is also added in sambar/ dals.
• Dark green leafy veggies like spinach, watercress, kale, turnips, collard greens – They can be used as a side dish along with other vegetables or in a salad.
• Almonds – They have enough amount of calcium and can be had as a snack, can be roasted and cut into pieces to sprinkle upon any desserts, can be powdered and had with milk or can be added to breakfast cereals for the crunch and nutrients.
• Bok choy – Is a type of Chinese cabbage, and is a good source of calcium. It can be added to your side dish as an additional ingredient or can be just sautéed and eaten as a salad with other vegetables of your choice.
Calcium is better absorbed in the body when it has optimum amount of vitamin D. Make sure you are incorporating these calcium sources to improve the intake and maintain a healthy lifestyle along with healthy and balanced diet food habits.