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With the discovery that millions of mostly women and a few hundred
thousand men will be affected by osteoporosis each year, calcium has
become the hot word in diets. While it’s true an adequate calcium intake
is necessary for both prevention and treatment of osteoporosis, there
are concerns and facts of which you should be aware.
Adequate calcium ingestion should begin as early in life as possible and
especially by early adolescence, since 92% of all of your bone mass is
formed by age 16. Children who have low intake of calcium during ages
birth through 16 may have weaker bone and a less dense bone structure
predisposing them to fractures in later life. Unfortunately, in our
practice we’re seeing more and more children who don’t like milk
products and may eventually develop osteoporosis from poor dietary
habits.
Your body’s absolute best source of calcium is still from foods rich in
calcium content. The human body can absorb almost 100% of calcium
naturally contained within food. That means calcium in milk, cheese,
eggs and other similar foods is easily absorbed and stored in bone for
future use. The average person needs 1,200 milligrams of absorbed
calcium per day just for normal body processes. In times of rapid bone
growth and repair, even more may be required.
In contrast, the calcium in “calcium fortified foods” and vitamin
mineral supplements is usually only 40% absorbed during a single meal.
In fact, your body limits calcium absorption to about 500 milligrams per
meal per 4 or 5-hour period. The best absorbed of all the calcium
supplements is calcium carbonate, but it is still only 40% absorbed.
So, what happens to all of the other milligrams of ingested calcium?
Most are flushed down the toilet. Any extra calcium “hanging around”
unfortunately may end up concentrated in your kidneys and make those
painful kidney stones. About 8% of persons taking excess calcium
supplements will develop kidney stones within a couple of years. That
means ingesting large amounts of calcium supplements at one time may
actually harm you in the long run.
What about Vitamin D? Well, calcium is poorly incorporated into bone
unless Vitamin D is in adequate dietary supply. There is a false belief
that we can get all the Vitamin D we need from sun exposure. This is
simply not true, as it would require daily direct bright sun exposure of
more than 4 hours to convert the necessary chemicals into the 400
international units (IU) of Vitamin D we need per day. In addition,
persons with osteoporosis may require up to 1000 IU per day to repair
damaged bone.
Presently, the best source of Vitamin D is from natural foods or vitamin
supplements containing this valuable vitamin. It is best to use fresh
foods and supplements for Vitamin D replacement, as this vitamin is not
stable over long periods and doesn’t store well.
Learning about Calcium and Vitamin D should give you an edge in
preventing and treating osteoporosis. Be sure to talk to your children
and grandchildren about calcium, Vitamin D and bones.
Dr. Frank |
