Calcium Almighty! Why do you take it?

We need calcium not only for tooth, bones and nails formation. It is involved in neural transmission, muscle contraction and blood coagulability in our body.

Most common symptoms of calcium deficiency are convulsions, spasms, muscle aches, numb feeling and tingling in hands and feet. And early sighs are fatigue, sleepiness and apathy. 

Besides, dry and itchy skin can also indicates a lack of calcium in our body.

At the same time there are lots of factors in the modern way of life which trigger calcium depletion. Let’s consider some of them:

• eating junk food such as sausages, roasted food and semi-finished products prevents calcium absorption;
• the amount of proteins we consume is low. Our food contains mostly carbohydrates, as the usual diet consists of porridge, bread and pasta;
• coffee, sugar and fizzy drinks, spicy food and all sweet stuff may provoke calcium washing out;
• smoking and alcohol remove not only calcium but other vitamins from our body as well, e.g., vitamin C and others.

Let me explain what calcium washout means. It’s not about it that one cup of coffee drags all molecules of calcium on itself. There is some other biochemical process that goes on here. It is laid by nature that all reactions in the cells go with oxidation. Our cells get acidic. The more we eat acidifying foods, the more the cell acidifies. It is the pre-condition for decease development. Our organism is smart enough to save itself by its own efforts. In what way? Acidic environment needs to be alkalized. It is calcium that acts as an alkaline in our cells. An organism takes calcium out of plasma, and if there isn’t any of it there, it pulls calcium out of teeth, and then of skeleton, and directs it to alkaline reactions.

It’s important to read labels when choosing calcium. The calcium formula is significant. Nowadays there are several most popular forms of calcium – these are carbonate, gluconate, citrate, malate. Naturally, the price of a dietary supplement directly depends on its ingredients.

Calcium carbonate is the most widely available and is quite a good option.  However, it should be considered that calcium carbonate can only be absorbed if the stomach acidity is high. If the acidity is low, the absorption of carbonate is hardly possible.

The gluconate formulas should be used with caution. Extra amount of this form of calcium can settle in the kidneys as sand and stones.

Calcium citrate is a quite accessible formula for the body. It is a compound of calcium salt and citric acid. Stomach acidity has no effect on its absorption.

The most bioavailable form is calcium chelate. In this compound a protein molecule (amino acid) in the form of a claw is already attached to calcium ions. Hence the name “chelate” from lat. chela “claw” comes.  Calcium in this form is ready to be easily absorbed.

It’s worth mentioning that along with calcium there should be Vitamin D in a calcium pill to strengthen the bones. However, please note that a dose of Vitamin D in a calcium pill does not compensate for the Vitamin D deficiency. This dose acts as an assistant for absorption of calcium in the intestines and nothing more.

Besides, it’s helpful to have magnesium in the calcium supplement. What is magnesium for? With a lack of magnesium, the absorption of calcium goes less efficient. In today’s world, many people have a magnesium deficiency caused by increased stress levels. For this reason, manufacturers add magnesium to make sure that calcium is already absorbed.

Going deeper into biochemistry, you can see iron added to calcium pill. There are lots of frightening аds about the incompatibility of calcium and iron. Let me unleash our doubts. Calcium chelate does not react with iron.  However, iron is added to pills for a reason. It builds a “bridge” through which calcium enters the cell.

      It is recommended to take calcium supplements late at night or before bedtime. Firstly, it helps the nervous system to calm down before going to bed, secondly, the process of filling the bones with calcium occurs at night, and at night the concentration of calcium in the blood is low.

We should mention that there is also the coral calcium in powder form. According to medical experts, this type of calcium is not involved in bone skeleton regeneration processes. Coral calcium works well in the processes of alkalization of the body, which I’ve described about above. So if you’re a coffee drinker, Coral Calcium should become your companion.

Calcium consumption rate

Age and physiological periods of human life	Recommended calcium intake for healthy persons, mg/day
Newborns and babies up to 6 months	400
Children aged 1-5	600
Сhildren aged 6-10	800-1200
Adolescents and young adults aged 11-24	1200-1500
Women aged 25-50	1000
Pregnant and lactating women	1200-1500
Post-menopause women	1500
Post-menopause women receiving estrogen substitution therapy	1000
Men 25-65 years old	1000
Men and women over 65 years old	1500

To sum up, I’ll say that I choose Calcium – magnesium chelate with vitamin D.