Since you were a kid, your mom has been telling you, “Drink your milk. You need the calcium.” It’s true. You need calcium for strong bones and teeth.
Everyone needs calcium, but it’s especially important for women and girls. Many people, including most women, don’t get enough calcium.
- Calcium is essential for optimal bone health
- Calcium helps with proper muscle contraction
- Calcium is critical to nerve function
Calcium can help prevent Osteoporosis, which makes your bones fragile and more likely to break. Some people don’t know they have it until they break a bone. One in 3 women and 1 in 5 men over the age of 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis. Calcium helps to keep your bones strong and less likely to break.
Protect your bones – get plenty of calcium every day.
Women:
- If you are age 19 to 50, get 1,000 mg (milligrams) of calcium every day.
- If you are age 51 or older, get 1,200 mg of calcium every day.
Men:
- If you are ages 19 to 70, get 1,000 mg of calcium every day.
- If you are age 71 or older, get 1,200 mg of calcium every day.
Kids:
- Kids ages 9 to 18 need 1,300 mg of calcium every day.
How can you get enough calcium?
There are 2 easy ways to get your calcium.
1. Eat foods with calcium every day.
But, did you know milk is not the only source of calcium? Calcium is also found in vegetables like kale, most nuts and in the following foods:
- Fat-free or low-fat (1%) milk, yogurt, and cheese
- Soymilk with added calcium
- Broccoli and dark green leafy vegetables
- Tofu with added calcium
- Orange juice with added calcium
For more ideas, check out this list of foods that are high in calcium.
2. Take a calcium pill every day.
You can take a multivitamin or a pill that has calcium. We like Vitality Calcium Complete. It contains four sources of calcium for timed release replenishment plus magnesium and Vitamin D to help maintain healthy bones and teeth. Plus, it’s powered by Oligo® for maximum mineral absorption.
Recent studies have shown that the benefits of calcium and Vitamin D extend far beyond strong teeth and bones. Vitality Calcium Complete goes above and beyond “daily minimum values” to deliver the optimal amounts of minerals from the best possible sources. Calcium is essential to optimal bone health as well as the proper function of the heart and nerves. But without Vitamin D3, calcium is very difficult for the body to absorb. Absorption isn’t the only difficulty. Once it’s in the body, calcium can remain in the bloodstream unless there is enough vitamin K2 to direct it to your bones and teeth for proper storage. To maximize the benefits of Vitality Calcium Complete, we pair it with Vitamins K2-D3.
Talk to your doctor before you start taking extra calcium.
Check food labels.
The Daily Value (DV) on a food label tells you the amount of a nutrient (like calcium) that’s in a serving of the food. Foods that have at least 20% DV of calcium are excellent choices. Foods with at least 10% DV of calcium are good, too.
For example:
- A cup of fat-free milk has about 300 mg of calcium, or 30% DV.
- Some kinds of breakfast cereal have 600 mg of calcium per serving, or 60% DV.
If you take a calcium pill, make it easy to remember.
- Take it at the same time every day. For example, take it when you brush your teeth before bed.
- Leave the pill bottle out where you will see it, like on the kitchen counter or by the bathroom sink.
Get enough vitamin D.
Vitamin D helps your body absorb (take in) calcium. Your body makes vitamin D when you are out in the sun. You can also get vitamin D from:
- Salmon and tuna
- Milk with added vitamin D
- Some breakfast cereals, yogurt, and juices with added vitamin D
- Mushrooms
- Vitamin D pills
Talk to your doctor before taking vitamin D pills.
Eat healthy.
Along with eating foods high in calcium or taking a calcium pill, it’s important to eat other healthy foods– like vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and foods with protein.
Hayseeds Creative 