Getting Enough Calcium? - Natural Food Sources of Calcium by Ralph Teller

Key Functions of Calcium to Health and Athletic Performance

Calcium plays a key role in health and is especially important for the peak performance and health of endurance athletes, as:

• -Calcium maintains strong dense bones.
• -Calcium plays a key role in contraction of the heart muscle to pump blood throughout the body.
• -Calcium is necessary for skeletal muscle contractions to occur.
• -Calcium is essential to normal blood clotting.
• -Calcium helps proper nerve impulse transmission
• -Calicum enables support of connective tissue

Vitamin D and Vitamin K are also essential for bone formation and repair. Both improve bone density and facilitates the absorption of calcium. See Natural Sources of Vitamin K. See also Vitamin D Synthesis from the Sun and Food Sources.

What Weakens Bone and Muscle Development?

1. Salt. Salt saps calcium from the bones, weakening them over time. For every 2,300 milligrams of sodium you take in, you lose about 40 milligrams of calcium, dietitians say.

2. Soft Drinks.The fizziness in carbonated drinks often comes from phosphoric acid, which ups the rate at which calcium is excreted in the urine

3. Caffeine. The numbers for caffeine aren't as bad as for salt, but caffeine's action is similar, leaching calcium from bones. For every 100 milligrams of caffeine (the amount in a small to medium-sized cup of coffee), you lose 6 milligrams of calcium.

4. Alcohol. Alcohol prevents the bone-building minerals you eat from being absorbed. Heavy drinking disrupts the bone remodeling process by preventing the bone-building cells, from doing their job. So not only do bones become weaker, but when you do suffer a fracture, alcohol can interfere with healing.

Calcium Supplements can be Harmful to Health

There are health risks associated with the use of calcium supplements A recent study of approximately 24,000 people between the ages of 35 and 64 found participants who took regular calcium supplements were 86% more likely to have a heart attack than those who didn't take supplements. Calcium supplements also linked to kidney stones.

Eat foods high in calcium four times a day should get you all the Calcium that you need. Below is a list of natural sources of Calcium.

Natural Food Sources of Calcium from Dairy, Beans, Nuts, Meat, Fish, Poultry, Grains, Vegetables, Fruit and Asian Food

Since researchers are finding use of calcium supplements without coadministered vitamin D is associated with an increased heart attack risk, gaining calcium from natural food sources is healthier.

Natural Food Sources of Calcium - Source: HealthLinkBC (British Columbia, Canada)

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