Healthy Bones Needs Getting Enough Calcium
When you hear the words “healthy bones,” your first thought may be “I need to consume more food rich in calcium.” For many of you this statement is true, because most Americans don’t get enough calcium from their diets. As convenient as supplements may be, the calcium that’s best absorbed is the calcium you get from your diet.
Calcium is only one of the minerals responsible for maintaining your bones, but it’s a very important one, and one in which as many as 35 percent of Americans are deficient. Most of the time, your body keeps a steady amount of calcium. So when you don’t have enough calcium in your diet, your bones get less than they need to maintain strength. Leaving your bones short
of calcium may not kill you, at least not directly, but it does have a large negative effect on your life if it leads to osteoporotic fractures. Because getting “enough” calcium is a nebulous term, you exactly how much calcium you need at different points in your life.
Getting Enough Calcium at Every Age
| Age | Recommended Daily Calcium Intake in Milligrams |
| 0 to 6 months | 210 |
| 7 to 12 months | 270 |
| 1 to 3 years | 500 |
| 4 to 8 years | 800 |
| 9 to 18 years | 1,300 |
| 19 to 50 years | 1,000 |
| Older than 50 | 1,200 |
You may be surprised to see that adults need more calcium than babies and young children because many people mistakenly believe that milk and other calcium-rich foods are mostly for
babies and children. Although a good calcium intake at younger ages is important so that bones reach their maximum strength, a good calcium intake is just as important as you get older so that you can maintain the bone you already have.
If you’re a parent or grandparent, you can demonstrate what a good diet looks like by including ample amounts of calcium in your diet. You know that lecturing little ears about getting enough calcium and restricting foods that deplete calcium, such as soft drinks, likely falls upon deaf ears. Kids don’t care what’s going to happen to their bones in 30 years. You need to make sure the choices your children and grandchildren are offered can build strong bones from a young age. And young adults must know that you can’t let good habits slide just because you’re no longer building bone mass. A common misconception is that after you achieve your maximum height, you can discontinue drinking milk. Not so fast!
The fact is children between the ages of 9 and 18 require the highest amount of calcium (1,300 mg per day). For postmenopausal women, the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) is 1,200 mg per day, which is only a 100 mg less! Most physicians recommend 1,500 mg of calcium daily if you’re diagnosed with osteoporosis. Hence stopping your good eating habits and assuming that you’ve done enough by eating well in your childhood and teens is a mistake. Studies show that you have to maintain your calcium intake for its positive effects on your bones to continue.
Healthy bones and calcium have a big relationship. you need to take this issue very seriously, so you will be away from osteoporosis disease.
Tagged with: calcium • healthy bones • osteoporosis disease
Filed under: Health & Wellness
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