Saturday, August 18, 2007

The Importance of Calcium in your Family's Diet

How is Calcium Important and how is it used?

Most of us know calcium is important for the maintenance and growth of healthy bones and teeth--but its benefits don’t stop there. Calcium is also required for blood clotting as well as proper muscle, cell and nerve growth. For example, did you know that a muscle twitch is caused by an insufficient supply of calcium to the neuromuscular cells? Calcium is one of the most important nutrients your body requires, and a calcium deficiency can cause serious health problems in both the young and old.

Calcium is continuously being used to build new cells. To supply your body with the calcium it needs, the intestines, ideally, absorb it during digestion. Our body cannot produce calcium on its own, so a constant supply is vital to keeping our body healthy and strong. If we are not providing our body with a sufficient amount of calcium in the foods we eat, the calcium already deposited into our bones is “borrowed” to produce the much needed new cells. If the “borrowed” calcium is not replaced and your body continues to lack the calcium it needs, osteoporosis will be inevitable.

You may be thinking, this is a newsletter for parents with toddlers, why are we discussing osteoporosis? Well, because the younger we start to build strong bones, teeth, muscles etc… the longer our bodies will stay strong--and the sooner we teach our children (which toddler’s soon become) what foods are healthy and why, the sooner they’ll learn to care for themselves.

Foods with Calcium
Calcium is found in a wide variety of foods. Dairy products contain large amounts of calcium, along with many types of fish, nuts, fruits, vegetables and soy products.

Calcium maybe be taken from food supplements to bridge the gap in the nutrient level of your daily intake. To get a very good supplement you may visit http://www.myhealthysupplement.com

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