2016-02-11
Joybynature.com Team
Feb
11

Image Source: Hellawella

Why do We Need Calcium and Vitamins?

Ensuring that you get enough calcium is vital for the body to build bone mass. Loss of bone mass may lead to the “silent disease” – osteoporosis where the weakened bones make the bones susceptible to fractures and undesirable conditions such as the inability to walk. Deficiency of calcium and vitamin D also results in bone disorders in children known as “rickets”. So getting enough calcium and vitamin D for your body is very essential.

While the body needs calcium, it also needs vitamin D which helps the body to absorb the calcium and also regulates the calcium level in the body. Magnesium is another nutrient which helps in calcium absorption and works with calcium in building up the bones thereby preventing osteoporosis.

Providing Your Body Calcium

  • Dairy Products: Milk, cheese and yogurt contain calcium which can be easily digested and also absorbed by our body.
  • Vegetables and leafy greens: Vegetables, especially the leafy green ones, are rich sources of calcium. Your diet should include mustard greens, kale, collard greens, turnip greens, celery, broccoli, cabbage, fennel, green beans, asparagus, crimini mushrooms and summer squash among others for calcium.

  • Beans: Try different varieties of beans which are rich sources of calcium – pinto beans, black beans, white beans, kidney beans, baked beans or black-eyed peas.
  • Herbs and Spices: Though these contain lesser levels of calcium, but you can always spice up your diet with a supply of basil, thyme, cinnamon, dill weed, garlic, peppermint leaves, rosemary, oregano and parsley.
  • Other Calcium-rich Foods: Some other foods which you should make a part of your diet include tofu, sablefish, salmon, almonds, oranges, blackstrap molasses, sesame seeds and sea vegetables.
  • Calcium Fortified Foods: Cereals and orange juice, the calcium fortified foods, make good sources of calcium too.

Getting Vitamin D

  • Sunshine: Vitamin D, found in few foods and also known as “sunshine” vitamin, can also be absorbed through the skin. So, sitting under the sun for 20 – 25 minutes ensures that your body is making the essential nutrient and getting its vitamin D supply.
  • Vitamin-Rich Foods: You can also supply your body with vitamin D from foods. As vitamin D is oil soluble, you have to eat fat so that it can be absorbed. Foods that are rich sources of vitamin D are fish oils and fatty fish, which includes cod liver oil, swordfish, salmon, mackerel, tuna, halibut, herring, sardine, rockfish and tilapia.

  • Other Vitamin-rich Foods: Other foods which are sources of vitamin D include egg yolks, cheese, fortified cereals, tofu, caviar; dairy products such as butter, buttermilk, fortified milk and mushroom. Mushrooms which have been exposed to sunlight while growing or before being consumed can provide more vitamin D.

Though deficiency of calcium and vitamins can cause health disorders, exceeding the levels of these nutrients in our body also leads to health issues – while too much calcium may lead to constipation and kidney stones, too much of vitamin D may lead to vomiting, nausea, constipation and the damage of kidneys. So, balance your calcium and vitamin levels. To get calcium and vitamins click here.

Comments

Leave a comment

All blog comments are checked prior to publishing