Many segments of the U.S. People fall short of meeting their calcium requirements and there is an addition concern that this will lead to a rise in the amount of major continuing diseases, such as osteoporosis, hypertension, and some cancers, among others. The role of calcium in preventing these diseases has been well established. To help solve the calcium crisis, a wide collection of calcium-fortified foods and beverages are becoming available. Both the level of calcium added and the exact foods and beverages fortified with calcium are arbitrary. Orange juice, juice drinks, cereals, waffles, snack foods, candy, water, and dairy foods are among some of the foods fortified with calcium. In many cases, relatively high levels of calcium are added. This has led to the quiz, of either calcium fortification has gone too far.
What are the functions of calcium?
The Food Pyramid
Calcium is critical to:
maintaining total body health, normal increase and development, keeping your bones and teeth strong over your lifetime (they consist of 99% of the body's calcium, the remaining 1% is in blood), ensuring the proper functioning of muscles and nerves, keeping the heart beating, helping blood clotting and regulating blood pressure, metabolising iron, the performance of a amount of hormones (particularly those linked with the thyroid and parathyroid glands), cell structure, and absorbing vitamin B12.
Calcium insufficiency is usually due to an inadequate intake of calcium. When blood calcium levels drop too low, the vital mineral is 'borrowed' from the bones. It is returned to the bones from calcium supplied straight through the diet. If an individual's diet is low in calcium, there may not be enough amounts of calcium ready in the blood to be returned to the bones to mouth strong bones and total body health.
What are the problems with calcium-fortified foods?
Although there is a need to have an enough amount of calcium in the diet concerns have been expressed about the large amount of calcium-fortified foods and beverages available. These concerns consist of the following:
The use of calcium-fortified foods does not correct the poor dietary patterns of food selection, which are largely responsible for Americans' low calcium intake. Many calcium-fortified foods and beverages such as juices, spreads/margarines, snack foods, and water are not nutritionally equivalent to foods, which are naturally rich in calcium. Also, some People may mistakenly believe that intake of calcium-fortified foods ensures a nutritionally enough diet. The increased availability of calcium-fortified foods, many of which consist of high levels of calcium, makes it relatively easy to exceed the safety limit or the 'Tolerable Upper Intake Level' of 2,500 mg calcium/day. This is particularly true for groups not precisely at risk for calcium deficiency, such as juvenile and young adult males. These groups already meet or are close to meeting their calcium requirements.
Other concerns linked with some calcium-fortified foods and beverages recite to:
The unknown level of calcium bioavailability (that is, the amount of calcium, from the fortified food, that the body is able to use). Factors that facilitate the absorption of calcium include: - vitamin D and Vitamin K,
- enough hydrochloric acid in the stomach,
- small amounts of fat (high fat reduces the availability of calcium),
- exercise,
- magnesium, and
- hormones, including the parathyroid and estrogen hormones.
If these factors are themselves deficient then the calcium will not be absorbed and will not be ready for use by the body.
Increasing calcium but not magnesium intakes, has caused a nationwide imbalance in optimal calcium to magnesium ratios. Explore studies have shown that animals fed diets deficient in magnesium originate skeletal abnormalities, including osteoporosis. When calcium in the body is too high compared to magnesium, excess calcium may be deposited in the soft tissues. This may follow in calcium deposits in places such as the kidneys, the arteries and the heart.
Excessively high intakes of calcium can interfere with the absorption of zinc, magnesium, iron, phosphorus and other nutrients. An increased intake of calcium in the diet increases requirements for magnesium, other mineral prominent for bone health.
Food, especially food naturally containing calcium, is the first priority in meeting calcium needs. Foods naturally containing calcium supply many other critical nutrients, as well as maybe other health-promoting components, in addition to calcium. Food sources of calcium are leafy green vegetables, root vegetable, salmon, nuts, tofu and broccoli.
For individuals who, for one surmise or another, are unable to eat calcium rich food, calcium-fortified foods and/or calcium supplements in a balanced recipe can be consumed to accomplish enough calcium intake. However, these are carefully a supplement to and not a substitute for, foods naturally containing calcium. When calcium supplements are taken it is also prominent to ensure that the calcium is in equilibrium with the other nutrients that are required by the body for the calcium to do its work.
What are enough intakes of calcium?
Adequate Intakes (Ais) for calcium are:
500 mg for children aged 1 to 3 years,
800 mg for children aged 4 to 8 years,
1,300 mg for adolescents aged 9 to 18 years,
1,000 mg for adults aged 19 to 50 years, and
1,200 mg for adults aged 51 years and older.
The Recommended Daily Allowances (Rda) are lower than the Ais but many health professionals do not see the Rdas as being enough for maintaining health and wellbeing.
Signs of calcium toxicity can include: confusion, slow or irregular heartbeat, bone or muscle pain, nausea and vomiting.
Conclusion
Calcium is an prominent mineral for health. It is involved in many functions in the body and there is no doubt that many Americans are not getting enough calcium in their diets. The fortification of foods and beverages with calcium is an effort to increase calcium intake, however this is a simplistic response to a involved qoute and may precisely lead to more harm than good. In order for a calcium supplement to work the calcium needs to be in equilibrium with the other nutrients need by the body. This equilibrium is not provided by the simple addition of calcium to food.
References
Institute of Medicine, Standing Committee on the Scientific estimate of Dietary Reference Intakes. 1997, Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium, Phosphorus, Magnesium, Vitamin D, and Fluoride. National Academy Press.
U.S. Group of health and Human Services. 2000, salutary People 2010. (Conference Edition in Two Volumes).Washington, D.C..
U.S. Group of Agriculture, Agricultural Explore Service, Food Surveys Explore Group. 1996, Pyramid Servings Data. Results from Usda's 1994-96 continuing eye of Food Intakes by Individuals.
Weaver, C.M. 2001, In Bowman, B.A., and R.M. Russell, (Eds). Present Knowledge in Nutrition. 8th edition. Ilsi Press.
Calcium and Food Fortification
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