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The Amazing Benefits of Calcium
and Magnesium
Why getting adequate daily calcium and magnesium
is so important...
Most people think the main reason to take a Calcium/Magnesium supplement is to build strong bones. But the need for Calcium and Magnesium is so much more complex than that. An adequate intake of daily dietary Calcium is required to control the heart rate, blood clotting, muscle contraction, and much more. And Magnesium is an important co-factor in over 300 enzymatic reactions in the human body, contributing to the production of cardiovascular functions, and the production and synthesis of energy.
While Magnesium enhances the absorption of calcium, it also works hand in hand with calcium, one to contract muscles and the other to relax them, as well as relaxing and calming nerves. Together, they create an intricately linked relationship to support the nervous system. Although only a small amount of blood calcium is needed in the blood and soft tissues, without it your heart wouldn’t beat steadily, your muscles wouldn’t contract correctly, your blood wouldn’t clot, and your nerves wouldn’t carry messages.
When your blood calcium drops below 1%... ...your body sees your bones as an emergency supply of calcium for these life-giving processes and will automatically take what it needs from your bones. Sustaining proper heart beat, muscle contraction, and nerve function is more important to your body than maintaining strong bones, so it will do what is necessary to stay alive. Your body is thinking of survival, not long term quality of life!
Over time, if your daily dietary calcium is consistently inadequate, this ongoing process of constantly leaching calcium from the bones results in bone loss, causing them to become weak and break easily. Although your body is continually building bone as a normal function, if you regularly break down more calcium than you replace you are setting the stage for osteoporosis. Adequate daily calcium in your diet protects your bones from this destructive process.
When daily calcium supplies are inadequate, what happens to the calcium that is leached from bones?
After leaching this improper form of calcium from your bones for essential heart and blood functions, the remaining “scavenger” calcium byproduct gets into joints, grinds down the cartilage and causes arthritis. It binds with fat, forming plaque in the arteries, and it comes through the kidneys also causing damage there. These are just some of the negative results that could be avoided by supplying adequate daily dietary calcium that is in the proper form for absorption.
What benefits does calcium offer to women specifically?
In a controlled study of 497 women, published by the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, calcium was shown to effectively reduce a wide variety of PMS symptoms by as much as 50%. Consumed daily, a 50% reduction was shown in the occurrence of food cravings, headaches, bloating and mood swings.
Beware
Beware of the new candy-like commercial calcium preparations that are being marketed specifically to women, as they contain lots of sugar. That big chunk of delicious looking fudge will be less effective because sugar upsets calcium metabolism, and the calcium is usually of an inferior “form”. Also, if you read product labels carefully, you’ll notice that many contain detrimental hydrogenated oils, which give them that smooth creamy texture. Don’t be misled by marketing gimmicks when it comes to something as important as your health.
Calcium and Weight Loss
While researching the possibility that calcium could reduce high blood pressure, Dr. Michael Zemel, of the University of Tennessee, discovered that test subjects had unexpectedly lost weight over the one year study, although there was no intentional reduction in calories. The individuals lost an average of 11 pounds. Additional research showed that body fat was significantly lower in people who consumed more calcium, and there was a dramatic reduction in levels of obesity in people with high levels of calcium in their diet. The high-calcium groups lost 7.7 percent of their body weight.
Another interesting facet of the study was that the majority of the weight loss from the higher-calcium group was in the abdominal region. The way fat cells handle fat is determined by the amount of calcium in the diet. Results indicated that if your diet is low in calcium, hormones are stimulated that signal the body to store fat.
Of course, calcium supplementation alone shouldn't be viewed as the ultimate solution for weight loss, but increasing your daily calcium intake may give that additional boost needed by many in the struggle to maintain healthy weight.
Calcium and Acidity
The human body is constantly struggling to maintain a healthy alkaline pH level. The consumption of excessive sugar, convenience, and pre-packaged foods containing harmful chemicals, additives, and hydrogenated oils cause the system to turn acidic. Because of this, the body is constantly challenged to maintain the proper pH level. Virtually all degenerative diseases are associated with excess acidity in the body; including cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, arthritis, some forms of hypertension, kidney stones, gall stones, and tooth decay, sleep disturbances and depressive disorders. Over acidity gives rise to an internal environment conducive to disease. The first and most obvious effects of an acidic body are fatigue, lethargy, a feeling of stiffness (especially upon waking), canker sores and fever blisters.
In addition, over acidity will decrease the body's ability to absorb minerals and other nutrients, decrease energy production in cells and the ability to repair damaged cells, make tumor cells thrive and make you more susceptible to fatigue and illness. And it will decrease the body’s ability to detoxify heavy metals. The good news is that calcium has a natural alkalizing effect and will reduce acidity levels in the body. Calcium is one of the most powerful things you can do to maintain proper pH levels, and to reverse acidic conditions.
The foods and lifestyle factors that can destroy calcium and interfere
with its absorption
Caffeine, sugar, alcohol, smoking, aspirin, sedatives, barbiturates and many processed foods not only inhibit the absorption of daily calcium, but can deplete precious reserves as well. Phosphoric acid, for example, which can be found in carbonated drinks, and fast foods, hinders the absorption of calcium. And caffeine and preservatives are known to leach calcium from the system. Highly refined foods like white flour and white sugar, because they are un-natural and your body doesn’t know exactly what to do with them, pull nutrients from your system to facilitate their “processing”. So, not only are processed foods adding virtually nothing from a nutritional standpoint, they are in many cases, creating unnecessary depletions of valuable nutrients. Most people are aware that most convenience foods offer little nutritional value, but few realize the damage they do. Healthy, natural foods contribute nutritional value to the body by supplying valuable vitamins and minerals. If you’re battling a serious health challenge, one of the first steps to better health is a change in diet, and the addition of supplements to give your body the tools it needs to rebuild and repair the damage caused by nutritional deficiencies.
Food Sources of Calcium
Data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) indicate that more than 75% of Americans are not meeting current dietary recommendations for calcium. Although many foods are labeled “calcium enriched”, getting the daily requirement of calcium from diet alone may be difficult to achieve.
Dairy products (milk, cheese, yogurt, etc.) are touted to be the most concentrated food sources of calcium. But, unfortunately, the process of pasteurization kills off much of the nutrient value because the milk is heated to 161 degrees. An even more damaging process is called “Ultra” pasteurization where the milk is heated to 200 degrees. At this point, it becomes sterile and does not need to be refrigerated (bugs won’t even touch it!). Very few, if any, nutrients could survive this process. Certainly none of the enzymes still exist that enable milk to be properly digested. This may account for the high number of people who are “lactose intolerant”. And, what other additional bio-reactions could those enzymes have facilitated if they were still available?
When sources quote the nutrient content of various foods, destructive processing methods are rarely taken into account. The nutritional content of foods can vary widely before, and after the use of damaging preservative, and sterilization techniques.
Today’s food processing practices make it extremely difficult to actually get the full requirement of 1,200 mg. of calcium per day, from your diet alone. Alternative food sources of calcium include, sardines, free-range eggs, and organic, (pesticide free) leafy green vegetables. But you’ll have to eat a lot of these to meet your calcium needs! No wonder disease is on the rise!
The easiest and most effective solution is to supplement with a highly absorbable, complete calcium/magnesium formulation like Vital Earth’s Cal-Mag. This assures you are getting an adequate dose of daily dietary calcium to satisfy essential muscle and nerve requirements, and facilitate proper chemical reactions so you can rebuild bone and eliminate the vicious pattern of bone loss due to low blood calcium.
What elements are necessary for proper absorption and utilization of calcium?
Calcium is one of the more difficult elements for the body to digest, absorb and utilize properly. Care must be taken to provide the many co-factors required for calcium and magnesium to be utilized by the body. Without them your expensive supplements may simply pass through the body unused.
We’ve added the following essential elements to Vital Earth’s Cal-Mag formula which have been clinically proven to increase absorption and utilization: Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Fulvic Minerals, Phosphorous, and Potassium.
Cal-Mag Providing the essential Calcium and Magnesium that you need every day |
