Calcium and Osteoporosis
Most people know that calcium is important to building and maintaining strong bones, teeth, and muscles. However, many are unaware of the other important roles calcium plays in the body: it helps with digestion through the production of hormones and enzymes, helps nerves pass the messages needed to contract the heart and other muscles in the body, assists in normal blood clotting, and may help prevent high blood pressure and colon cancer.
Without a good supply of calcium, you are almost certain to end up with osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a bone disease that causes the bones to become thin and brittle. 99 percent of all the calcium in your body is located in the teeth and bones.
The remaining 1 percent is in the blood stream, this 1 percent is so important to the normal functioning of our bodily functions that your body will take away calcium from its bones to perform them if you don’t get enough in your diet.
Other causes besides poor diet also cause osteoporosis. After the age 35, your bone density decreases. This is because the body produces less estrogen and testosterone, hormones that control how fast the body uses calcium. Fewer hormones in the system mean less calcium in the bones, and end up causing greater bone loss.
Women are at greater risk of developing osteoporosis after menopause because their bodies completely stop making estrogen. They also usually have thinner bones and smaller skeletons to begin with, which leaves them more vulnerable to the disease.
This does not mean how ever, that osteoporosis is a disease just for women, and this thought has not served men well. For example, doctors are more likely to educate women than men about the importance of a diet high in calcium and supplements.
They may not be so quick to give men the same instruction. Although men don’t go through menopause, they do produce fewer hormones as they age, and so are also at increased risk of developing osteoporosis.
Steven Godlewski - Liquid Vitamins and Life Force International