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Calcium
Beyond Strong Bones
By Kelly Burgess
The importance of calcium in a young woman's diet can't be overstated. A female only has until about the age of 30 to build her bone mass before it begins to deteriorate. Calcium plays a big role in helping build those strong bones. In addition, calcium has been definitively linked to reducing PMS symptoms such as bloating, headache, cramps, mood swings and breast tenderness. The bad new is that you may not be getting as much calcium as you think you are from the foods you eat, or, more accurately, from those you drink.
Dr. Ellen Kamhi, also known as The Natural Nurse, is an expert on nutrition and healthy supplements for women. She's written a number of books on the subject, including The Cycles of Life: Herbs for the Five Stages of a Women's Life (M Evans & Co., 2001) and The Natural Guide to Great Sex (Barrons Educational Series, 2004).
Dr. Kamhi likes to be very clear on the fact that pills and supplements don't replace a healthy diet, but she also notes that many Americans don't always get the best nutritional information and that it can be difficult to get the proper nutrients from our diet. For example, just taking a multivitamin every day, as the American Medical Association recommends, doesn't provide enough calcium – or the best calcium.
"The newest recommendation for calcium is about 1,200 to 1,500 milligrams for a young woman," Dr. Kamhi says. "There's no way to get this from a multivitamin. Calcium is a large mineral and a calcium tablet has to be large for it to contain the proper amount of calcium. Obviously, you're not getting enough in a multiple."
In addition, the calcium in some popular supplements may not be the best type for ideal absorption. Usually, the multivitamins that are most widely promoted contain calcium carbonate, which Dr. Kamhi says is a very poor form of calcium that should not be relied upon to meet calcium needs. Calcium carbonate is not absorbed well and has been linked to the development of kidney stones. This calcium is also found in antacid pills such as Tums, which are often recommended by doctors as a quick and easy calcium supplement.
