As You Age Your Body Needs More Calcium

Most people think calcium’s sole function is building strong bones and teeth. But the mineral has several other essential functions, including helping muscles contract, supporting normal heart rhythm, and playing a key role in blood clotting.

Since calcium has a variety of functions, your body works to maintain the right amount of the mineral in the blood and tissues for your stage of life. For example, teenagers need more calcium because their bones are still growing, while seniors need more calcium because the body’s ability to absorb it decreases with age.

Currently, the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for calcium for women aged 19-50 years is 1,000 milligrams (mg) daily and 1,200 mg for women aged 51 years and over. The RDA for men 19–70 years old is 1,000 mg, and 1,200 mg for men 71 years and over.

How Does The Body Get Calcium?

Since the body cannot produce calcium, it gets the mineral through foods or supplements that contain calcium. The body also gets calcium by pulling it from the bones.

About 99 percent of the body’s calcium is stored in the bones, and the remaining 1 percent circulates in the blood, muscles, and other tissues. So, if there’s not enough calcium in the diet, the bones will release calcium into the bloodstream.

If blood calcium falls too low, the body releases the parathyroid hormone (PTH), which helps regulate blood calcium levels to make sure the nerve, muscle, and heart function properly. PTH prompts the bones to release calcium and activates vitamin D, which increases calcium absorption in the intestines. At the same time, PTH prompts the kidneys to release less calcium in the urine.

This system keeps blood calcium stable, but chronically low calcium intake can gradually weaken bones. What’s more, if calcium levels are not brought back up, the reduction can cause bone mineral density to decline, a serious condition known as osteoporosis.

What is Osteoporosis?

Osteoporosis is a bone disease in which the body either loses too much bone, doesn’t make enough, or both. So, bones can become weak and brittle, and they might crack if you trip or, in the worst-case scenario, even just sneeze or bump into something. Bones in the hip, spine, or wrist are more likely to break, but other bones can break, too.

About 54 million Americans have osteoporosis and low bone mass, according to the Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation (BHOF). Studies suggest that roughly one in two women and up to one in four men aged 50 and above will suffer a bone break due to osteoporosis. What’s more, the BHOF reports that 20 percent of seniors who break a hip die within one year from complications related to the fracture or the surgery to repair it. Many seniors require long-term nursing care while recovering from a broken hip.

Certain Foods Will Keep Your Bones Strong

One way to keep your bones strong as you get older is to regularly consume certain foods that help to boost bone health, as well as nerve, muscle, and heart function.

For someone looking to support bone health through diet, the focus should be on including adequate amounts of nutrient-dense whole foods rich in calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin K, protein, and polyphenols, Michelle Routhensein, a preventative cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished.com, told Prevention. “These nutrients are essential for bone mineralization, strength, and maintenance.”

By far, the best sources of calcium-rich foods, according to dietitians and health experts, are leafy green vegetables, such as:

Collard greens

Along with calcium, this leafy green vegetable has vitamins A, C, and K, dietary fiber, and protein. Collard greens contain about 268 mg of calcium per cooked cup.

Spinach

Coming in a pretty close second to collard greens is spinach, which has 245 mg of calcium per cooked cup. Spinach also contains vitamins A and E, folate, iron, magnesium, and potassium.

Turnip Greens

These greens are rich in calcium, with 197 mg per cooked cup, and contain vitamins C, K, and folate.

Kale

Kale is among the most familiar leafy green vegetables. It contains about 177 mg of calcium per cooked cup and has vitamins A, C, and K as well as magnesium.

Some foods that are not as common as leafy green vegetables contain a wealth of calcium, including:

Medjool dates

These soft, chewy, sweet dates are grown and harvested from the date palm trees.

“This fruit also contains bone-supporting nutrients, including calcium, potassium, manganese, and copper that support bone cell activity, bone formation, and mineralization,” Amy Davis, a registered dietitian based in New Orleans, told Prevention.

Calcium-set tofu

Calcium-set tofu is another term for tofu with added calcium. Michelle Routhenstein, a preventive cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished.com, explained to Prevention that: “Calcium-set tofu provides not just calcium, but a whole food matrix of magnesium, protein, and isoflavones that work together to enhance calcium absorption and support bone mineralization.”

Sauerkraut

Sauerkraut usually doesn’t come to mind when discussing vitamins and minerals. But it has several health benefits.

“Sauerkraut is fermented cabbage that is rich in vitamin K2, which plays a role in directing calcium into the bones and preventing it from depositing in soft tissues like the arteries,” Routhenstein told Prevention. If you don’t like sauerkraut, kimchi is another fermented cabbage option that offers similar benefits.

Other foods that are rich in calcium and support bone health, include:

Foods to Avoid to Keep Your Bones Strong

Just as there are foods that support bone health, Dr. Daniel Wiznia, an associate professor of orthopedics at Yale School of Medicine, suggested to Prevention to limit intake of the following foods:

Getting More Calcium in Your Diet

Getting enough calcium each day is important for keeping your bones strong and helping you stay healthy. The following are some tips from experts to help you incorporate more calcium into your meals:

• If you cannot or choose not to eat dairy, consume calcium-fortified foods, such as cereals, orange juice, tofu, and nut milks.

• Besides green leafy vegetables, try other calcium-rich foods, such as papaya, oranges, figs, and salmon.

• Be sure to include enough vitamin D and magnesium in your diet because these nutrients help your body to absorb calcium effectively.

Talk to your healthcare provider about taking calcium supplements if you’re worried that you’re not getting enough calcium from your diet. Because calcium can interact with certain medications, always check with your doctor before making any major dietary changes or taking a calcium supplement.

Source Links:

https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/calcium/
https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/patients/what-is-osteoporosis/
https://www.prevention.com/food-nutrition/a71628127/best-foods-for-strong-bones/
https://www.verywellhealth.com/vegetables-high-in-calcium-11986921#citation-15
https://www.bonehealthandosteoporosis.org/patients/treatment/calciumvitamin-d/a-guide-to-calcium-rich-foods/