Sign up to our newsletter at topsante.co.uk TopSanté 21HealtH | calcium... that’s how much
of the calcium in
milk you absorb
compared to 5%
30 %from spinach.C
alcium is a mineral –
in fact, it’s the most prevalent
mineral in your body. Right
now, you’re storing about
1000-1200mg of it in your
system. Ninety nine per cent of
this makes up the structure of your bones or
teeth, the other one per cent is whizzing
around your bloodstream helping control
muscle function, cellular signalling, hormone
regulation and the health of your circulatory
system. All of these processes are absolutely
essential to the healthy functioning of your
body, but when it comes to women it’s
regarding the state of your bone health where
we are mostly calcium-concerned.
And we should be; calcium is essential for
building bones when we are in our 20s and
30s and protecting the bones we have after
this. ‘Particularly after menopause when
changes in hormone levels mean cells called
osteoblasts, which lay calcium into the bone,
become less active and ones called
osteoclasts, which break down calcium in the
bones, ramp up activity,’ says dietician
Gaynor Bussell. The result is that from the
age of 50, you lose 0.7-2 per cent of your bone
mass per year. And the more deficient you are
in calcium, the more likely it is that you’ll be
at the higher end of this scale.To supplemenT or noT?
On the face of it, taking calcium supplements
to protect your bones seems like good health
insurance but some studies suggest
otherwise. A trial in 2012 found that people
taking calcium supplements had twice the
risk of heart attack as those not using them,
while a second study in 2016 found calcium
supplement users were more likely to have
the build-up of plaque in their arteries linked
to heart attack than non-users. ‘We’re not
absolutely sure why this might be, or if it’s
definitely linked, but one theory is that taking
calcium in one large dose, as you do when
you take a supplement, leads to a sudden
excess in the bloodstream, which then gets
absorbed in the arterial plaques causing them
to harden,’ says Gaynor.
However, we do have to state something
important here – the studies didn’t prove that
calcium supplements lead to heart disease –
they just showed a correlation, which is what
hit the headlines. Dig a little deeper and more
recent studies, which didn’t get the same
publicity, have shown no issues. For example,
a 2016 report pooling findings from 31different studies found no link between
calcium supplementation and cardiovascular
disease; and the same finding was reported
last year in a study that examined more than
half a million people here in the UK.
Confused? You’re not the only one. ‘We
definitely need more trials,’ says Dr Emma
Derbyshire from the Health Supplement
Information Service. ‘The link is suggested
but not proven and there could be other
issues such as the age of the trial participants
or other elements of their lifestyle that might
explain the findings.’ On top of this, in some
of the studies the amount of calcium being
consumed was higher than the 700mg
recommended here in the UK – in the US, for
example, supplements are regularly given at
1000mg or more.
So, while the researchers clarify things
further, what’s the best way for you to protect
your heart and your bones? It’s simple... get
your calcium from food. Dietary calcium
doesn’t have any of the negative effects on
your heart that the supplemental form might- in fact, it may do the opposite. People eating
three servings of dairy a day had a lower risk
of dying from cardiovascular disease than
other folks, according to a recent study from
easy Ways To
add CalCium
To your dieT
aim for 700mg of
calcium a day for
good bone health.
Here’s how much
you’ll find in 100g/
ml of the
following:
l Feta cheese- 450mg
l canned
sardines – 400mg
l Tahini paste –
140 mg
l natural yogurt - 138mg
l skimmed milk - 122mg
l Fortified soy
milk – 120mg
l rhubarb –
100mg
l Tofu – 100mg
l Broccoli – 83mg
words: Helen Fos
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