WhichCalcium
is Right for YOU?
The average Caucasian woman loses 2-to-4 percent of her bone
mass per year in the first five years after menopause.
Throughout life, calcium in our bones acts like a bank account— as
tissues need calcium they pull it out of the blood. Serum calcium
levels are very tightly controlled so when serum calcium levels go down,
the bones release more calcium into the bloodstream and continue
to top up this level until more is consumed and adequately absorbed.
It is therefore important to consume sufficient dietary calcium and
magnesium in an absorbable form with the necessary nutritional
co-factors for absorption.
In the first-ever Surgeon General’s Report on Bone Health,
Surgeon General (SG) Dr. Richard H. Carmona warned that by
the year 2020, half of all American citizens older than 50 will be
at risk for fractures from osteoporosis and low bone mass if no
immediate action is taken by individuals at risk, doctors, health
systems and policy makers!
According to a more recent report from the National Osteoporosis
Foundation, approximately 54 million Americans over age 50
have Osteoporosis or Osteopenia (low bone mass) and it is
estimated this number will be around 71 million by 2030. So it
appears that the bone health of our nation is still seriously declining.
by Dawn Thorpe Jarvis
Senior Director Nutrition Science
& Education Content, Garden of Life
The Importance of Calcium
Calcium is the most abundant mineral in our body accounting
for 1-to-2 percent of total body weight with 99 percent of it being
stored in bones and teeth. Calcium and magnesium together
are required for life processes which include keeping our hearts
beating, our blood clotting and flowing, our muscles twitching
and our nerve transmissions firing—supporting many vital
functions including breathing.
Each of our 206 bones harbor special cells that continually
deposit a protein framework made from collagen. Minerals including
calcium and magnesium from the blood then attach to this matrix
and harden into bone. Osteoblasts are bone building cells and
osteoclasts are cells that break down bone so our bones undergo
constant turnover. In childhood, as we grow rapidly, our osteoblasts
build bone faster than osteoclasts which break down bone. Our
bones reach their peak bone density by age 30, then as we age, the
balance shifts and we break down more bone than we build.
The function of both osteoclasts and osteoblasts is influenced by
many factors, including levels of estrogen, testosterone, thyroid
hormone, insulin, nutritional status, and other hormones (such as
norepinephrine and cortisol) produced by emotional stress. Over
her lifetime, a woman may lose 38 percent of her peak bone mass
while a man may only lose 23 percent of his. Many women begin
to lose bone in their late thirties, long before estrogen levels
begin to fall. This loss tends to accelerate perimenopausally.
While doctors recommend poorly absorbed calcium supplements
made from rock, and the pharmaceutical industry focuses on
drugs that destroy osteoclasts, Garden of Life® has focused on
more healthy nutritional approaches to increase, yes INCREASE,
bone mineral density. Our Vitamin Code® Grow Bone System first
released in 2009, was truly something quite different from all
the other calcium supplements on the market because the exact
formula was shown in published clinical research to actually
INCREASE BODY MINERAL density…more details to follow.
Calcium from Dairy
We all learned in grade school that consuming dietary calcium
is essential for healthy bones and teeth. The Dairy Council did a
great job making sure that we all knew that drinking milk was the
ideal way to obtain that calcium. Dietitians recommend consuming
milk for growing children as it can be an important source of dietary
calcium as they increase their skeletal mass during rapid growth
phases. Breast milk is the ideal food for a baby, and for toddlers who
get their calcium predominantly from breast milk. Milk can be a very
nutrient-dense food but it should be organic, grass fed, full-fat dairy,
ideally from A-2 cows or local farmers.
Seventy percent of people worldwide cannot digest dairy
efficiently—these are usually people who are of Asian descent,
who do not have the lactase enzyme. However, most Westerners
do produce this enzyme. Again, the biggest problem with dairy
is actually the quality and sourcing. Dairy is clinically shown to
be a very healthy food when coming from quality sources and
probably the second best source of calcium only to consuming
animal bones—which hardly anybody does nowadays. Hence folks
turn to other calcium sources and calcium supplements which are
commonly derived from mined rocks (calcium carbonate) which is
crushed up and treated with citric acid to form calcium citrate, which
they say is absorbed better than calcium carbonate—but it’s still just
crushed up rocks!
48 Vol 39 • Extraordinary Health ™