How Much Calcium Do You Need?

How Much Calcium Do You Need?
Copyright (c) 2006 PillFreeVitamins.com

You've probably heard that you need to take a calcium
supplement each day - even if you are taking a
multi-vitamin. This is because most people don't get enough
calcium in their diets and the multi-vitamins don't have
the recommended daily dosage of calcium in them; even
though they do have other nutrients and minerals that we
need.

We need calcium to keep our bones and teeth strong, but it
is also needed to help our muscles contract properly, to
help our blood clot, to help nerves carry messages, to keep
our hearts beating properly, and to prevent diseases such
as Osteoporosis. Without calcium our bodies are in big
trouble!

We get some calcium from the foods we eat. Dairy products,
broccoli, rice, salmon, tuna, beans, nuts, seeds, oysters,
shrimp, turnip greens, okra, other green vegetables,
oranges, figs, and several other foods all contain calcium.
But again, most people don't consume enough of these foods
in a single day to get the required amount of calcium that
is needed by the body, even if they are taking an
additional multi-vitamin.

Most people don't even know how much calcium they need to
meet their body's requirements. Doctors always tell us to
take a calcium supplement - but they almost always fail to
say how much calcium is enough, and how much is too much!

First, let's look at how much is too much, in terms of
calcium. Nobody has ever overdosed on calcium, but some
people have had health problems that were caused because
they were getting too much calcium - the solution was
always to cut down on the calcium of course. So far,
scientists and doctors agree that up to 2500 milligrams of
calcium per day is perfectly safe - but you don't even need
that much.

Most health care professionals agree that if you aren't
drinking three eight ounce glasses of milk per day, you are
not getting enough calcium. Babies between the ages of
newborn and six months old should have at least 210
milligrams of calcium each day. From seven months to one
year, they should have 270 milligrams per day. Children
aged one to three years should have 500 milligrams, four to
eight years should have 800 milligrams, and nine years to
eighteen year olds should have 1300 milligrams.

It is vitally important that children under the age of
eighteen get the calcium that they need, because this is
when their bones and teeth are developing, and their bodies
crave calcium!

Adults between the ages of nineteen and fifty need 1000
milligrams of calcium per day, which adults aged fifty one
and over need to increase their calcium intake to 1200
milligrams per day.

If you are taking a supplement to get your daily calcium
make sure you are also taking magnesium with it. Magnesium
is the transport that brings the calcium to your cells.
The ratio of magnesium to calcium should be 2:1. In other
words if you are taking 1200mg of calcium you should also
be taking 600mg of magnesium for a complete solution.

----------------------------------------------------
Steven Godlewski is currently working with the staff at
PillFreeVitamins.com He has an extensive background in
nutrition as well as other health related fields. For more
health-related articles see their website at:
http://www.pillfreevitamins.com

--

Information You Should Not Ignore If You Are Worried About Poor Posture Causing Your Back Pain

Information You Should Not Ignore If You Are Worried About Poor Posture
Causing Your Back Pain


Proper posture is important because it keeps your spine in
a more neutral position that does not put pressure on
bones, muscles, disks, soft tissue, nerves and other
structures in the back.

Now I know what you are thinking already. "I practice good
posture and I don't need to read this." Ahhh...but do you
really pay attention to your posture? Can you honestly say
when you sit down or take a walk that you are reminding
yourself about your posture?

I bet the only time you really pay attention to your
posture is when you sit up after slouching in your seat and
then tell yourself, "I am practicing good posture." Now
think about all the times that you practice bad posture and
don't even realize it.

And you wonder why you have back pain? Look, unless you
are a robot, you can't practice perfect posture all the
time. Whether sitting or standing, just try to be more
aware of your overall posture.

But what can you do to practice better posture besides just
sitting up straight?

One of the easiest ways to fall into a habit of poor
posture is typing at a computer. Your hands reach for the
keyboard which causes your shoulders to slump forward.
This promotes poor posture and can lead to back problems.

Here's a trick. Get a yard stick and place it across the
center of your sternum just below your clavicle bones. As
you are sitting and holding the yard stick (or you could
have someone hold it for you) try to keep your shoulders
from touching it. You shouldn't feel like you have to hold
your shoulders back either.

Good posture should always be comfortable. This will teach
you to keep your shoulders from slumping forward and
causing you to have poor posture. Practice this a few
times with the yard stick. Do it long enough until it is
reinforced in your mind and you are trained to keep your
shoulders back without having to use a yard stick.

Also, try not to lean to one side while either sitting or
standing. It's so easy to just lean to one side and let
your elbow rest on a table while sitting or lean your body
weight to one side while standing in one place. These tiny
shifts albeit small and seemingly insignificant put a
gradual strain on the muscles, ligaments and vertebrae in
your back.

You can also analyze your own posture while sitting in
front of a mirror. Look in the mirror and see if you are
sitting all the way back in your chair. See if your
shoulders are slumped forward? Does the lower lumbar area
of your back fit snug up against your chair if it has a
lumbar support? Are you sitting straight in the chair
instead of at an angle? Are you leaning too much against
the back of the chair which can promote the sagging of back
muscles and poor posture? These are just some of the
observations you can make to better analyze faults so you
can make the necessary adjustments for better overall
posture.

Do you own a good pair of shoes?

It is so important to have a relatively new pair of
comfortable running shoes or casual shoes or boots to
maintain good posture. I once owned a pair of rubber-soled
boots that I wore for about 2 years. One of the rubber
soles of the boots was completely worn down making one of
my legs essentially longer than the other and throwing my
spine completely out of alignment.

Moral of the story: Check your shoes and make sure you
don't have the same problem. If you have a pair of running
shoes, you might want to consider buying a new pair every
3-6 months depending on how much you run.

One more thought that immediately comes to mind while we
are on the subject of leg length is short-leg syndrome.
Many people may have one leg slightly shorter than the
other and not even know it. If you suspect this might be
the cause of your back pain, you might want to see a
chiropractor or an orthapaedist to make a proper
evaluation. A simple lift or insert in your shoe might be
all you need to correct this problem and end your back pain.

If you really have a hard time maintaining good posture you
can try a support or lumbar device such as a lumbar roll.
Since many sofas or pieces of furniture are so poorly
designed for your back anatomically, a lumbar roll should
certainly be used on a chair or especially a couch that
really doesn't offer any lumbar support.

When it comes to preventing back pain, proper posture is
one of the best ways to maintain a pain-free back. Getting
in this habit offers your spine more of the benefits of a
neutral position that takes pressure off vertebrae,
muscles, disks, nerves, cartilage and other structures in
the back.

----------------------------------------------------
Mike Saros is a former back pain sufferer and author of The
No More Back Pain newsletter found at
http://www.BackReliefElite.com
He will instruct you how to end your own lower back pain at
http://www.SecretsToAPainFreeBack.com/Secrets_Discount.htm

--