Mistakes when supplementing calcium

In recent times, some diseases caused by calcium deficiency and the need for calcium supplementation have been better recognized in the community. However, many people still do not have full awareness of the method of calcium supplementation for the body, leading to low absorption efficiency and even causing some unfortunate consequences.

Rely only on natural calcium

Many people think that relying on natural calcium sources from the body is enough, and many people consider milk a miracle drug when the body lacks calcium.

In fact, nutrition experts have shown that daily food only provides 20% - 30% of the body's calcium needs.

At the workshop “Effective and safe calcium supplementation” held at the Institute of Nutrition on May 29, 2014, Japanese experts stated that the body’s calcium absorption rate decreases with age. Accordingly, in people aged 20-30, the calcium absorption rate accounts for 30% of the calcium from the diet, in people aged 40-50 it is 20% and people over 60 years old can only absorb 10% of the calcium provided through the diet. That explains why, despite having a full diet, we still lack calcium and osteoporosis increases significantly in the elderly.

Misconceptions

Many people have misconceptions about calcium-containing foods, such as eating shrimp shells because they think shrimp shells are rich in calcium. In fact, shrimp shells are made of chitin[U1], not calcium, so eating a lot of them can cause constipation. They can also combine calcium-rich foods such as seafood with tofu, sweet potatoes, and spinach. As a result, the phytic acid in these foods will cause calcium to precipitate into salt, making it impossible for the body to absorb...

Supplement calcium only when deficient.

Supplementing calcium only when lacking is a misconception of most people. Normally, many people pay a lot of attention to supplementing protein and vitamins, but are lazy to supplement calcium and only start using it when the body "protests". For example, children are growing with weak bones due to calcium deficiency, the elderly have osteoporosis and then take it, or pregnant women only take calcium when prescribed by a doctor.

Meanwhile, 95% of our bones, teeth, and nails are made of calcium and are lost daily through sweat and urine. And with age, calcium loss occurs without compensation, leading to osteoporosis, osteopenia, and bone loss.

Supplement overdose

Choosing the wrong calcium, taking too much calcium leading to constipation that the body cannot absorb is also a common mistake.

Many mothers, because they want their children to grow taller, have abused calcium supplements without knowing that it is harmful to their children. Depending on the level of excess calcium, it can cause complications ranging from mild to severe, such as loss of appetite, constipation, nausea, fatigue, muscle pain, bone pain, frequent urination, and dehydration. If there is too much, the amount of calcium that is not fully absorbed can accumulate, causing kidney calcification, gallstones, reduced kidney function, reduced absorption of other minerals such as iron, zinc, magnesium, phosphorus, etc., increasing blood calcium.

Therefore, recognizing the correct signs and supplementing calcium properly will help the body stay healthy.