How much calcium does the body need at different ages?

How much calcium does the body need depending on age? Traditional advice: The older the person, the more calcium is needed in the diet. There is also an alternative opinion: no more than 200 mg per day, regardless of age. It is also better to exclude dairy products altogether as the main supplier of calcium (except for butter) and drink distilled water, since calcium makes the vessels hard. Which view is correct?

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The recommended calcium intake does indeed depend on age. First of all, this is due to physiological characteristics and possible chronic diseases.

For example, teenagers need more calcium than adults because of their vigorous growth. And in older people, especially in women with menopause, bone mineral density (osteoporosis) decreases, which means that the risk of fractures is greatly increased. Which also requires increased calcium intake.

How much calcium to consume

Here's how much calcium you need to consume per day, according to the US National Academy of Medicine's Dietary Reference Intakes for Calcium and Vitamin D:

For an adult - up to 1,000 mg.
Postmenopausal women - 1200 mg.
For adolescents (9-18 years old) of both sexes - 1,300 mg.
Children (3–8 years old) - not less than 1,000 mg.
Babies up to three years old - about 700 mg.

And pregnant women, according to the recommendations of the Ministry of Health Normal Pregnancy, with a low calcium intake (less than 600 mg / day) should take supplements throughout pregnancy at a dose of 1,000 mg / day. This will not only provide the mother and fetus with calcium, but also prevent the development of preeclampsia, a life-threatening condition accompanied by high blood pressure and the appearance of edema and protein in the urine.

If you are receiving medications for the treatment of osteoporosis, you must remember that this therapy will be effective. Osteoporosis only if you consume at least 500-1,000 mg of calcium and 800 IU of vitamin D per day.

How to understand if the body lacks calcium

If a person does not have diseases of the parathyroid glands and osteoporosis, then laboratory methods cannot determine whether he is consuming enough calcium.

Normally, all regulators of phosphorus-calcium metabolism work Vitamin D deficiency in adults so as to maintain blood calcium levels within certain limits - regardless of how much macronutrient is supplied with food. Thanks to this system, you may not feel any symptoms, even if your diet is low in calcium.

Therefore, in order to understand how much calcium you are consuming and whether you need to adjust your diet, calculate its approximate amount in the foods that you eat during the day.

Where to get calcium

The ideal source of calcium is food, not dietary supplements. The latter are needed if you cannot get enough of this macronutrient from your diet. For example, due to a chronic illness or food intolerance. But before you start taking it, you must definitely consult with your doctor.

Calcium is rich in products containing calcium dairy and fermented milk products: 100 g of Russian cheese can contain about 1,000 mg of calcium, and the same amount of low-fat cottage cheese - 120 mg. Also a good food source of calcium is sesame, in which as much as 780 mg of the mineral of interest to us per 100 g of seeds. So getting the dose you need for A Guide to Calcium-Rich Foods per day is not so difficult.

Should you be afraid of calcification

Calcification is the accumulation of calcium salts in body tissues. And contrary to popular belief, the calcification of the vascular wall is not associated with the amount of this macronutrient in the diet. If you get it in the adequate amounts indicated above, then it will not be deposited in the internal organs and the vascular wall of the circulatory system.

Pathological changes in blood vessels arise from A definition of advanced types of atherosclerotic lesions and a histological classification of atherosclerosis due to atherosclerosis - the accumulation of "harmful" cholesterol (LDL, triglycerides) and the formation of plaques, which at a certain stage of the progression of the disease can indeed be calcified.

Established risk factors and coronary artery disease are not the level of calcium in blood tests, but a number of conditions: high blood cholesterol, high blood pressure, overweight, diabetes, smoking and lack of exercise.

Therefore, the best thing to do to prevent calcification is to adopt a healthy lifestyle.