Calcium is an essential mineral and it’s one of the most commonly under-consumed nutrients. While everyone seems to know that calcium is needed to establish and maintain strong bones, its other vital roles in the body are often overlooked.

So here’s the run down on our dear friend calcium, what it does for you, and how you can insure you’re getting enough of it.

The calcium in an average adult body weighs about 2.5 pounds. Although 99% of this calcium is found in bones and teeth, the remaining 1%, which circulates through the rest of the cells, is critical.

That small 1% is essential for blood clotting, transmitting nerve impulses, and contracting muscles. These functions are so crucial that if your calcium intake is not adequate, your body will do all that it can to maintain blood calcium levels, at the expense of your bones. This essentially means that your body will borrow what calcium it needs from your bones in order to insure all your other cells have enough. Over time, habitual low calcium consumption takes its toll, your bones slowly become depleted as their calcium is continually removed to keep blood levels constant, and eventually fragile, brittle bones and osteoporosis result.

Since your bones would really appreciate you not racking up a calcium debt with them, here’s what you can eat to increase your calcium intake.

Good source of calcium include:

Dairy products (except for cottage cheese)

Leafy greens (such as kale, collard, turnip and mustard greens)

Canned salmon and sardines (the bones contain calcium)

Calcium fortified orange juice

Calcium supplements

Although it is very important to make sure you are eating enough calcium containing foods or supplementing your diet, your calcium absorption, unfortunately, depends on more than just how much calcium you consume.

Our bodies only absorb roughly 20-40% of the calcium we intake. This amount varies from person to person and is affected by factors such as age. Postmenopausal women typically absorb less.

Your calcium absorption will decrease if:

You have a vitamin D deficiency. Vitamin D is required for calcium absorption.

You drink excessive amounts of soft drinks. Most soft drinks contain high levels of phosphorus. Phosphorus reduces calcium absorption.

Your body produces inadequate amounts of stomach acid. Calcium requires a slightly acidic pH to be absorbed by your body; low stomach acid production can decrease its availability.

You consume large amounts of fiber in your diet, especially wheat bran. Fiber binds to calcium and prevents it from being absorbed.

If you aren’t regularly eating foods high in calcium I recommend supplementation. Here are some guidelines to follow with calcium supplements:

Don’t take more than 500 mg of calcium at once; your body won’t absorb any more than that at a given time. Supplementing your calcium intake with 1000 mg of calcium, taken in two (500 mg) doses daily, is safe and typically adequate.

Not all calcium supplements are created equal. If a supplement doesn’t dissolve in your gastrointestinal tract, it can’t be absorbed. To test how well a calcium supplement will dissolve place a tablet in 6 oz of cider vinegar for 30 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes. If it hasn’t dissolved within the 30 minutes, it’s no good.

As long as your stomach produces normal amounts of gastric acid it’s best to take your calcium supplement between meals. Calcium competes with iron for absorption, so this will limit the negative impact supplementation has on iron absorption. If you have low gastric acid production, take your calcium supplement with meals, when stomach acid levels are at their highest, or take calcium in the form of calcium citrate. Calcium citrate is an acidic form of calcium, so it doesn’t require as much stomach acid to be absorbed.

It is important to remember that although your body absolutely needs calcium, you can get too much of a good thing. I don’t recommend supplementing with more than 1000 mg of calcium/day. Calcium intakes above 2000 mg/day can cause kidney stones, kidney failure, and soft tissue calcification, so don’t overdo it.

Make your bones smile-eat some calcium!

Most people seem a little confused about vitamin and mineral supplements. I get a lot questions about the “if” and “what” of these supplements. And it has been my experience that many of the people that think they aren’t confused about supplements have actually been given a lot of misinformation and are basing their purchasing decisions on that information from less than credible sources. So here is my attempt to clear up some of the common vitamin supplement misconceptions.

With many vitamin/mineral supplements on the market have you ever wondered how to choose the best one? Or have you ever wondered if you even need to take a vitamin/mineral supplement at all? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions then this entry is for you. Even if you think you are making good decisions when it comes to supplements, you may not be choosing as wisely as you think.

Question: Daily dosed vitamin/mineral supplements such as Centrum® and One a Day® are very popular, but are they necessary for good health?

The answer to that question is unfortunately not a straight “yes” or “no”. If you are eating a varied and healthy diet that includes lots of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains it is unlikely that you are deficient in necessary nutrients and most likely do not need to take a supplement, however, as I will discuss later, there are exceptions to this.

If you are not eating a healthy diet then taking a vitamin/mineral supplement may be a good idea to insure that you have an adequate intake of all essential nutrients. However, it is important to remember that supplementation will not make up for consuming an unhealthy diet. Fruits and vegetables contain phytonutrients that promote health. Although these phytonutrients are not necessary for your body to survive; they will improve your quality of life and decrease the risk of chronic diseases. So, even if you are taking a supplement, eat those peas and carrots.

Question: If I decide to take a daily vitamin/mineral supplement how do I choose which one to buy?

This is a more complicated question to answer than one might think. There are many forms of each vitamin and mineral and all forms are not equal in terms of bioavailability and toxicity.

Some supplements use the cheapest forms of nutrients possible. For example, some contain forms of minerals that are basically just metal shavings. These benefit your body little since they are difficult to absorb.

But it would be impossible for me to go over every form of every vitamin and mineral in this entry so I am only going to go over some general things to look for when purchasing a supplement.

We tend to have mentality that more is always better. Have you ever looked at the supplement facts box on a supplement label and been excited when you saw that it contained 2000% of the daily intake of vitamin C, thinking that if vitamin C is good for you then more vitamin C has to be better? Though this chain of thought may seem logical, it is unfortunately incorrect.

Consumers commonly make the “more is better” mistake when choosing which supplement to purchase. Some nutraceutical companies take advantage of this erroneous logic and give their products headway in the market by loading them with much higher quantities of nutrients than necessary.

So why is more not better? The effects of overdosing on vitamins and minerals can range in seriousness from wasting your money on nutrients that will just end up in your urine to death. These effects vary greatly depending on the nutrient and its form.

For example, at levels only 3 times the Recommended Dietary Allowance, preformed vitamin A (not to be confused with beta-carotene) can cause birth defects and each year children die from iron poisoning caused by eating iron supplements.
The best advice, to avoid overdosing or wasting your money, is to look for supplements with nutrient amounts around 100% of the DV.

Question: Who is more likely to require vitamin supplementation, and what nutrients are they likely to be lacking?

As I already mentioned, there are certain situations where supplementation is highly advisable. Here are a few of them.

Folic acid supplementation is a must for all women of child bearing age. Folic acid deficiency can lead to neural tube birth defects; 400 micrograms of this vitamin daily are needed to decrease the risk of these defects and the average American woman only consumes 240 micrograms. Because the neural tube closes within the first 28 days of pregnancy, before most women even know they are pregnant, it is generally too late to start folic acid supplementation once you find out you are pregnant. If you are deficient in folic acid, the damage to your child has already been done. That’s why it is absolutely critical for women to take a supplement containing folic acid if there is any chance, no matter how remote, that they may become pregnant. 2500-3000 infants are born in the U.S. each year with neural tube defects, 75% of these defects could have been avoided if the mothers had supplemented with folic acid.

Most women, and many men, do not get enough calcium. Most women get 600-800 mg of calcium daily, well below the Daily Recommended Intake. The effects of calcium deficiency usually take years to manifest, but when they do they can be devastating. Twenty-five million Americans have osteoporosis, and 25% of women over 50 develop osteoporosis. Don’t become one of these statistics, take a calcium supplement. Your body will only absorb about 500 mg of calcium at a time, so I recommend taking 1000 mg a day separated into 2 (500 mg) doses.

Some groups are especially prone to deficiencies including the elderly, alcoholics, vegans, and expecting mothers.

The elderly often do not eat as healthy as they should due to difficulty preparing meals. They also don’t absorb all their nutrients as well as when they were younger. So supplementation is usually a good idea for this group.

There are a few nutrients that are primarily found in animal products. Without careful planning, it is very easy for vegans to become deficient in vitamin B12, riboflavin, and zinc. Vegans should be mindful of this and if nothing else, take a B12 supplement.

Alcoholics are likely to be deficient in many vitamins, but if you are an alcoholic, supplementation usually isn’t your top concern.

Expecting mothers are another group that should take a supplement. If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, prenatal vitamins are a must.

Although the supplement topic is one that I could discuss endlessly, since it is near and dear to my heart, I will end on this entry before I reach new levels of long-windedness.

Just remember to do a little research before choosing what supplement to buy and don’t get stuck in the “more is better” trap. And if you still have questions, you can ask your friendly neighborhood food scientist. We would be happy to give you an extraordinarily lengthy answer to what you thought was a simple question.

It’s that time of year again. The time for New Year’s resolutions, and for a lot of you that means going on some sort of diet. Many of us yearly vow to lose weight, however, most of us somehow end up doing the opposite of what we intend to and by the following year have somehow managed to gain weight rather than lose it. And then the cycle starts all over again…thus after many years of yoyo dieting we end up fatter than ever and frustrated at our apparent inability to do anything about it. What am I doing wrong you ask? While there are many possible answers to that question here are some basic tips that as a food scientist, and an observer of many a bad diet, I have come up with.

Tip 1: Beware of the “magic bullet”. We hear about them all the time on the radio, TV, or internet. Yes, you know what I’m talking about, a magical pill or drink you take which makes pounds just melt away with absolutely no effort. Just keep eating at McDonald’s for every meal and continue sitting around playing World of Warcraft for twelve hours every night and take this happy little pill and all your fat will disappear- sound too good to be true? Well, it probably is.

Tip 2: Beware of any diet product that tells you, “No eating or lifestyle changes necessary.” This goes hand in hand with tip 1, once again they are telling you to go ahead, eat a whole pie every night and sit glued to the TV for hours at a time; you will still be able to miraculously lose weight. While this may appeal to many of you, the unfortunate truth is that in order to lose weight and KEEP IT OFF you DO need to change your eating habits and you DO need to change your lifestyle. I know, the truth can hurt, but that’s just the way it is. Even if there is some amazing pill out there that can make you drop the pounds with absolutely no effort on your part (which I highly doubt), are you going to keep taking that pill for THE REST OF YOUR LIFE? If not, then eventually your poor eating habits and life style are going to catch up with you and you will gain the weight back, and then some. And you will be worse off than where you started from and more frustrated than ever.

Tip 3: Beware of the fad diet. These are always coming and going-the so called newest and best way to lose weight. Remember the fat free craze back in the 90’s? Or more recently, the carb free craze? These popular diets come and go. Don’t substitute sound nutrition for some new diet fad that in a year or two will be all but forgotten.

Tip 4: Beware of any diet that focuses on consuming hard to find foods or food items that have to be purchased specially. The key to any successful diet is that the eating and exercise habits you establish while on the diet have to be transferable to your life permanently; otherwise you will eventually gain the weight back. A good diet should focus on “normal” healthy food that is found and purchased easily.

Tip 5: This goes along with tip 4. Beware of any diet that centers on consuming one food over and over again in replacement for a meal or normal food. For instance, if your diet consists of drinking the same diet shake every morning for breakfast, what is eventually going to happen? You are going to get sick of having that same shake over and over and you will need/want to go back to eating normal food. If you haven’t changed your eating habits in general than going back to normal food is going to mean gaining weight for you.

Tip 6: Quick fixes don’t last. We’ve all heard the diet product commercials that claim you can lose 10 pounds in one week. Sure, we would all like to lose weight quickly and effortlessly. But the truth is that our bodies resist weight changes. If you lose weight too fast your body will protest and the end result will be gaining back even more weight than you started with. In order to make weight loss permanent and healthy you really should only lose 1 to 2 pounds a week. This does mean you will have to be patient and not expect dramatic immediate results but it also means that you won’t be right back where you started next year.

Tip 7: Don’t get overwhelmed thinking you can never enjoy the foods you love again because you are on a diet-that just isn’t the case. Cutting the foods you love out altogether is really not necessary or desirable. If your favorite treat is donuts, enjoy a donut once in a while; just don’t have them for breakfast every morning. A wise professor once told me, “There is no such thing as a junk food, only a junk diet.” Any food can be part of a healthy diet if we eat it in moderation.

Tip 8: Every attempt to lose weight should include exercise! We lose weight by expending more calories than we consume. Exercise is a great way to increase how many calories we burn. It has the added benefit of increasing our lean body mass, which in turn also boosts our caloric consumption. But exercise does much more for us than just that. Those good ol’ endorphins make us feel good, not to mention the sense of accomplishment that generally accompanies exercise. And our heart will thank us.

But why does exercise have such a bad rep? Many of us avoid exercise like it was the plaque. The key is to make your form of exercise something that you really enjoy doing. Exercise does not have to be a chore. Jason and I love to go mountain biking, hiking, play soccer and racquetball, and snowboard. Though these are great forms of exercise, they are also a lot of fun for us. So if going to the gym really isn’t you thing-don’t go to the gym. Find something you love and stick with it.

Finding an exercise partner can also greatly increase your exercise success. Not only will they make exercise more enjoyable but they will keep you from making excuses not to exercise. Jason is my partner in crime and I am very grateful he is such an active person.

Tip 9: Don’t let the media convince you that you need to look like a super model. Not only is that a pretty impossible goal for most of us, usually it’s really not a healthy goal either. Your goal weight should be healthy and realistic.

Tip 10: Try replacing fattier dairy products for lower fat options. Try using skim or 1% milk instead of 2% and eating low fat or fat-free yogurt. This is a relatively easy change to make. You will get used to the taste of the lower fat options and soon will prefer them over the higher fat alternatives.

In the end, the best way to lose weight and keep it off is to change your eating habits and lifestyle altogether. You need to change the way you think about food. Change how and what you eat, and become a lot more active. And you need to change all this in a sustainable, permanent way. A “diet” that we stick to only until we reach our goal weight will never be successful because going back to our old eating habits means going back to our old weight. Also, it is important to think about what you are including in your diet not just what you are excluding. Fruits and vegetables should be consumed a plenty. Whole grains should be substituted for refined flours. Have health be your goal not just weight loss.

It may take longer to lose weight this way and it will take effort. But it could mean the difference between “Lose Weight” being on your new year’s resolution list next year again- or not.