Calcium helps you maintain strong bones, Calcium also plays a role in blood clotting, nerve conduction, muscle contraction, regulation of enzyme activity, and cell membrane function. It is the enzyme activity that gives calcium its ties to weight loss.
Your body needs vitamin D and magnesium to absorb and use calcium correctly.
When your body doesn’t get the calcium it needs through diet, it leaches it from your bones. A deficiency of calcium could cause muscle cramps during exercise, weakness, or high blood pressure.
Where to get it –
Acai berries, broccoli, cheese, cornmeal, figs, kale, lemon, milk, black strap molasses, pinto beans, pumpkin, rhubarb, rye, salmon, sardines, spinach, turnip greens, wheat, yogurt
Do not exceed 2,500 milligrams a day in supplement form. Too much actually causes more problems.
In addition – Calcium should never be taken alone. It needs additional magnesium, vitamin D, omega–3 fatty acids, and vitamin K (in particular, vitamin K-2, which is especially important). Without these essential nutrients that are needed for calcium to be absorbed and used effectively by our body, the calcium may end up in our blood vessels or our heart, where it causes harm, instead of in our bones, where it is needed.
As long as these additional nutrients are taken as too, many studies have shown that added calcium plays an important role in building and maintaining bone mass—and also reduces the risk of colon cancer.