- Exercise - improves the circulation of calcium (along with other nutrients). Therefore improving bone uptake of calcium.
- Vitamin D - calcium needs vitamin D to be absorbed. Make sure you are getting out in the sun in the summer and taking supplements in the winter (make sure it is D3 and not D2).
- Magnesium - also helps absorption (Natural Calm is my favourite Magnesium Supplement)
- Not too much phosphorus in your diet (meat, soft drinks, eggs, processed foods incl. lunch meat and cheese spreads are high in phosphorus).
- Eat a calcium rich diet. Milk is a good source but many are intolerant to it (and many don't realize it, also milk is high in ). My favourite sources are dark leafy greens, raisins, broccoli and cauliflower, peas, beans, nuts and seeds.
Are you pregnant or have you been pregnant? Pregnancy (and nursing) drains our calcium and it becomes hard to replace in later years. One common sign of deficiency in pregnancy is leg cramps. Calcium is especially important in the last 2 months of pregnancy. That is when the baby gets half of all of its calcium needs). Another sign of deficiency is fatigue and postpartum depression...sleep deprivation doesn't help with this either.
Source: Staying Healthy with Nutrition
Hopefully you learnt something new from this! I will continue to write about interesting and useful tidbits of information that I come across in my nutrition studies.
Teri
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