Fitness Gear: Milk, Calcium And Your Weight Loss- Fitness Training For Life

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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Got Milk? What a question. Who really cares? Does milk even matter? Besides of course the fun white mustaches you get. I always thought that the point of those commercials was to encourage kids to play with their food, not for health reasons.

Then a set of scary words came up in my doctor’s office... bone loss, bone density, calcium absorption, low bone mass, fractures, breaks, osteoporosis... I could practically hear the death bells toll. Certainly these things would bring me to my own death. My breath grew short, my head throbbed, I could feel the chest pains coming and just before I would have passed out I heard the voice of God call out to me, "Consume more calcium to avoid these issues". Okay the voice was actually my doctor, but it couldn’t have been scarier and I couldn’t have been more relieved.

I thought that none of these things should even be an issue for me as a young adult
but they all can be! From infancy until around thirty our bones are constantly growing. Beginning in the womb, our bones, which are living tissues, increase and decrease by calcium absorption. This increase peaks and our bone mass is highest between the ages of twenty-seven and thirty-two. Bone growth is a gradual process and the stronger our bones are at this peak the less likely we are to suffer from osteoporosis and it’s effects.

The importance of calcium intake is HUGE! No matter the age, maintaining a healthy amount of calcium in your diet is very important. The United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Guide Pyramid recommends two to three servings of dairy products everyday to maintain your calcium intake. This is because the number one foods that provide calcium in the United States are milk, yogurt and cheese, all of which are available in non-fat and reduced fat products that contain the same amount of calcium as regular dairy products.

So what do lactose intolerant people do to receive their calcium? Calcium is also present in some greens and grains although many of them would require a person to consume ten to eighty times the portion amount just to receive the equivalent of one cup of milk. As adults the recommended intake for both males and females is between 1,000 and 1,300 (mg) of calcium everyday. A half-cup of a tofu product, processed with a calcium salt, is only 138mg of calcium. Where it is possible to gain your daily values this way, it is neither easy nor very practical. So what to do? I've found that calcium supplements can not only increase your calcium intake, but also make it easier for your body to absorb. As it seems, certain foods that contain calcium also contain other minerals that are not advantageous for your body to maximize and absorb the calcium in that food. Minerals such as phytic acid, phytate and oxalic acid all have a negative impact on your body's calcium absorption.

Using a supplemental product avoids these minerals. Core Cal-Mag is a calcium supplement from the makers of beachbody products, which contains a full dose of daily calcium. It’s lactose intolerant, friendly made from pure milk and calcium carbonate but with no lactose or other related allergens. It's a quick and easy way to ensure you build strong bones during your weight loss program.

by: UltimateFitnessGear