Calcium

If you're an athlete, you need to be concerned about taking in enough calcium, because inadequate calcium consumption can weaken your bones, increase your risk of stress fractures, and inhibit proper muscle functioning. Under-consumption of calcium can also raise your chances of developing osteoporosis, which is currently an epidemic in the United States and Great Britain.

Ideas about how much calcium you really need are changing. For years, nutritionists and medical experts have recommended an intake of about 800 mg of calcium per day for most people, and 1200 mg per day for males and females aged 11-24, a time period when bone accumulation is the greatest. However, scientists have gradually realized that calcium absorption diminishes as people get older. For that reason, the National Institute of Health in the United States is now calling for intakes of 1000 mg per day for men aged 25 or older and females between the ages of 25-50, 1000-1500 mg per day for women who have stopped menstruating, 1500 daily mg for women over the age of 65, and 1200-1500 mg for males and females aged 11-24.

These higher intakes may do more than build better bones. Scientific evidence suggests that calcium- rich diets may represent a drug-free way to keep high blood pressure under control; as many as one out of two individuals may be able to lower blood pressure by taking in extra calcium. Lofty levels of calcium may also reduce the risk of colon cancer, probably because calcium binds with cancer-promoting bile acids in the large intes tine. Fortunately, calcium-rich diets don't seem to increase one's chances of developing kidney stones; in fact, they may actually reduce the risk!

The easiest way to consume enough calcium is to eat yoghurt; just three cups of the stuff gives you over 1200 mg of the important mineral, which is an adequate daily intake formost people. Milk and calcium-fortified orange juice are also good; each supplies about 300 mg per cup. Calcium-processed tofu and spinach are the other major calcium sources; tofu yields about 260 mg per quarter-pound, and spinach provides 245 mg per cup.

What about calcium supplements? If you're eating enough of the above foods, you don't need them, but experts are recommending that those who rely on calcium pills should take them with meals and in doses of 500 mg or less. If you also take iron supplements, you should take the calcium and iron at different meals, since calcium can interfere with iron absorption.

Individuals with lactose intolerance tend to shy away from milk and yoghurt as their sources of calcium, but such persons can try some of the low-lactose or lactose-free dairy products currently on the market or rely on products which aid lactose digestion. All in all, taking in enough calcium is a very bright idea for athletes who want to perform at their highest level.(Counting Your Calcium: How Much Is Enough?' The Physician and Sportsmedicine, vol. 23(1), pp. 21- 22, 1995).