CALCIUM - The Universal Deficiency!

We all hate the commercial break during our favourite movies! During that not-so-2 minute advertisement break, almost all food products in the market promoted calcium as their star ingredient from our favourite cheese to the health powders. Milk and dairy products have traditionally been advocated as calcium powerhouses and most advertisements depict that regularly drinking a glass of milk is a solution to making your bones healthier, so is just a glass of milk enough? Approximately 90% of the 3.5 billion individuals, who are at a risk of insufficient calcium consumption, live in Africa and Asia. Many South and East Asian countries, including India, have considerably lower average dietary calcium consumption than Western countries. Dietary calcium consumption in rural, tribal, and urban India has decreased during the last half-century. Although India is the world's greatest producer of milk, there is a severe lack of calcium in the diet, which has a detrimental impact on bone health.

Our bones and teeth contain 99% of the calcium in our bodies. Bones constantly remodel, grow, or repair themselves, and this requires a significant amount of calcium. Calcium's advantages for bone strength are its most well-known advantages but there is so much more to calcium.?Muscle, neuron, and vascular tissues all use serum calcium for vital metabolic processes like intracellular communication and preserving normal hormone levels which are most often overlooked.

So what is calcium deficiency and how is it caused?

Calcium insufficiency is a condition in which calcium is inadequate or is not efficiently used. Hypocalcemia, or calcium shortage illness, is a worldwide health issue. People all across the world just do not receive enough calcium from their diets.

Now that we know hypocalcemia is all-too-real, it is important for us to know what causes the same.

This insufficiency might be caused by a number of reasons, including:

1. Long-term calcium deficiency: This is the primary cause for calcium deficiency. So how do we know how much calcium is enough? Calcium is very specific to age and gender so following RDA is a way to track one's requirements.
2. Dietary Intolerance: People who have lactose intolerance or a dairy allergy miss out on an entire calcium-rich food group as this occurs when the body is unable to digest lactose, the sugar in milk, or the proteins in milk and may struggle to obtain enough dietary calcium.
3. Age: Age plays a key role in calcium absorption. Infants and children absorb up to 60% of the calcium they ingest. However, after reaching maturity, the absorption gradually declines to roughly 15-20%. For such individuals, it is recommended to take supplements along with vitamin D.
4. Hormonal changes, particularly in women: Women lose bone density more quickly during menopause due to a decrease in estrogen. Postmenopausal women have around one-tenth the estrogen levels of pre-menopausal women.
5. Prescription drugs: Certain drugs, through interfering with the body's capacity to absorb nutrients, may reduce calcium absorption. Low calcium and vitamin D levels have been observed when ingesting medicines such as lipid-lowering statins, diuretics, anticonvulsants, and corticosteroids.
6. Vegan diet: Vegans are more likely than non-vegans or vegetarians to have calcium deficiency. It is well acknowledged that dairy products are rich providers of calcium, putting vegans at a danger of insufficiency.
7. Absence of Vitamin D, Vitamin K2 or Magnesium: Vitamin D is known to increase absorption of calcium. Vitamin D's primary role in calcium homeostasis is to improve calcium absorption from the gut. Magnesium plays a role in influencing bone formation and fragility, as well as calcium metabolism and calcium-regulating hormones. Talk about being important, K2 is not present in leafy greens like K1 and is only found in trace levels in eggs and cheese. Its primary function is to control calcium deposition. In other words, vitamin K2 removes calcium deposits from the arteries and transports them to the bones. Therefore, consumption of these supporting vitamins and minerals is equally important to get all the calcium benefits.

Effect of Calcium deficiency on other organs or biochemical processes

Heart health: During a typical person's lifespan, the heart beats more than 2 billion times to pump blood. 3 billion heart muscle cells that contract during each heartbeat are responsible for the pumping function of the heart. The heart employs an electrical signal that travels from cell to cell to ensure that each cell contracts at the right time. The relationship between electrical activation and mechanical contraction is caused by calcium particles.

Blood clotting: The clotting process is very complex and has several steps. These steps involve a range of chemicals including calcium which is responsible for complete activation of several coagulation factors.

Nerve transmission: Calcium is the ultimate multitasker in neurons. It aids in the transmission of electrical impulses along axons. It causes synaptic terminals to release neurotransmitters into synapses. It is important in memory formation.

Muscle contraction: Calcium triggers contraction by reaction with regulatory proteins. In absence of calcium, there is no interaction between actin filament and myosin which prevents contraction.

How to tackle it – diet and supplements and what to look for when it comes to choosing the right one?

Diet: Diet plays an important role in calcium deficiency and following are some food suggestions rich in calcium to incorporate in the daily diet like Milk & Milk products (Milk , cheese, curd), Green leafy vegetables (Spinach, kale, collard, mustard, turnip), Fruits (Dates, banana), Nuts and seeds (Almonds and sesame), Soya products (fermented Tofu, soy milk), Fortified products (Calcium fortified milk alternatives, juice fortified with calcium)

Finding the right one: When it comes to supplements there is always a lot of confusion on how to buy the right supplement and what to look for in your supplement.

Following are some key tips to look for when finding the right one:

Avoid “THE ROCK”

Did you know that around 90% of calcium supplements in the market are made from either mild marble or limestone?

It is surprising as none of us think of eating marble or limestone, yet it is used to make calcium supplements. While searching for the top selling calcium supplement, and checking their ingredient list it was found that calcium carbonate is simply milled up marble or limestone. Next in line was Calcium citrate which is just calcium carbonate that is reactive to citric acid, hence it is also rock. Calcium citrate malate is no exception to this list.

Their well known side effects like upset stomach, vomiting, stomach pain, belching and constipation are some mild effects of consistent intake of calcium supplements made from these rocks. Severe cases involving kidney stones due to crystal deposits, atherosclerosis ultimately leading to myocardial infarction, recurring constipation and severe diarrhea in people have also seen an increase in gastrointestinal diseases. So move on from the stone- age.

Calcium is Calcium! The form of calcium plays an important role in its bioavailability. Most marketing strategies play on the myth that different forms have a little to no difference in rate of absorption but research suggests that when comparing a plant based natural calcium to calcium citrate and calcium carbonate they found the natural source is superior.

?Complete formulation: Most formulations in the market contain calcium with vitamin D which is not enough. Addition of other supporting minerals like magnesium and phosphorus are a must to create a complete formulation.?

THE HUNT IS OVER!

To help with this universal deficiency “The Tiny Secret” has come up with a unique proprietary product- “DAIRICAL”.

Dairical is a Natural, Organic supplement infused with Ionic Milk mineral complex (Natural Calcium)

Made from cow's milk which we have consumed from time immemorial making it the most safe, natural and potent source of calcium. Fortunately Dairical also has the same molecular structure as that of human bones which makes it highly bioavailable in nature and readily accepted by the human body. Plus it does not have “THE ROCK”. It is also lactose-free and vegetarian. It consists of a mineral complex of 30% elemental calcium with nano sized particle structure having dual adsorption mechanism. It also has phosphate, magnesium and vitamin D making it a complete formulation. With the added benefit of Probiotics which help in faster and better absorption, they make calcium more readily available by breaking the milk mineral complex and making it easily available!

Next time you select a Calcium supplement, ask yourself: Where is the Calcium actually coming from?