What is Calcium?

Calcium is the mineral in your body that makes up your bones and keeps them strong. 99% of the calcium in your body is stored in bones and teeth. The remaining 1% is in your blood and soft tissues, and is essential for life and health. Without this 1% of calcium, your muscles wouldn’t contract correctly, your blood wouldn’t clot and your nerves wouldn’t carry messages.

How Much Calcium Do We need?

ü Kids ages 1-3 need 500 mg of calcium a day, or about two 8-oz. glasses of milk

ü Kids ages 4-8 need 800 mg of calcium a day, or about three 8-oz. glasses of milk

ü Teens ages 9-18 need 1,300 mg of calcium a day, or about four 8-oz. glasses of milk

ü Adults ages 19-50 need 1,000 mg of calcium a day, or at least three 8-oz. glasses of milk

ü Adults over the age of 50 need 1,200 mg of calcium a day, or four 8-oz. glasses of milk

Why can't someone just take a calcium supplement?
Supplements are not substitutes. A calcium pill shouldn't take the place of the calcium in food. A glass of milk, for example, not only provides calcium but also eight other essential nutrients. One of these key nutrients is vitamin D, which is important for calcium absorption.

Aren't there a lot of other ways, besides consuming dairy foods such as milk, cheese and yogurt, to get calcium?

Dairy's powerful package of calcium plus eight key nutrients fuels your body, not just your bones. Without milk, cheese and yogurt in your diet, it's very difficult to get enough calcium. Other foods contain calcium in smaller amounts, and the calcium in some, such as spinach, is poorly absorbed. In fact, you would need to eat 8 cups of spinach to equal the amount of calcium absorbed from 1 cup of milk.

Calcium is good for your health:

ü Dairy products contain calcium, potassium and magnesium – all of which may help to prevent or reduce high blood pressure.

ü The obesity epidemic – drinking more milk and less soda could help you lose more weight as well as have a better metabolism. Calcium turns down the tendency of fat cells to store calories.

ü Osteoporosis: the loss of bone density or thinning of the bones. This thinning causes bone weakness, and eventually the involved bone may break. Osteoporosis affects over 28 million women and men in this country – the calcium alone in milk can solve this problem.

(National Dairy Council)

(Journal Of American Medical Association)

(National Fluid Milk Processor Promotion Board)