Nutrition Considerations for Women: Calcium Intake

calcium sources
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All About Calcium

This month, in celebration of Women’s Health Week, we’re putting ladies into the spotlight and diving deeper into everything to do with women’s health. In addition to releasing a women’s health Nutrition Score to all of our free users for the month of May, we’ll be uncovering some key nutrition considerations for females to keep in mind.

For this blog in particular, we’ll be talking all about calcium, the body’s most abundant mineral that many women aren’t getting enough of in their diets.

Its Function

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in your body. It helps grow healthy bones early in life and minimize bone loss later in life. Calcium is used when muscles contract, in blood clotting and to send signals from your brain to tissues in your body. 

Women & Calcium

Females are more susceptible than men to osteoporosis (1). Out of the estimated 10 million Americans with osteoporosis, 80% of them are women, meaning their calcium intake should be top of mind. 99% of the body’s calcium is stored in the bones and if one does not eat enough calcium-containing foods, the body will remove calcium from bones (2).

Keep your bones in tip-top shape by keeping an eye on your calcium intake via your Daily Report or your Nutrition Report.

Calcium & Your Diet

Excessive intakes of magnesium can limit your calcium absorption. If you’re a Gold Subscriber, check out the calcium:magnesium nutrient balance in your diary to see if you are getting these nutrients in balance.

Good sources of calcium include milk, cheese, yogurt, salmon with bones, tofu, spinach and okra.

Tracking Calcium In Cronometer

To make sure you’re getting enough calcium in your diet, if you’re not already, start tracking your food in Cronometer!

In the mobile app, navigate to your Daily Report or Nutrition Report and scroll down until you see calcium listed under the minerals section. You can also click on this to edit your targets, see your top sources and to learn more information about the mineral in general.

On the web app, you can scroll down on your Diary Screen (main page) to see calcium listed under the minerals section. You can hover over to learn more information or click to edit your targets and view your top sources.

Resources

1. What Women Need To Know, Bone Health & Osteoporosis Foundation. Link
2. The Nutrition Source, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Link

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