The risk of Calcium Deficiency

No matter what age you are when you become pregnant, calcium is very important for both you and your growing baby. Calcium from a mother’s body is used by the developing baby. This puts an increased demand on the pregnant woman’s calcium level. Consult with your doctor before using any supplement.

Understanding Calcium
Calcium is a mineral that gives strength and helps build and maintain bones and teeth. It also helps regulate muscles and the heartbeat, and therefore plays an important role in muscle contraction and nerve function. Calcium also initiates clotting of blood.

It is an essential nutrient that your body needs every day. During pregnancy, calcium nutrition may be especially important for the health of an expectant woman’s bones, and those of her baby. The skeleton of a new born baby contains approximately 20 to 30 grams of calcium. The bulk of fetal skeletal growth takes place from mid-pregnancy onwards, with maximum calcium accumulation occurring during the third trimester.

The baby will draw what it needs from the mother’s bones
Calcium absorption and urinary calcium excretion are higher during pregnancy, than before conception or after delivery. The increase is evident during pregnancy, as a result of an increased demand for calcium by the foetus for skeletal growth. When pregnant, it is important to make a smart choice about what you eat. Add calcium-rich foods to your daily diet. If the baby in the womb does not get enough calcium from the mother, it will draw what it needs from the mother’s bones.

This can lead to a calcium deficiency disease called osteoporosis-a condition in which the bones become weak and fragile, from loss of tissue and end up breaking easily. That is why it is important to take steps and help protect yourself from osteoporosis.

Low calcium levels in your blood may also cause a condition called tetany, in which nerve activity becomes excessive. The symptoms include muscle pains and spasms as well as numbness in the hands and feet.

What is the importance of calcium?
Calcium may play a role in the prevention and treatment of the following health conditions.

• Colon cancer – this is cancer that begins in the large intestine.
• High blood pressure.
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome – these are multiple follicles (very small glands), that accumulate in the ovaries without ovulation. The follicles produce certain hormones that interfere with ovulation and menstruation.
• Pregnancy-induced hypertension and pre-eclampsia – a condition characterised by oedema (excess body fluid), high blood pressure and protein in urine.
• Premenstrual syndrome-they are the physical and emotional signs and symptoms which appear when a woman is just about to receive her menses and disappear at the onset of menstruation.

Who Needs Calcium Most?

• Pregnant and breastfeeding mothers of all ages need calcium.Teenage mothers are at a higher risk of bone loss during pregnancy, and may later in life develop osteoporosis. These young women are still building much of their total bone mass during their teenage years while the unborn baby needs to develop its skeleton. This makes the baby compete with the teenage mother for calcium, hence compromising her ability to achieve an optimal bone mass, that will help protect her from osteoporosis later in life.
• Women who are on hormonal birth control method (especially the injection that prevents pregnancy for three months), should take a calcium supplement. These women end up losing a certain amount of calcium from their bones. The calcium levels rise as soon as they stop using the injection. It is therefore advisable to ensure adequate calcium intake for such women.
• Calcium is essential for children’s bone formation from birth until the age of 18 years. During this time, bones are forming and growing. As children grow, it is important that their diet remains rich in calcium. Calcium deficiency in kids may cause improper structural bone development, and rickets. Rickets is a condition characterized by bone deformities, and growth retardation.
• Calcium is also important for women going through menopause. When a woman enters menopause, her body produce less oestrogen. This is a female hormone normally produced in a woman’s body, and whose loss increases the risk of osteoporosis.
• It is not only women who need a diet rich in calcium. Men also need it since they, too, are vulnerable to osteoporosis. They need to consume adequate calcium throughout their older years to prevent deterioration of bone mass, and in their younger years to achieve peak bone mass.

Where is calcium found?

• Low-fat dairy products. Examples of such foods are milk, yoghurt and cheese. Calcium is also found in breakfast cereals which are fortified with calcium.
• Broccoli, kale, sesame seeds, blackstrap molasses, beans, salmon, cabbage, lettuce and fortified beverages such as soy milk and orange juice are also good sources of calcium.

END: PG 04 DEC 06-JAN 07/16