With age, the body's skeletal state gradually deteriorates, and bone mass begins to be lost, which has a great impact on the elderly. What foods can help supplement calcium? Can I supplement calcium by taking calcium tablets? Experts teach you the tricks of scientific calcium supplementation.
What foods can help supplement calcium?
The calcium content of food, the intake of calcium in a single dose, and the absorption rate of the human body are the three important criteria for judging whether food can supplement calcium. In our daily diet, common foods that contain more calcium and are easily absorbed mainly include the following categories.
The first is dairy products, which contain about 120 mg of calcium per 100 ml of milk, and these calcium are easily absorbed by the human body, so doctors generally encourage patients to drink milk to supplement calcium; the second is nuts, the calcium content of nuts is also relatively high, of which hazelnut kernels have the highest calcium content, but also need to control the amount of food to balance the intake of oil; the third is soy products, such as dried tofu, tofu skin, white tofu, these calcium content is relatively high, but not including bean paste; the fourth is the green vegetables of ground grass, Such as Chinese cabbage, kale, broccoli and so on.
It should be reminded that shrimp skin and bone soup, the calcium content is not high, and it does not play a good role in calcium supplementation. The calcium of the shrimp skin is mainly contained in the shrimp shell, the processed shrimp skin contains more salt, people usually eat less, and the absorption rate of calcium after eating is very low. In addition, high salt will also accelerate the loss of calcium in our body. Although animal bones contain more calcium, it is not the active calcium that our human body can absorb, and the calcium in the bones is difficult to dissolve into the soup. Therefore, drinking bone broth does not play a role in calcium supplementation. On the contrary, because of the high content of sodium salts and purines in bones, drinking too much bone broth is not good for our physical health.
How to take calcium and calcium tablets correctly?
At present, the calcium on the market can be roughly divided into three categories: inorganic calcium, organic calcium and biological calcium. Inorganic calcium contains calcium carbonate, nano calcium carbonate, etc., of which we most commonly use calcium carbonate. Calcium carbonate is high in calcium content and is economical. But it must have the effect of stomach acid in order to be broken down into calcium ions, which are absorbed and utilized by the body. Clinical doctors will recommend that patients take calcium tablets immediately after meals, because at this time, after food stimulation, gastric acid secretion is more, which is conducive to decomposing calcium ions. At the same time, it is recommended that patients chew calcium tablets to take them, which is more suitable for gastrointestinal absorption.
Calcium organic acids such as calcium gluconate, calcium lactate and calcium citrate have a relatively low calcium content. However, because it does not require the participation of stomach acid, the water solubility is better, and the irritation to the gastrointestinal tract is small, so it is more suitable for the elderly.
New calcium agents, such as amino acid chelated calcium, calcium threonate, magnesium zinc granule hydroxyapatite calcium, etc., of which amino acid chelated calcium contains a variety of essential trace elements, which can improve the absorption of calcium in the intestine, suitable for the elderly to supplement calcium.
What aspects do you need to pay attention to when taking calcium and calcium tablets?
First of all, taking calcium is best combined with vitamin D. Because vitamin D and calcium are a good pair, vitamin D can promote the absorption of calcium, and if vitamin D is deficient, the absorption rate of calcium will decrease. At the same time, some daylight exposure time can be appropriately increased to fully promote the synthesis of vitamin D in the body.
In addition to this, vitamin K2 supplementation is also required. Studies have shown that vitamin K2 can promote carboxylation of osteocalcin, promote osteoblast activity, inhibit osteoclast activity to promote the deposition of calcium in bones, and can prevent vascular calcification due to a high-calcium diet.
Is calcium supplementation true for calcium stones?
Correct calcium supplementation is not directly related to kidney stones. Among kidney stones, calcium oxalate stones are the most common. Calcium and oxalic acid are basically taken from food, and calcium can be combined with oxalic acid in the intestine to form calcium oxalate that cannot be absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract and excreted through feces. Therefore, a reasonable intake of adequate calcium can reduce the absorption of oxalic acid and prevent the formation of calcium oxalate and kidney stones.
All in all, calcium deficiency has risks, the elderly must pay attention to calcium supplementation, correct and reasonable calcium supplementation, timely find out the problems behind it after "the right medicine".
Expert: Xie Peifeng, chief physician of the Department of Endocrinology, Oriental Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine