Calcium accounts for about 1.4% of the body mass, is involved in metabolism and is one of the important growth and development elements of the human body. For the human body, there are Ca2+-bound proteins in both muscles, nerves, body fluids and bones. Calcium is the main inorganic component of human bones and teeth, and is also essential for nerve transmission, muscle contraction, blood clotting, hormone release and milk secretion.
How much calcium your baby needs
The 2000 revision of the Chinese Nutrition Society recommends the daily calcium requirement for infants and children: 300mg/day for 0-6 months, 400mg/day for 6-12 months, and 600mg/day for 1-3 years.
Unless the calcium deficiency is very serious, babies under 6 months old do not need direct calcium supplementation, but only the right amount of VD to solve the problem of calcium absorption. 6 months later, if the baby really has a calcium deficiency problem, it is necessary to medication (such as calcium tablets), generally until about 2 years old. For one thing, after the baby is more than 2 years old, outdoor activities increase, and the skin is exposed to sunlight to synthesize more vitamin D. Second, more than 2 years old can already eat a variety of foods, calcium and vitamin D sources to expand. Third, the growth rate is slower than before, and the incidence of rickets is greatly reduced, so there is no need to use calcium tablets, calcium powder and other pharmaceutical calcium supplements.
After 2 years of age, dietary supplements (i.e., more calcium-rich foods, such as milk, soy milk, green leafy vegetables, etc.) should be continued for life. Calcium supplement for children should firstly increase the calcium-rich food on the table, such as milk is the best source of calcium for children, 100 grams of milk contains about 120 mg of calcium; secondly, eel vertebrae, which is not only high in calcium, but also the ratio of calcium to phosphorus is extremely close to the ratio of calcium to phosphorus in human bones, in which the bioavailability of calcium in the body is higher than that of general calcium materials, and is easily absorbed by the body. In addition a variety of beans (especially soybeans and their products), lean meat, fruits, vegetables, seafood (such as small fish, fish spines, small shrimp, kelp, etc.) are good sources of calcium.
For calcium deficient babies in addition to taking calcium tablets, should also be supplemented with VD, more sun exposure, to facilitate the body’s full absorption and utilization of calcium. However, it is a misconception that sunlight can supplement calcium. Sunlight can make the body synthesize vitamin D, which can promote calcium absorption, but not calcium synthesis. 99% of the human body is bone calcium, 1% is blood calcium, if the human body does not have so much calcium elements, is the daily sunshine can not be calcium.
Calcium is an active substance with strong physiological functions, which needs to be supplemented according to the suitable amount. The lack or increase of calcium ions in the body tissues will cause adverse physiological changes. Insufficient calcium intake can lead to rickets and delayed brain development in children, while excessive calcium intake can lead to a decrease in immunity and a variety of diseases.
Calcium supplements need to pay attention to several points
First, calcium should not be mixed with milk, as this will cause the protein in the milk to combine with calcium to form a milk block, resulting in calcium not being absorbed by the body.
The second is not to eat calcium with plant foods or fatty foods. Because most plant foods such as vegetables contain salts such as oxalate, carbonate and phosphate, which can combine with calcium and prevent calcium absorption; while fatty acids are generated after the decomposition of fats and oils, which can also combine with calcium and are not easily absorbed by the intestines.
Third, regardless of food or medicine, we should try to promote the absorption of calcium. As the saying goes: a friend three helpers. Calcium is also like this, when it is eaten with food, still need a variety of factors to promote the body’s absorption and utilization, in order to fully play a role. For example, vitamin D can promote the absorption of calcium, so it is generally recommended to take vitamin D and get more sunlight while taking calcium supplements. The balance of meat and vegetables can improve the utilization of calcium (such as tofu stewed fish, cereals and beans mixed food, etc.), etc.
Fourth, to reduce calcium loss. Some babies have a lot of calcium, but also pay more attention to increasing the intake of vitamin D and vitamin C, the results are still calcium deficiency, then you have to reflect on the food mix is scientific, it is likely that some improper food ingredients increase the loss of calcium. In addition, too salty dishes, too much sodium intake and a lot of calcium “crowded” out of the body, the same calcium supplementation effect is not good.
Calcium supplements on the market are roughly classified as
One is inorganic calcium, also known as the first generation of calcium supplements, such as: calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate and calcium oxide, or from mechanically processed animal shell bones.
The second category is organic acid calcium, which is the second generation of calcium supplements, such as calcium gluconate, calcium lactate, calcium citrate, calcium acetate, etc;
The third category is organic calcium, the third generation of calcium, such as calcium amino acid chelate, calcium L-threonate.
In fact, what we need is calcium supplementation, it is the calcium element in various calcium preparations rather than the preparation itself, which only serves as a carrier of calcium. This is a basic problem of mathematics and chemistry, and there is not much profound knowledge. Therefore, when choosing a calcium preparation, the first thing to look at is what percentage of calcium is in the preparation. For example, if you want to supplement 600mg of calcium, you only need 1500mg of calcium carbonate, 2717mg of calcium citrate, 4615mg of calcium lactate, 6667mg of calcium gluconate, and more than 5000mg of various amino acids.
There are calcium preparations on the market that have a more complex molecular formula than calcium gluconate, and it takes 10 to 15 grams of the preparation to ingest 600mg. Some companies claim that their calcium preparations have a high rate of deposition in the bones, and here there is a question of the threshold for calcium deposition in the body. The general threshold of calcium in the body is 1000 to 1500 mg, and no more calcium intake will raise the threshold of calcium, and therefore no more calcium will be deposited. After a large number of international animal and human tests on various age groups such as: infants, children, adolescents, adults, elderly people over 60 years old and other test subjects have proved that no matter which type of calcium, inorganic or organic calcium. If the experimental subjects in the normal situation of calcium nutrition, the absorption rate is generally 40%, if the calcium nutrition is poor, the absorption rate may reach 75-85%, there is no calcium preparations have a particularly high absorption rate, so we should not blindly listen to the business exaggerated propaganda.
Common calcium supplements
1, calcium carbonate: high calcium content, small side effects, cheap, high absorption rate, can reach 40%, similar to milk, is a calcium preparation easily accepted and widely used by the people of the country, is the United States Pharmacopoeia, the Chinese Nutrition Association recommended supplemental calcium sources.
2, calcium lactate: is one of the traditional calcium supplements in China, its advantage is easy to dissolve, the disadvantage is the low calcium content. These preparations are: calcium lactate, containing 13% calcium; calcium gluconate, containing 9% calcium, made into tablets with even lower content, to reach the adult daily calcium supplement 1000 mg, need to take too many tablets, which is difficult for people to accept.
3, calcium ammonia phosphate: is a common calcium supplement species in Japan, containing 23.3% calcium, relatively high, China’s Chengdu Pharmaceutical Factory also has production, calcium content of 70 mg per tablet, calcium content and drug prices are medium, but its disadvantage is that the tablets disintegration and absorption is difficult, coupled with its high phosphorus content, harmful to people with kidney dysfunction, so the application of less.
4, calcium citrate: calcium content of 21.1%, good water solubility, biological utilization is also better than calcium phosphate, its absorption does not depend on stomach acid, there are effervescent tablets, more suitable for the elderly.
5, active calcium: It is a calcium mixture formed by high temperature calcination of biological calcium (shellfish), with high calcium content, but its aqueous solution is strongly alkaline, which is irritating to the stomach and intestines, and can be eaten with food to reduce gastrointestinal irritation, and is not suitable for elderly people with stomach acid deficiency. This coastal mollusk has a strong adsorption capacity and can adsorb pollutants from the sea, lead, mercury and other heavy metals, so there is a high content of heavy metals in this active calcium.
6, organic calcium: calcium amino acids and protein superfluous calcium has begun to be used in China.