Since 99% of the calcium in the body is found in the bones and teeth, if calcium is not sufficient, the bones will become brittle and not strong enough, and fractures will easily occur. Although osteoporosis is an adult disease, the cause of osteoporosis can be traced back to insufficient calcium intake during childhood and adolescence. Therefore, children should take in more calcium in order to preserve the bone, and only proper calcium supplementation can better promote the absorption of calcium.
I. Food sources of calcium
As we all know, fresh milk is the best source of calcium, but since lactose intolerance is very common in China, there are many people who do not drink fresh milk. Therefore, tofu with calcium sulfate as the coagulant will contain more calcium than tofu with magnesium chloride as the coagulant; the amount of calcium will also be different for different brands and different production processes.
Second, pay attention to the cause of calcium absorption
In addition to understanding the calcium content of food, we should also pay attention to the reasons that affect the absorption rate of calcium in human body.
Generally, there are three main reasons that increase the absorption of calcium.
1.When the human body has a demand for calcium or when the diet is more deficient in calcium, the absorption will become better instead, for example: growing infants, children, adolescents and other objects, the absorption of calcium will be enhanced instead.
2, because the active ingredient of vitamin D will stimulate the small intestine, will make the calcium absorption better.
3. The acidic environment produced by stomach acid will increase calcium absorption, and lactic acid will also help calcium absorption.
Third, reduce the cause of calcium absorption
After understanding the reasons for increasing calcium absorption, we also need to know what are the reasons for reducing calcium absorption.
1, when the active vitamin D is insufficient, it will inhibit the absorption of calcium.
2.If there is oxalic acid in food, it will form insoluble calcium oxalate with calcium in the digestive tract, thus reducing the absorption, for example: only 5% of calcium in spinach will be absorbed; the ingredients of chocolate manufacturing – cocoa, although containing high amounts of oxalic acid, but we do not have to worry about drinking chocolate milk, which will lead to insufficient calcium intake, because the oxalic acid content in milk is not large enough to affect the absorption of calcium.
3, phytic acid in food can reduce the absorption of calcium, because phytic acid is mainly found in whole grains, it can form insoluble and insoluble with calcium and can not be absorbed by the intestinal tract calcium phytate.
4, tea and coffee in the tannic acid, will make calcium absorption is reduced. Therefore, the time to drink tea and coffee, it is best to choose in the middle of two meals.
How to promote the absorption of calcium
When calcium is eaten with food, it still needs a variety of factors to promote the body’s absorption and utilization, in order to fully play a role. Such as vitamin D, C, etc. can promote the absorption of calcium, meat and vegetarian balance can improve the utilization of calcium (such as tofu fish stew, cereals and beans mixed food, etc.), etc.
Fourth, a balanced ratio of calcium and phosphorus to reduce calcium loss
Under normal circumstances, the ratio of calcium and phosphorus in the baby’s body is 2:1, in other words, calcium is twice as much as phosphorus, if the baby’s recipe is exactly this ratio, then the absorption of calcium utilization rate is high. What about the actual situation? Because parents mostly accommodate the baby’s taste, too much intake of carbonated beverages, cola, coffee, hamburgers, pizza, wheat germ, French fries and other foods, and these foods are phosphorus “rich mine”, resulting in a large number of phosphorus into the body, so that the ratio of calcium to phosphorus up to 1:10 or more, once more phosphorus, will be the body of calcium “Drive” out of the body, resulting in calcium deficiency.
Five, calcium to supplement magnesium
Calcium and magnesium as a good partner, when the ratio of 2:1, the most conducive to the absorption and utilization of calcium. Unfortunately, parents often focus on calcium, but forget to supplement magnesium, resulting in magnesium deficiency in the body, which in turn affects the absorption of calcium. Magnesium in the following food more, such as nuts (almonds, cashews and peanuts), soy, melon seeds (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), cereals (especially rye, millet and barley), seafood (tuna, mackerel, small shrimp, lobster), etc.
Six, calcium and zinc different supplement
Calcium and zinc, if mixed together, although zinc does not interfere with the absorption of calcium, but calcium can reduce the absorption of zinc, so the two used together actually only play the role of calcium, zinc function is inhibited and can not be played. The mystery is that they compete with each other for receptors, resulting in an unreasonable ratio of receptors, so that one absorbs more and the other less. The correct approach is to take the two minerals separately, for example, calcium in the morning and calcium in the evening, and zinc at noon, with an interval of at least 3 hours between the two.
Seven, large fish and meat but not excessive
Excessive protein intake can also “crowd out” calcium. Experiments have shown that a daily intake of 80 grams of protein will lead to a loss of 37 mg of calcium; if the daily protein intake is increased to 240 grams, even if an additional 1,400 mg of calcium is added, it will lead to a loss of 137 mg of calcium, indicating that additional calcium supplementation will not stop the calcium loss caused by high protein. Therefore, arranging big fish and meat for your baby every day breaks the acid-base balance of food, no matter how you supplement calcium, it will not help.
Eight, strictly control the salt intake
The amount of salt intake in the diet is one of the determining factors for the amount of calcium excreted. In other words, the greater the salt intake, the worse the calcium absorption and the more calcium excretion in the urine, so reducing salt intake is equal to calcium supplementation. Small babies, in particular, are more sensitive to salt and should not be given salt according to adult tastes.
Nine, what is the best way to supplement calcium
Milk (or calcium tablets) + outdoor exercise
In addition to supplementing with milk or calcium tablets, the most important thing to do is to let children go outdoors more often to promote strong bone development. Expose children to sunlight to produce vitamin D3, which enhances the absorption of calcium in the intestinal tract.
Tips for drinking enough calcium
1. Encourage your child to drink more calcium-containing beverages (e.g., fresh milk, yogurt, calcium-added drinks). This is because beverages are the most accepted high calcium food for babies.
2, usually when cooking soup, the mother can choose more big bones to boil soup, and then add a few drops of vinegar, more can enhance the absorption of calcium.
3, black sesame is a cheap and delicious source of plant-based calcium, parents should let their children often eat black sesame products, such as: sesame paste, black sesame sugar, sesame dumplings and other foods.
4, because the production process of dried bean products will add gypsum, which is also the best source of calcium, parents can choose dried beans to be a small snack for children, in addition to calcium, but also to supplement protein.
5.When choosing vegetables, at least 1-2 kinds of vegetables with high calcium content should be selected every day, and the soup of cooking vegetables is also very important, do not pour out, it is best to let the child drink the soup together with the soup.
6, if the child likes to eat meat pine type of food, can choose more calcium-containing fish pine to replace the meat pine.