Calcium weight loss - how calcium helps you lose weight?

Calcium helps weight lose and speeds up metabolism

Calcium is primarily associated with the health of our teeth. It is needed to be strong, it also prevents osteoporosis and strengthens the skeleton. Meanwhile, its role in the body is much greater. Calcium is one of those elements whose deficiency has very serious consequences.

What can calcium?

Calcium is necessary to send nerve impulses from the brain and the brain. Without it, the nervous system does not function properly. It also stimulates enzymes, especially those involved in metabolic processes.

Caution! Without calcium, you may have problems with muscle function, because it is he who is responsible for their contractions. It determines the correct course of blood coagulation, tissue regeneration and many others.

Calcium has a large impact on appetite

Calcium also has a great influence on metabolism, because it regulates in the body the metabolism of fatty substances. Reduces storage in fat cells and stimulates fatty acid burning. Research carried out by scientists from Universite Laval in Quebecu, Canada has shown this.

For 4 months they observed two groups of overweight women. Women in the first group were given calcium in tablets and women in the second group were given an inert substance (placebo). Those of the first group lost on average 6 kg, while those of the second group lost about 1 kg. This result is explained by the fact that calcium deficiency causes an increased appetite, distorts the hormonal balance and stimulates fatty cells to accumulate reserves.

Calcium necessary for the prevention and treatment of overweight and obesity

This is the result of medical and dietitian studies. Already in the digestive system it is combined with fats delivered with food and thus excess fat is removed from the body and does not accumulate.

Caution! Calcium is the most effective when combined with a diet poor in simple carbohydrates (sweet, sugar, white bread) and physical activity (e. g. walks).

How much calcium?

Adults need about 1000-1200 mg a day, while most of us only supply the body with about 400 mg of this element. The best source is milk and milk products. 3 glasses of milk and 2 slices of yellow cheese ensure an adequate amount of calcium.

If you cannot drink milk, reach for small fish (sardines, sprats and eat them with bones), poppy seeds, nuts, almonds, kale, sesame, soya, apricots.

Calcium in the organism - its role, dietary sources and symptoms of deficiency

We know so much about calcium that it is necessary in the diet to make our bones hard and resistant to fracture. However, this element has more functions in our body. It is worth knowing about them in order to consciously provide it with food in our daily diet.

The role of calcium in the organism 

As a mineral in the human body, calcium belongs to the macronutrients. This means that it accounts for more than 0.1% of our body weight. Approximately 99% of calcium stores are found in our bones, with the remainder found in soft tissue cells and in blood and extracellular fluids. 

Calcium is essential for the normal functioning of the human body. In blood serum, calcium occurs in three forms: as ionised calcium, in complexes with bicarbonates, and in association with proteins - mainly albumin.

Calcium has many important bodily functions. It plays a role in blood clotting, influences the excitability of the nervous system, smooth and skeletal muscles and, to a large extent, the permeability of cell membranes. Calcium's equally important functions include its influence on the hardness of bones and teeth. Calcium ions are also involved in the transmission of humoral stimuli to various organs, and help to maintain the body's acid-base balance. 

It is also worth mentioning that calcium is involved in energy metabolism processes - it is an activator or inhibitor of many enzymes, activates enzymes such as lipase and rennet, activates the enzyme ATP-ase necessary for the release of energy from ATP, thus influencing metabolic processes.

Calcium as a dietary component is important for allergy sufferers, relieving skin and food allergies. As an ion, it is absorbed primarily in the small intestine (jejunum) and in small amounts in the colon. Calcium absorption is by active transport across cell membranes and decreases with age.

Blood calcium concentration 

The normal blood calcium concentration in a healthy adult is 2.1-2.6 mmol/l. Adequate blood calcium concentrations are maintained by hormonal regulatory mechanisms. When the concentration of Ca2+ ions decreases the parathyroid glands are stimulated to produce and secrete parathormone (PTH), which reduces urinary calcium excretion, mobilises calcium from the bones and stimulates the hormone synthesis of 1,25(OH)2D3 calcitriol in the kidneys, it being the active form of vitamin D. It stimulates the absorption of calcium from the gastrointestinal tract and also enhances the action of PTH.

When there is a shortage of calcium in the diet, PTH prevents the occurrence of hypocalcaemia; unfortunately, this process comes at the expense of bone demineralisation. The opposite happens when the concentration of calcium ions in the blood increases. In this situation, the secretion of calcium from the bones is inhibited and the amount excreted in the urine is increased. The hormone calcitonin is primarily responsible for this process.

Symptoms of calcium deficiency 

A deficiency of an element in the body is a situation in which a long-term reduced supply of a mineral leads the body to a state of disease or incomplete function of organs and systems. Calcium deficiency particularly threatens pregnant women and nursing mothers. 

They pass up to 300 mg of calcium a day to their baby, regardless of the level of calcium in the body (meaning that the mother may lack calcium, but never the baby). The state of calcium in our body can be determined by two categories.

The first is the hormonally regulated serum calcium concentration, the second is the total calcium content in the body, caused by an insufficient supply of calcium in the body (bones, teeth, etc.) Hypocalcaemia, as a term means nothing more than a deficiency of serum calcium in the body is usually caused by: PTH deficiency, vitamin D deficiency and other factors. 

PTH deficiency can occur temporarily after thyroid surgery, parathyroid adenoma removal and can even lead to symptoms of tetany. If these occur, ad hoc calcium preparations and vitamin D metabolites should be used until secretory function is taken over by the remaining parathyroid glands.

Hypocalcaemia can also be caused by the effects of primary hypoparathyroidism - this means that PTH does not regulate blood calcium concentrations. Another cause of protein deficiency can be insufficient protein absorption - caused by vitamin D deficiency, this occurs in diseases such as malabsorption syndromes and also in malnutrition situations. Sometimes the causes of hypocalcaemia can include kidney failure, in which case the kidneys lose too many calcium ions.

The situation is similar if the patient has cirrhosis of the liver, in which case albumin levels are reduced. This situation is very often accompanied by elevated blood phosphorus levels and hypermagnesaemia. When a calcium deficiency becomes chronic, the body begins to send out clear signals that it is in a poor condition through brittle nails and hair, sensitivity to bruises (bruises are more frequent than usual), excessive irritability, excitability - long-term calcium deficiency can also lead to depression, increased anxiety and, in young people and children, mental retardation, stunted growth and rickets.

The first disease to mention when it comes to calcium deficiencies is the aforementioned rickets. This is a degenerative disease involving abnormal bone formation and calcification during childhood. Often, degeneration leads to reduced mechanical resistance of the bones and stunted growth. Children affected by this condition teethe later than their healthy peers. Peak bone mass, i.e. the maximum saturation of the matrix with minerals, is reached at approx. 30 years of age.

Beginning at 40-45 years of age, a slow decline in bone mass begins as a result of processes of resorption over reconstruction of bone tissue. After menopause in women and andropause in men, these processes accelerate. Rickets occurring in adults - osteomalacia. 

This term refers to a decrease in the mineral component of the bone with preservation of the amount of protein in the bone matrix. The problem in this case is not a reduction in bone mass, but an imbalance in the correct ratio between organic and inorganic components. This leads to changes in the mechanical parameters of the bone; it becomes soft and prone to deformation. 

Osteomalacia also increases the likelihood of osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a disease quite similar to osteomalacia, however, the main difference between the two is that in osteoporosis the bones retain their hardness, but due to reduced mass (by insufficient calcium and other minerals) their mechanical strength is reduced, so they are more prone to fracture than deformation. Osteoporosis is divided into two main types: senile osteoporosis and post-menopausal osteoporosis. Women are particularly susceptible to osteoporosis, most so after the menopause.

Their levels of oestrogen, which affects the absorption of calcium ions, then fall. When this happens, overall bone mass falls by about 1.5-3% per year. It is also worth noting that osteoporosis increases the risk of death in those who have suffered a fracture of the femur and spine by about 8.5 times. 

Studies have recently shown a link between dietary calcium deficiency and hypertension in children and adults (long-term increase in PTH production). Calcium is responsible, as previously mentioned, for muscle contractility and vascular tone. 

Its peripheral deficiency is a hallmark of hypertension, so alterations in calcium metabolism at both the cellular and extracellular levels may underlie the development of hypertension.

Abnormalities of calcium metabolism and absorption do not only occur in hypertension, but also affect other risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease to a greater or lesser extent - these are collectively referred to as 'metabolic syndrome X'. 

This syndrome consists of features such as obesity, insulin resistance, hyperinsulinaemia, type II diabetes and left ventricular hypertrophy. Calcium deficiencies are also characterised by an increased risk of colorectal cancer. It is also thought that calcium and vitamin D may eliminate the adverse effects of certain factors leading to breast cancer.

When calcium intake is low in areas exposed to lead or cadmium contamination, the accumulation and retention of these heavy metals in the human body increases. Another disorder related to calcium deficiency is tetany, a pathophysiological condition manifested by excessive muscle contractility. 

It occurs in cases of significant hypocalcaemia, where the serum calcium ion content falls below <7mg/dl. In this case, there are paresthesias, skeletal muscle spasms with predominantly flexors of the upper and lower limbs. Other symptoms of these deficiencies are angina pectoris, angina pectoris, cerebral angina causing migraines, disturbances of consciousness, uncontrolled contraction of the glottis, bronchi, eyelids and also photophobia and double vision.

As a disease, it can be caused by a reduction in ionised calcium in the serum due to alkalosis - induced by mechanical hyperventilation.  Also, hyperphosphatemia with a relative deficiency of calcium ions leads to tetany. Magnesium reduces the plasma Ca ion concentration by impeding the action of parathormone in the kidneys. 

Alkalosis causes a decrease in hydrogen ions, which results in increased Ca binding by plasma proteins. In the mild form of tetany (Ca2+ 7-8mg/dl), the following symptoms may appear: Chvostek's sign (violent facial muscle spasms), Lust's sign (foot spasms), Trousseau's sign (strong hand muscle spasm), Erb's sign (increased excitability of motor nerves). 

A common cause of tetany is the accidental removal of the parathyroid gland during surgery (especially in the thyroid gland). Calcium deficiency, which is responsible for skeletal and smooth muscle contractions, is often referred to as Tetany and resembles an epileptic seizure!

Calcium in the diet 

We lose approximately 1,100 mg of calcium every day by excreting it in urine, faeces and a small amount with sweat. Calcium in our body comes mainly from milk and dairy products, but also from fish and canned fish and eggs. In addition to animal products, calcium is also contained in plant products such as breads, flours, coarse groats, dry pulses, leafy vegetables, some fruits and cocoa. More recently, the high calcium content of products such as blue poppy and kale has been demonstrated.

The calcium that is best absorbed by our body is that of dairy products. The foods in the diet that have the most absorbable calcium are mainly rennet cheeses, milk, dairy drinks, cottage cheese, canned sardines, beans and dry seeds. Calcium, which can be found in mineral water, prevents cholesterol levels from rising as it combines in the intestines with saturated fats to form a mixture that is not assimilable by the body. It is also claimed that it is impossible to supplement the body's calcium needs without a daily intake of two glasses of milk, optionally interchangeable with its equivalent products.

In summary, the presence of calcium in our body is integral to health. Its adequate amount in the blood serum, as well as its proper concentration in the bone - determines the proper functioning of our body systems and growth. Excessive calcium is a relatively rare problem, whereas the deficiencies I have described are very dangerous to our health and, in some situations, to our lives. 

It is therefore always worth remembering, irrespective of our culinary preferences, to consume an appropriate amount of dairy products or well-absorbable calcium substitutes in order to prevent calcium deficiency.

A good calcium supplement is chicken egg shells. The calcium in them is best absorbed and in percentage terms more than in pharmacy medicines. To take eggshells, they need to be scalded in boiling water to kill Salmonella bacteria, then dried and ground with a coffee grinder into a powder that can be added to yoghurt and consumed this way.