Our present life style, which includes fast foods, aerated drinks, stress and of course dieting especially to loose weight. With all these, are you getting enough minerals that your body needs?

The body contains about 24 minerals and all must be provided by the diet. Some of these form part of body structural components and some others act as catalytic agents in many body reactions.

On an average man excretes daily 20 - 30 gm of mineral salts consisting of sodium, potassium, magnesium, calcium, sulphate and phosphates and this must be made up by an adequate intake of these mineral salts in our food. In the case of growing infants and children intake of additional amounts of several minerals are essential to ensure adequate growth of tissues.

Minerals play an important role in maintaining the immune system of our body. Deficiency of minerals reduces the responsiveness of our immune system making us more prone to illness and infections. The requirements for micronutrients also increased during the recovery phase of an illness. Pollution in air water and food put a stress on all of us. Minerals are required to support the enzyme systems, which aid in the discharge of these unwanted toxins.

Most of the minerals we need are found in our diet. Plant foods including fruits and vegetables contain liberal amounts of minerals.

Highlights

• 24 minerals are present in the body
• Require for integrity of structural components of the body
• Act as catalytic agents
• Play an important role in maintaining the immune system of our body

Calcium - Calcium is an essential element required for several life processes. Among the minerals calcium occurs in the highest amount in the body. About 99% of the calcium are present in the skeleton and the remaining 1-% in soft tissues and as well as in the blood where it aids clotting. The body of the infant at birth contains about 27.5gms of calcium while the adult body contains about 1000 to 1200 gms. All this calcium is deposited in the bone during the growth of the body. It is also required for normal contraction of muscle to make limbs move, contraction of heart for its normal function, nervous activity and blood clotting.

A diet with inadequate calcium will decrease the storage of calcium bones, which can become weak and will fracture easily. Weakness of bones is called osteoporosis. In young children due to the deficiency of calcium bones start bending and there is enlargement of the ankles and wrists with the typical symptoms of bow legs, knock knees and pigeon chests. This deficiency is known as rickets in children.

Oesteomalacia in adults characterised by aching bones, muscle spasms and increased or abnormal curvature of the spine. The calcium stored in your bones must last you your whole life, so if you have weak bones when you are a young adult it will be difficult to increase their strength as you get older. The peak time for storage is during the teenage years. It is during this time that the bones reach their adult length and strength. It is also during this time that estrogen in young women and testosterone in young men help them develop their bones and make them strong. If there is not enough calcium in their diets, or if there is not enough hormone production, the amount of calcium that is made into bone will be reduced. Bones have as much as 32 percentage of calcium. Diets low in calcium may also contribute to hypertension.

Calcium is required: -

For the formation of bones and teeth. It is essential for the clotting of blood. It regulates the permeability of capillary walls. It is essential for the contraction of the heart and muscle. It regulates the excitability of nerve fibers and nerve centers.

Children need relatively more calcium than adults to meet the requirements of growing bones. Calcium requirements are also increased during pregnancy to meet the needs of growing fetus and during lactation to compensate for calcium secreted in breast milk. Healthy breasts fed baby of 3 months require a large amount of calcium, most of which has been drawn from mother's milk and rest is been utilised from the calcium store. Deficiency of calcium in newborn period may leads to seizure. If the mother's diet during this period is deficient in calcium, mother's bones will be depleted and her bones become prone to fractures. Since there is considerable drain of calcium during pregnancy and lactation adequate supply of the mineral is essential during these conditions is required. A generous intake of milk and green leafy vegetables is therefore recommended during these periods. Calcium is a vital nutrient linked to everything from helping to prevent osteoporosis to helping ease the symptoms of pre menstrual syndrome in female.

Sources of Calcium

Calcium is present in both animal and plant foods .The richest source of calcium among animal foods is milk and milk products, fish and among the vegetable sources is green leafy vegetables. Amaranth, fenugreek and drumstick leaves are particularly rich in calcium and among root vegetables tapioca is a good source. Most cereals and millets contain some amount of this element and the millet ragi is a rich source of calcium. Rice is a poor source of calcium and therefore insufficiency of calcium is one of the main defects of diets largely based on rice.

Dietary Sources of Calcium

Food Products	Calcium content mg/100 gms
Ragi	344
Rajmah	260
Soyabean	240
Amaranth leaves	530
Drumstick leaves	440
Dried rape leaves	3095
Fenugreek leaves	395
Lotus stem dry	405
Gingelly seeds	1450
Fish	300 - 4000
Milk buffalo	210
Milk cow	120
Paneer buffalo	480

Calcium Requirement

The calcium requirement of man is not known with certainty. More over man appears to adapt himself to low intakes of calcium with out any apparent deleterious effects. The suggested level of intake for an adult man and growing children is between 0.4 and 0.6 gm / day. In the case of pregnant and lactating mother the nutrition expert group of the Indian council of medical research has suggested a daily allowance of 1.0 gm.

Recommended Calcium Allowance for Indians*

Group	Calcium (mg / day)
Man	400 -500
Woman	400 -500
Pregnant Woman	1000
Lactation 0 - 12 months	1000
Infants 0 - 12 months	500 -600
Children 1 -9 years	400 -500
10 - 15 years	600 -700
16 - 18 years	500 -600

* Source: ICMR 1981

Absorption of Calcium

Vitamin D, protein, and ascorbic acid are necessary for the proper absorption of calcium. Lysine, lactose and citric acid are also known to promote calcium absorption. Higher levels of proteins in the diet help to increase the absorption of calcium. Calcium is well absorbed at the normal pH of the intestines. If the contents become alkaline, calcium absorption is lowered due to the formation of insoluble tricalcium phosphate. Presence of excess fibre in the diet interferes with the absorption of calcium.

Deficiency of Calcium

1. Retarded calcification of bones and teeth.
2. Decreased rate of growth in children.
3. Rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.
4. Osteoporosis in adults.
5. Tetany.
6. Seizures in newborn.
7. Osteopenia of prematurity.