Nutrition During Pregnancy: Calcium and Calcium Deficiency

Pregnancy and Nutrition

During pregnancy all nutrients are important to both the mother and the development of the baby. Special attention should be given to foods that are rich in iron, calcium, essential fats, and folic acid.

Importance of Calcium and Calcium Deficiency

Human body requires calcium to keep the bones strong and healthy. When we eat foods that contains calcium, the calcium is absorb and deposited into the bones and withdrawn as needed. As the result, we must consume adequate amount of calcium daily to maintain healthy body bones.

Food High in Calcium and Calcium Rich Food

The best sources of calcium come from dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese. Dairy products are considered to be the best sources of calcium because they have high content of calcium in a form that can be well absorbed by the body.

This is not to say that others non dairy foods does not contain calcium. In addition to calcium, non dairy food products also contain naturally occurring substances such as phytates, fibre, and oxalates. These naturally occurring substances interfere with the body’s ability to absorb the calcium in the foods.

Lactose Intolerant

If you are lactose intolerant you would have to resort to other foods to that are not as rich in calcium to meet your daily recommended calcium intake. Non dairy foods that are high calcium include green leafy vegetables such as broccoli and kale, as well as, fish such as salmon and sardines.

Calcium Supplement: Calcium Citrate and Calcium Carbonate

For some people, when it is almost not possible for them to meet their daily calcium requirements through their diet, they can choose to use calcium supplement.

When buying calcium supplement, choose those that are in the form of calcium citrate or calcium carbonate as these forms of calcium is well absorbed by the body.

Also, keep in mind that most multivitamin and mineral supplements contain calcium in the form of calcium phosphate. Compare to calcium citrate and calcium carbonate, calcium phosphate is not as well absorbed by the body.

Calcium During Pregnancy and Baby Development

Most women do not get the proper amount of recommended daily calcium intake. As the result, these women have calcium deficiency at the time they conceive.

During pregnancy, the development of the baby is help by taking calcium from the mother’s body. If the mother’s diet does not provide the amount of calcium needed, the calcium needed to help the baby’s development will be drawn from the mother’s bones. So, it is important the ensure that the mother is getting enough calcium before and during her pregnancy.

Calcium After Pregnancy

The human body still building new bones until we are in our late 20s. During this time frame, more importantly after that, our body still need calcium to maintain bone strength and to prevent osteoporosis (the bone-thinning disease)

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