Calcium
- What is calcium?
- How does calcium contribute to our health and wellbeing?
- How can you increase your calcium intake?
- Want to know more?
What is calcium?
Calcium is an essential mineral giving strength to bones and teeth. It is also necessary for the normal functioning of nerves, heart & muscles. Calcium is the most common mineral in the body, with most of it found in the skeleton and the rest in teeth, blood and soft tissues.
How does calcium contribute to my health and wellbeing?
Calcium makes up around 2% of an average adult’s weight and is important for a number of functions in the body. The skeleton is made of calcium and the body is constantly adding and removing calcium from the bones. During childhood and adolescence, the skeleton undergoes a rapid rate of growth. Getting enough calcium during this time is important for growth and to help achieve maximum bone density (bone strength). Our bone mass starts to decline between the ages of 19-30, which means building stronger bones during childhood and adolescence is important for our bones later in life.
How can you increase your calcium intake?
Calcium is found in a variety of foods such as dairy products including milk, yoghurt and cheese, the soft edible bones in canned fish (e.g sardines & salmon), leafy green vegetables, almonds and calcium fortified soy milk. Bürgen® Soy-Lin® Bread has been developed to provide a good source of calcium in every serve.
If dairy foods are not consumed there are many other ways to incorporate calcium into your diet:
- Enjoy a Bürgen® Soy-Lin® sandwich
- Try some calcium-enriched soymilk with muesli
- Enjoy sardines and tomato on Bürgen® Soy-Lin® toast for breakfast
- Snack on a handful of almonds
- Cook up a stirfry of Asian green vegies
- Use tahini as a spread instead of butter