SUPPLEMENTS OR SUNSHINE?

Cows and calcium and strong bones

By SA Tripi

Calcium is the most abundant mineral in our body and is an essential nutrient. Because of that, our bodies are unable to produce it on their own. So, how do we get it?

There are companies that market dairy, drugs and supplements. We have been told, since we were little children, that we need to drink milk to grow big and strong and healthy. But do we? Once upon a time, the tobacco companies advertised that cigarettes made us cool and sexy. They left out the part about lung, throat and mouth cancer. As an aside, big tobacco now owns many snack food companies. It will be interesting to see how they promote Ring Dings for our health.

Milk comes from cows (and for the sake of this article cow milk is the only milk we are discussing). Calcium is not inside a cow. Calcium is in the dirt that grows the plants that cows eat.

Plants grow and calcium is built into the intricate fabric of fruits and vegetables. Plants are the source of calcium and minerals that build strong bones for humans, cows and the largest animals walking the earth. They are not drinking milk or taking supplements. They are eating plants.

What does calcium actually do?

Calcium helps your blood to clot; it helps your nerves send messages throughout your body and calcium makes sure that your muscles can interact with one another. Besides being your bones’ best friend, it keeps your teeth and gums healthy.

There are studies that show that getting enough calcium may prevent certain types of cancer, but the National Cancer Institute states that there is not enough evidence that supplements are sufficient to accomplish that and they recommend that getting calcium through your food is still the best alternative.
When you talk about calcium, Vitamin D goes hand in hand with it. Vitamin D helps to absorb the calcium that you get from food, and it is best to get your vitamins from food. Vitamin D is absorbed from the sun into our skin, but we can never get enough sun, even those of us that live in sunbelt states or stay outside for twelve hours a day.

If you don’t want to take a supplement there are foods that are rich in Vitamin D: rainbow trout, salmon, canned tuna, mushrooms and egg yolks.

Sardines, kale, collard greens, prunes, beans, tofu, oranges and calcium fortified plant milks are just some of the foods that will give your body the calcium it needs.

If you worry about bone health, add exercise to the foods that you eat. Weight bearing exercises, many yoga positions, cardio, walking, running and rebound workouts will help tremendously. (Cigarette smoking and excessive drinking can have an adverse effect on your bone health. The jury is still out on cannabis use).

It is amazing when you think about what is in the ground and what we are able to eat in order to take care of our bodies without having to listen to old wives’ tales or the shills hired by food manufacturers.

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