How much Calcium and vitamin D do you need daily?

Bone strength is measured by BMD( bone mineral density) the amount of mineral content in an area of bone. Calcium is the prime mineral that is being measured. That’s why noticing enough calcium content is so important for bone health measurement.

Vitamin D is the other content to measure your bone health, it helps your body absorb calcium from your gut. Our body’s skin need exposure to sunlight to produce vitamin D,It is not popular in northern climates like Canada’s. In addition, vitamin D present in certain food item, so it’s quite impossible to get require amounts of vitamin D from diet for our body.

Repair and maintenance of bone

Bones might seem different than the other organs of human body they don’t have any kind of tissue, but they are living tissue in real  that is constantly rebuilding and repairing itself through an constant ongoing process. It is the reason bones need calcium and vitamin D at every age be it younger or in old.

Generally proper calcium intake for good bone health is in the range of one thousand to twelve hundred mg/day, according to Dr. Sandra Kim the medical director of Centre for osteoporosis & bone Health at Women’s College Hospital. Normally we advised calcium intake is mainly from daily diet. For some people it is not possible therefore they may need to use various supplements.

Many dairy products like milk, cheese and yogurt, also almonds,  salmon which are canned, tofu and figs ,beans. Most people can have approximately three hundred mg of calcium from their diet without having dairy products or other calcium-enrich foods.  So that we need to include more dairy product to reach the minimum daily calcium intake limit.


Most people in Canada, with limited sunlight exposure and during cold season, supplement of vitamin D is required.  People under the age of fifty are recommended to have four hundred to one thousand units of vitamin D supplement/ day, recommended Dr. Kim. If someone’s age is  above  fifty, and particularly has osteoporosis, then need of higher levels of vitamin D supplements is essential, range between eight hundred to two thousand units/ day.

Taking more than you need is not always better idea.It is possible to have ample amount of the nutrients, usually when you want to overlook all these supplements. You can’t get too much vitamin D from sunlight also, and it’s not likely you’d get too much from diet.

Too much vitamin D can also upset your stomach and make you suffer for constipation and lead to weakness. so you have to make balance.


Issue regarding taking calcium supplements risks

There is some controversy regarding taking calcium supplement and as a side affect health risks.

Some publications that have studied that there is an relation between people who take calcium supplements and the risk of cardiovascular disease particularly in case of heart attacks. Though it is controversial some also discarded this analysis Dr Kim says.

It is one more reason to get calcium from your dieting in case you are in dubicious mind.

The other risk for having too much calcium is that you could be at risk of kidney stones, Dr Kim says. This is more of a concern than the controversy over heart disease.