regulation of blood pressure. Calcium helps
us grow and maintain strong bones and teeth
and also helps to prevent high blood pressure,
heart disease, certain kinds of cancer and
obesity.
How much?
In South Africa and globally, the recommended
calcium daily intake for adult men and women
to maintain the calcium balance of the body is
about 1 000 to 1 200 mg. If the diet is lacking
in calcium, the body extracts calcium from
the skeleton to meet its other needs such as
regulation of blood pressure.
Best sources?
Dairy products like milk, maas (fermented
milk), yoghurt and cheese have the highest
calcium content of all foods. One serving of
milk, yoghurt or maas (1 cup) or 40 g of cheese
each contain about 300 mg of easily absorbed,
bio-available calcium. The suggested 3-A-Day TM
servings of dairy should therefore provide 90%
or more of the daily reference intake (DRI) for
adults.
Low intake
Unfortunately, many studies have shown that
the dietary intake of calcium from foods by
South African adults and children is far lower
than the recommended level of 1 000 to 1 200
mg per day. The critical phase when calcium
should be deposited in the skeleton (infancy,
childhood and particularly the teenage years
right up to the mid-twenties) is probably the
period when calcium intake is most neglected,
AgriKultuur |AgriCulture
followed by low intake in old age, when bone
maintenance is still vital to prevent crippling
disease.
The ideal solution
The ideal solution would be for everyone to
have three servings a day of dairy products
such as milk, maas, yoghurt or cheese in
optimal quantities.
Select the best source!
This is why South Africans should be made
aware of how essential it is to select the best
possible source of calcium for their daily
intake. Besides dairy, most other foods contain
calcium in varying amounts. For example,
broccoli contains 35 mg per 70 g serving so
that it would take seven cups of broccoli to
provide the same amount of calcium