Calcium, Bones, & Osteoporosis
(This is an excerpt from a University Of Metaphysical Sciences course at www.umsonline.org,
please feel free to visit the school website)
Written by Laurel Sherer
Calcium is one of the minerals that make up life on earth. Gabriel Cousens M.D. states in Spiritual Nutrition (2005), “Calcium is one of the key minerals for health. It is the alkalizing mineral of structure and solidity.” (427) According to Sally Fallon in Nourishing Traditions (2001), calcium is needed for teeth and bone strength, as well as heart, nervous system, and muscle growth and contraction. James and Phyllis Balch add to these functions of calcium in Prescription For Nutritional Healing (1997), by saying calcium also lowers cholesterol levels, prevents muscle cramps, gives energy, and is essential for blood clotting.
There are contradicting ideas on what are good sources of calcium. Sally Fallon states in Nourishing Traditions (2001), “The best sources of usable calcium are dairy products and bone broth.” (42) Gabriel Cousens, however, has found that over time consuming dairy products may lead to calcium deficiencies.
David Wolfe tells us in Eating For Beauty (2002) that when nuts and seeds grow, they convert phosphoric compounds into calcium. Nuts and seeds are great sources of calcium, especially when they are soaked because soaking them helps to deactivate acids and enzyme inhibitors. Soaked nuts and seeds are easier to digest. Sesame seeds have a particularly high amount of calcium and at the end of this course, you will find a recipe to make a delicious sesame seed milk, which can be drunk every day. Figs are another great food for receiving calcium. Figs have one of the highest concentrations of calcium of any food. Hemp seeds, which are one of the most mineral-rich foods, contain both calcium and magnesium. If one’s body is not receiving enough magnesium, calcium will not be as easily absorbed. Olives have the highest amount of calcium of all fruits. They are additionally high in magnesium. Additional foods that contain calcium are onions, maca, papayas, watercress, sesame seeds, dulse, Irish moss, kelp, leafy greens, and most seeds, nuts, and grains.
Gabriel Cousens says, “Dairy products and table salt can lead to calcium losses in the body, and a variety of research clearly shows that high intake of the wrong calcium such as milk is connected to high rates of osteoporosis” (428). David Wolfe states that The American Journal Of Public Health published an article on a 12-year Harvard study of 78,000 women. This study found that those women who drink cow’s milk are more likely to have osteoporosis than those who do not drink cow milk. Several sources state that while the United States has the highest calcium consumption per person, it also has the highest rate of osteoporosis in the world. Gabriel Cousens says that this is because the U.S. population is generally receiving calcium from the wrong sources, such as from dairy products, and eating and living in ways that are harmful to calcium metabolism. Stress, for example, pulls calcium from the body. Foods that pull calcium from the body include white flour, coffee, junk foods, and alcoholic beverages. Many people receive calcium from dairy products. Cousens states that up to 32 percent of the calcium in food is destroyed when the food is heated above 150 degrees F, as all pasteurized dairy products are.
In order for calcium to be absorbed, one’s body also needs to receive adequate amounts of magnesium and Vitamin D. Magnesium is found in olives, hemp seeds, apples, apricots, avocados, bananas, cantaloupe, dulse, figs, garlic, grapefruit, green leafy vegetables, kelp, nuts, peaches, sesame seeds, watercress, dandelion, tofu, whole grains, wheat, brewer’s yeast, brown rice, dairy products, fish, meat, and seafood. (Prescription For Nutritional Healing, 1996:26) Vitamin D is produced by the body when it receives UV-B sunlight waves. It is possible to receive enough sunlight to produce Vitamin D if we our outside enough, even during cloudy days. Sunscreen does block UV-B waves. Sources of Vitamin D in food include dandelion greens, sweet potatoes, vegetable oils, butter, cod liver oil, egg yolks, halibut, liver, milk, oatmeal, salmon, sardines, and tuna. Moderate exercise also promotes calcium absorption.
Gabriel Cousens states that sodium and chlorine are two minerals that are needed in order for calcium to be properly utilized. In addition to foods such as celery and kale that contain chlorine, natural salts, such as Celtic sea salt, Himalayan salt, Real Salt, and Krystal salt contain chlorine. These salts are high in minerals, including sodium.
It is important to also note certain foods that pull calcium from the body. High amounts of sugar link with the calcium in our bodies and both then leave the body. David Wolfe states that when refined sugar is ingested, the body needs to take alkaline minerals from one’s bones in order to buffer the acidic nature of the refined sugar. Another piece of information that can be considered when dealing with or preventing osteoporosis comes from the 1961 Journal Of American Medical Association as noted in Spiritual Nutrition (2005), “Vegetarian women have one-fifth the rate of osteoporosis as meat-eating women and one-half the rate of osteoporosis as meat-eating men.” (258)
Laurel’s Super Calcium Drink (serves 2)
-
Ingredients:
2 cups sesame seeds
4 cups filtered water
1 fig
2 tablespoons cacao (Cacao has the highest magnesium content of any food. Magnesium helps with calcium absorption.)
A sweetener, such as honey, agave syrup, stevia, or maple syrup
1 tablespoon maca (a root from Peru found at many health food stores, it is 10% calcium and a great bone-builder)
Small amount of nutmeg
- Soak sesame seeds in water overnight (about 8 hours).
- Discard the soak water.
- Put sesame seeds and filtered water in a blender. Blend on high.
- Strain the mixture using a seed cloth or finely woven strainer (the pulp can then be used to make cookies, pie, or crackers)
- Pour the sesame milk back into the blender and add the other ingredients. Add small amounts of nutmeg and sweetener until it gets to a desirable flavor. If you do not have maca, this will still be a tasty and high-calcium drink.