Calcium Intake is Best for Working Women When Consumed With These Nutrients
Calcium is considered a best friend to a woman's health. It nourishes bones, heart, muscles, and nerves throughout your life and keeps them active. Working professionals, who have added responsibilities, challenges to face, and a highly demanding life, certainly need a little more than bone nutrition. Your regular diet may or may not be sufficient to supply adequate calcium intake for women. Thus, you may have to rely on supplementing their daily consumption appropriately.
The recommended amount of daily calcium intake for sedentary women is 600mg as per ICMR 2020. This requirement further increases for active heavy working women.
While calcium does its job quite well, it proves to be a real health booster for working women when combined with some other nutrients.
Let us look at calcium combinations that work like magic for working women’s health.
Calcium with Vitamin D
There's a reason nutritionists recommend combining calcium supplements with vitamin D. These two nutrients, when taken adequately, work well for the body and help calcium intake for women appropriately. Vitamin D acts as a calcium carrier. It carries the calcium you consume through diet or supplements to the bones and helps it get stored and absorbed in the bones. If you are not consuming vitamin D in any form, your calcium becomes ineffective and does pretty much nothing to your bone health. Moreover, if you are a working woman with a highly active lifestyle, you need your bones to be at the center stage, helping you go through rigorous routines of life. Thus, take your calcium along with vitamin D, allowing both to complement each other and provide the right nutrition to your body. Vitamin D can be found in eggs, fatty fish, dairy products, and fish oils. Soaking in the early morning sun for about 15-20 minutes helps supply ample vitamin D to your body. Dairy products are a good source of both calcium and vitamin D. So, take a glass full of milk for breakfast, a bowl full of yogurt for lunch, and a good plate of fish for an early dinner. Alternatively, you can also look for supplements like Revital H Woman that come with several nutrients packed in one dose.
Calcium and Insulin Fructans
Insulin type fructans are a type of non-digestible carbs. As per a research published in The Journal of Nutrition, these nutrients help absorb calcium in the bones better when consumed along with calcium supplying foods. Insulin type fructans are found in wheat germ, bananas, garlic, onions, and leeks. Make a delicious morning smoothie and add some wheat germ or bananas to it. Add onion, garlic, and leek to your bowl full of yogurt in the lunch hour, and let the combo do its magic.
Calcium with Magnesium
Calcium and magnesium, when coming together, help in:
- Muscle contraction and relaxation
- Proper functioning of blood capillaries
- Maintenance of cell membranes
- Building strength in bones and teeth
It would help if you consumed both in recommended amounts to let your calcium absorb in the system and help with the above functions. As per a scientifically backed and reliable study, too little magnesium in the body, even if you are taking ample calcium, can give room to heart disorders and kidney stones. Hence, the directed quantity of both the nutrients is of utmost importance. Going by ratio, you can consume 2 parts calcium and 1 part magnesium as per your body weight.
Here is a list of foods rich in magnesium as per their category:
- Leafy Vegetables – Spinach, Kale, and Cabbage
- Green Vegetables – Broccoli, Green Beans, Asparagus, Brussels Sprouts, and Peas
- Pulses – Chickpeas, Kidney Beans, and Black Beans
- Fruits – Bananas, Figs, and Raspberries
- Fish Food – Salmon, Mackerel, and Tuna
The efficacy of calcium is changed and works magically by the presence of these three ingredients mentioned above, especially if you are a working woman making your bones and muscles work hard throughout the day. Supplement your diet appropriately with the right foods, and yet, if you feel something is lacking, Revital H Woman proves to be your best friend in the journey of life.